Just in time for the start of the outdoor sitting season, I also want to test Bluetooth devices that flatter our ears. Relatedly, they should do so if they could. When searching the appropriate offers, I noticed a speaker that should come with a media-ready 40 watts.
This would make even Kevin-Tiger Schulze the exposed star of the Pausenhof gang, if the MP3-ribbed rappers between math and geo are vying for a secretly smoked tip.
Why am I already overstretching the subjunctive so enjoyably? It sounds too good and inexpensive to be true. 40 watts for 40 euros, that would result in a ratio of one watt per euro and that would really be a brutally cheap hammer feature. I alone lack faith. But more on that, because you can check everything somehow.
As an accessory, in addition to the actual loudspeaker, you will receive a short 3.5mm jack cable for the analog connection (which can even help us to solve problems, see below) and an even shorter USB 2.0 cable for connecting to a computer or power supply, as well as a extremely thinhand booklet. That's it, but it's enough.
Optics and haptics
From a material point of view, the Tronsmart Element Mega is the usual mix of metallic bodywork, lacquered, circumferential perforated metal and an artificial planking with rubber coating on top and bottom. Convenient, rather inconspicuous and therefore quite timeless. This can be seen quite positively, because the processing is also perfectly fine at first sight. So far, there is absolutely nothing to complain about.
What appeals to us is the top with the controls. Here, a white LED meets milky-white artoff, which beautifully scatters the backlight. What should shine is omitted in the black coating. In itself, this is nothing new, but it is a real eye-catcher on such a large scale.
The underside is also not a secret carrier of the extra class, but shines with: nothing. The two rubber feet are non-slip and large,000, but this is not a unique selling point, if necessary. There is no more to report on the exterior, because I will deal with the connections and controls as well as the technical key data.
Functionality and connections
The top already shows all available controls. The NFC feature is definitely nice. Once the smartphone is gallantly swivelled past the logo and flupps you are connected. This works faster in practice than pugs can say. Like everyone else, the mode button is a pure touch solution and is used to switch between Bluetooth and analog mode or MP3 player function when the memory card is inserted. Unfortunately, directories are read out arbitrarily and you never really know what's next. But at least there's music.
On the back you will find the analog 3.5 mm jack input, the on/off switch, the slot for the card reader and the USB 2.0 supply port. With a suitable cable, the device can also be used as a mass-pee perk with the memory card inserted and can be used with MP3 files from the PC.
The built-in Bluetooth 4.2 module is now a common standard. With TWS (True Wireless Stereo) you can also connect another Tronsmart Mega and thus create a party feeling, as long as something similar with the achieved volume and the available power may arise at all. That is what it is all about.
What interferes with Bluetooth mode is the synchronization with the device volume of the smartphone. Here it is hardly possible to adjust in the range of lower volume levels. It's almost always too loud and starts to oversteer quickly. However, the Tronsmart shares this feature with other current Bluetooth devices. Even our 900-euro soundbar from Klipsch shows identical symptoms. If you have a non-apple smartphone with a jack output, you are fine by the way. If you connect the whole charge analogously by cable, it goes down to the whisper mode. Basic noise included, unfortunately.
40 Watt – Fat Boy or Fata Morgana?
Let's go into a little more detail. The Tronsmart holds two batteries with a total storage capacity of 6600 mAh, which should last up to 15 hours of operation. A continuous test with a very moderate volume lasted more than nine hours, but no longer. If you try a slightly more dominant sonication, then after less than 4 hours it is over.
Let's move on to the 40 watts with which the manufacturer advertises so eagerly. If you look at the image with the bottom of the device, we see 10 watts (5V * 2A) as a connection power. Well look, Mrs. Stachelbeer… But I always believe in the good in humans and first of all i believe that the part with a charged battery will get significantly more juice injected into the arteries. To test this, I measured the maximum sound level before using extreme distortions.
And what could I find? It didn't matter if the battery was full and the Tronsmart Element Mega was free or operated with charging cable, or whether it was previously completely emptied and the device was only connected via the USB cable. At the top I was able to measure a lot of 1.8 amps, actually the death of a normal PC connection. However, the charging current when switched off was again in the norm.
If you take all this down, then the maximum power consumption of approx. 8 watts, which then loses itself in a real amplifier power of 2x 3 watts. This means that an electrical power of approx. 6 watts left. The RMS power is likely to be around 10 watts, which would have brought us exactly where other howler cubes of this price range are. But 40 watts? The grass you would have to smoke for it is definitely forbidden in Germany.
What remains is a bland aftertaste of a lure of the PR special class. There are also contemporaries who think that only the built-up chassis are too weak for the supposedly too potent amplifier. All quark, the thing is just as much a cheat pack as the DeLorean DMC-12 with the silly PRV motörchen from Renault. Blendwerk stop. But we still have our measurements and the sound check, so on page 2 it's going on. Please keep scrolling!
