The TREBLAB HD-Max is a portable Bluetooth speaker with a similar design to the TREBLAB HD77 and the JBL Xtreme 3. It's well-built with an IPX6 rating for water resistance that certifies it for protection against direct contact with water for up to three minutes, so you can take it outdoors with you without needing to worry about it getting a bit wet. It comes with a removable carrying strap that has a built-in bottle opener, so you can enjoy drinks with friends while you're playing your favorite songs. Its long-lasting battery life also makes it great for long listening sessions spent outdoors. It comes with three sound modes: 'Indoor,' Outdoor,' and 'Bass Boost.' With its 'Indoor' preset selected, the stereo speaker has some boom in its bass range, and its somewhat balanced mid-range ensures vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix. That said, it lacks low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy music like hip-hop, and there isn't a graphic EQ to tweak its sound to your liking.
Our Verdict
The TREBLAB HD-Max is passable for music. With its 'Indoor' preset selected, this stereo speaker has some boom in the bass range, and its mid-range is somewhat balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix. However, it still lacks low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble typically present in bass-heavy music like hip-hop or EDM. Unfortunately, aside from its presets, there aren't more robust sound customization features like a graphic EQ to tweak its sound to your liking. It also has middling directivity, resulting in a narrow and directional-sounding soundstage.
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EQ presets.
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Gets loud.
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No graphic EQ.
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Lacks low-bass.
The TREBLAB HD-Max is middling for watching videos and movies. While its Bluetooth latency with iOS devices is too high for watching videos without syncing issues, it performs better with Android devices. However, some apps compensate for latency differently, and your experience may vary. With its 'Indoor' mode enabled, it also lacks low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed scenes. While the HD-Max can get loud, there's some compression present at max volume that degrades the quality of your audio as you increase its volume.
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EQ presets.
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Gets loud.
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High latency with iOS devices.
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Narrow soundstage.
The TREBLAB HD-Max is decent for podcasts. It's pretty portable, so you can easily move your audiobook or podcast from room to room. With its 'Indoor' preset enabled, it has a somewhat balanced mid-range that ensures voices and dialogue reproduce clearly and accurately in the mix. That said, higher-pitched voices sound both dull and harsh at times due to the recessed low-treble range, and there isn't a graphic EQ you can use to tweak its sound to your liking. It also has middling directivity, so you can't hear your audio as clearly from all angles.
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Gets loud.
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Excellent portability.
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No graphic EQ.
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Compression present at max volume.
The TREBLAB HD-Max doesn't support voice assistants.
The TREBLAB HD-Max is alright for outdoor use. It's rated IPX6 for water resistance, meaning it's certified for protection against direct contact with water for up to three minutes, so you don't have to worry about it getting a bit wet from some light rain when taking it outdoors with you. It can get loud enough to fill a large space with sound, and its long-lasting battery life is great for long listening sessions spent outdoors. Unfortunately, with its 'Indoors' preset enabled, it lacks a thumpy low-bass, and there aren't more comprehensive sound customization features like a graphic EQ to adjust its sound to your liking. The manufacturer says you can use its 'Outdoor' mode to boost its treble and its 'Bass Boost' mode to bump up its bass.
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Excellent portability.
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IPX6 rating for water resistance.
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Long-lasting battery life.
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No graphic EQ.
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Lacks low-bass.
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Compression present at max volume.
- 6.2 Music
- 5.6 Videos/Movies
- 7.1 Podcasts
- 2.6 Voice Assistant
- 6.9 Outdoors
- Updated Aug 17, 2023: Updated the Portability picture for greater clarity and consistency between reviews.
- Updated Apr 13, 2022: Review published.
- Updated Apr 08, 2022: Early access published.
- Updated Mar 29, 2022: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Mar 25, 2022: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Mar 21, 2022: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated Mar 18, 2022: The product has won our suggestion poll, so we'll buy and test it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The TREBLAB HD-Max comes in one color variant: Black; you can see its label here.
If you come across any other variants of this speaker, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
Note: The manufacturer released an updated version of The TREBLAB HD-Max that supports Bluetooth 5.0 and advertises an improved microphone performance and battery consumption. The test results in this review represent the latest version of this speaker. The older version supported Bluetooth 4.2.
Compared To Other Speakers
The TREBLAB HD-Max is a portable Bluetooth speaker with a similar design to the TREBLAB HD77, though it's much larger and doesn't come with RGB lights. Like the JBL Xtreme 3, it comes with hooks built into the speaker to attach its carrying strap when you want to bring it along with you on the go. The strap also comes with a built-in bottle opener, which is handy for when you're enjoying music and drinks with friends. It's well-built, and its long-lasting battery life of over 22 hours is great for long sessions spent outdoors. It lacks low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy music like EDM or hip-hop. While it comes with EQ presets, it also lacks a graphic EQ to customize its sound to your liking.
See our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best portable Bluetooth speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers for bass.
The JBL Xtreme 3 is a slightly better speaker than the TREBLAB HD-Max overall, though they're similar. The JBL has a better-balanced sound profile out of the box and can produce a more extended low-bass than the TREBLAB. It comes with a graphic EQ to customize its sound to your liking. It's better built and can also be paired with up to two devices at once, which is handy when you need to quickly switch between audio sources. The TREBLAB can get slightly louder with slightly less compression at max volume. It also has a much longer-lasting battery life, making it better suited for long listening sessions.
