Treblab HD55 Speaker review: Small, loud, needs a bit more bass

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TA-ratings-89The Treblab HD55 speaker is designed as a rugged portable speaker for when you want to take your music on the go. Sure the speakers on some phones have come a long way, but some still don’t really sound much better than the transistor radios of long ago. Sometimes you just want to turn up the volume and enjoy your music on the go. Time like these it’s best to have a portable Bluetooth speaker, and the Treblab HD55 speaker wants to be that speaker. Read on for the full review of the Treblab HD55 speaker.

Specifications

The Treblab HD55 speaker has the following features and specifications:

  • Play time: 10 hours
  • Weight: 1.23 lbs
  • Dimensions: 3 x 3 x 7.5 inches
  • Charging time: 4-5 hours
  • Bluetooth: 4.1
  • Signal range: Up to 38 feet
  • Water resistant: IPX4
  • Material: ABS and fabric

What’s In The Box

  • Treblab HD55 Speaker
  • 2 Sets of replaceable faceplates
  • 3.5mm AUX cable
  • Water-resistant carrying bag
  • USB/Micro USB charging cable
  • Users manual

Design

The Treblab HD55 speaker has a shape that is somewhat reminiscent of a sports water bottle. It fits easily in hand, and at 1.23 lbs it is also lightweight, both of which make for great portability. There are four speakers, two tweeters, a midrange and the bass speaker. You can stand the HD55 on its side or upright with the bass speaker pointing down. I found that standing it upright offers the best bass response as the sound is transmitted through the surface on which you place the speaker. This helps to amplify the bass sound just a bit more, giving it more depth.

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The top of the Treblab HD55 speaker has the power button, the indoor/outdoor mode button, and a mic. The bottom of the HD55 houses a USB and an aux-in port behind a water-resistant cover. There are also rubber feet to keep the round speaker from rolling when stood on its side. One side of the HD55 has a volume knob, a mode indicator, and a next/prev swipe control. The next/prev swipe control is rather ingenious. To change tracks you only have to swipe near the mode light on the top of the unit, rather like a touchscreen. It was very easy to use, and I can’t help but wonder why nobody has thought of this before, it’s awesome!

On the other side, there is an exposed bass speaker. I found it rather entertaining to put the bass speaker pointing up and place a small foam ball on top of it to watch it dance around to the music. I’m not sure if the engineers at Treblab would be happy about that, but it still brought a smile to my face. There are two sets of interchangeable speaker covers, one black, and one red. You can change the covers to the color of your liking, or you can mix and match red on one side and black on the other.

Treblab HD55 Speaker
Treblab HD55 Speaker with the red speaker covers installed.

Ease Of Use

The Treblab HD55 speaker is simple enough to set up, hold the power button for six seconds and the Bluetooth LED will blink red/blue indication that it is in pairing mode. Go into your device and select HD55 from the list, and you are ready to go. You can also connect via the supplied aux cable.

Sound

The sound of the Treblab HD55 speaker is very crisp and clear. Nothing outshines anything; everything is nicely balanced. Vocals come through loud and clear, and the highs are bright. There are two modes on the HD55, indoor and outdoor. The indoor setting has a better bass response, and the outdoor mode is for projecting the music outward further. I was able to turn the volume up all the way without any distortion at all.

The only issue I had with the sound was the bass. While the HD55 was sitting on its side, the bass was just a bit thin. Standing the speaker up and firing the bass speaker down did help with this problem though. But in reality, considering the size of the speaker, this is a non-issue in my mind. You can’t expect to get a huge bass response from a small, portable speaker. In the end, its a trade-off, and considering the Treblab HD55 speaker is designed to be portable; I’d say it’s still worth it.

Reception/Call Quality

Bluetooth reception of the Treblab HD55 speaker is advertised as up to 38 feet. I was able to get 40 feet away from the source with a direct line of sight before I started to lose signal. Call quality was great on my side of the call. I was able to hear the person I called with no problem, they sounded clear, and I could turn up the volume if I needed to. The other person did say that I sounded distant on the call, that seems to be pretty typical when using a speaker to make a call though.

Battery Life

The Treblab HD55 Speaker has a claimed battery life of 10 hours and a charge time of 4 hours. In our testing, the battery lasted for almost 10 and 1/2 hours before it gave out. The volume was set at 50%, and the speaker was never further than 5 feet from the source. I did notice that it took closer to 5 hours to charge the battery fully. Your battery life results may vary depending on how you use the speaker.

Treblab HD55 Speaker
Treblab HD55 Speaker, comfortable in hand.

Price/Value

The Treblab HD55 Speaker is currently priced at $69.99USD on their website and $59.97USD on Amazon. I think this is a great price for a lightweight, portable speaker with great sound.

Wrap Up

The Treblab HD55 Speaker is a small, portable speaker with the ability to crank out the tunes. There may be a slight lack of bass response, but unless you are a bassaholic it probably won’t bother you too much. The HD55 is very stylish and the materials used are nice to the touch. The swipe pad for the next/previous song control is ingenious, and you can turn up the volume to annoying levels without distortion.

We received a sample of the Treblab HD55 speaker for the purposes of this review.

Last Updated on February 13, 2018.

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