The TREBLAB HD77 and the TREBLAB HD-Max are similar speakers, though they have different strengths. The HD77 is smaller and easier to bring along with you on the go. It can produce a slightly more extended low-bass than the HD-Max and offers a much wider-sounding soundstage. The HD-Max is a larger portable speaker that can get louder with less compression at max volume, resulting in cleaner audio at louder volume levels. It also has a longer-lasting battery life and lower Bluetooth latency with iOS and Android devices. Some apps compensate for latency differently, so your experience may vary.
The Anker Soundcore Motion+ is more versatile than the TREBLAB HD-Max overall. The Anker is smaller and lighter, making it more portable. It can produce a more extended low-bass than the TREBLAB, and offers a wider-sounding soundstage. It also comes with a companion app that features a graphic EQ and presets to customize its sound to your liking. It supports voice assistants through your smartphone too, though its performance isn't very good. That said, the TREBLAB offers a longer-lasting battery life of over 22 hours, making it better for multiple long listening sessions. You can use its USB output to use the speaker as a power bank to charge your devices. It also comes with a removable carrying strap with a built-in bottle opener which is handy when enjoying music and drinks with friends.
The Ultimate Ears HYPERBOOM is a better speaker than the TREBLAB HD-Max overall. The Ultimate Ears offers a better-balanced sound profile that can produce a more extended low-bass than the TREBLAB. You can customize its sound to your liking thanks to the graphic EQ and presets featured in its companion app, and it can get louder with significantly less compression present at max volume. It also has better directivity, resulting in a wider-sounding soundstage. The TREBLAB is smaller and lighter, making it more portable. Its rated IPX6 for water resistance, certifying it for protection from direct contact with water for up to three minutes. Its removable strap also comes with a built-in bottle opener.
Test Results
The TREBLAB HD-Max is a medium-sized portable speaker with a similar design to the TREBLAB HD77, though it's larger and doesn't come with any RGB light rings. It comes with hooks you can use to clip its strap to make the speaker easier to carry. Also, like the JBL Xtreme 3, its strap comes with a built-in bottle opener, which is handy when you want to enjoy music and drinks with friends.
The TREBLAB HD-Max has excellent portability. Though it's larger than the TREBLAB HD77, this battery-powered speaker is still fairly lightweight and comes with a removable carrying strap to help bring it along with you when on the go. You can hold it in one hand, though it's a bit less comfortable if you have smaller hands.
The TREBLAB HD-Max has great build quality. Like the TREBLAB HD77, the speaker feels solid and sturdy. It has an IPX6 rating for water resistance, certifying it for protection against direct contact with water for up to three minutes. It means you can take it outside with you without needing to worry about it getting a bit wet. There's a sealable flap underneath the speaker to protect its inputs, and like the JBL Xtreme 3, it has hooks built into its sides near its control buttons to clip its removable carrying strap.
The TREBLAB HD-Max has a very good selection of decently easy-to-use, texturized controls. You can use the power button to switch between its wireless and AUX modes and to connect the speaker to another compatible speaker when you want to create a stereo pair. You can also press and hold its volume buttons to skip your tracks or backtrack. You can use its play/pause button to answer and decline phone calls as well as redial the last phone number on your call log. Double-pressing it switches between its three presets: Outdoor, Indoor, and Bass Boost. It's best not to double-press the button too fast since you can unintentionally pause the speaker instead.
Similarly to the TREBLAB HD77, the HD-Max emits audible chimes to inform you when it's on/off, once it's reached max volume, when it gets connected or disconnected from a paired device, and when its battery is low. Its battery indicator lights flash blue when you turn the speaker on and red when you turn it off. You can also quickly press the power button to check the speaker's battery level when it's turned off. When the speaker's 'Indoor' mode is enabled, the light between its power and volume button lights solid blue. For 'Outdoor Mode', it flashes twice, and for 'Bass Boost' mode, it flashes three times. You can see a video of the light flashing for its 'Outdoor' mode here.
- TREBLAB HD-Max speaker
- User manual
- TREBLAB sticker
- 3.5mm AUX cable
- USB-C charging cable
- Carrying strap
- Cable tie
The TREBLAB HD-Max's frequency response accuracy is passable. Though the overemphasis in the high-bass range provides its sound profile with some boom, it lacks low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble typically present in bass-heavy music like hip-hop or EDM. Its mid-range is somewhat balanced, so vocals and lead instruments reproduce clearly and accurately in the mix. However, higher-pitched vocals and instruments sound alternately dull and harsh due to the recessed low-treble. Unfortunately, aside from its three presets, 'Indoor', 'Outdoor', and 'Bass Boost', there aren't more robust sound customization features like a graphic EQ to adjust its sound to your liking. The manufacturer says you can use its 'Outdoor' mode to boost its treble and its 'Bass Boost' mode to bump up its bass.
Note: The TREBLAB HD-Max was tested horizontally, with its 'Indoor' preset enabled.
The TREBLAB HD-Max's soundstage performance is fair. It can play stereo content without downmixing it to mono, meaning you can distinguish between its left and right channels. You can also connect it to another compatible speaker to create a stereo pair. It has disappointing directivity, resulting in a soundstage that's perceived as narrow and directional. The overemphasis in the treble range also results in an uneven-sounding soundstage.
Note: The test results represent the most recent version of the TREBLAB HD-Max, that supports Bluetooth 5.0. If you own the older version of this speaker that supports Bluetooth 4.2, you can’t connect it with the newer model to create a stereo pair.
The TREBLAB HD-Max has decent dynamics. It can get pretty loud and can easily fill a large room with sound. That said, there's quite a bit of compression present at max volume that degrades the quality of your audio as you bump up the speaker's volume.
The TREBLAB HD-Max's battery performance is great. It lasted over 22 hours from a single charge, which is great for long listening sessions. However, battery performance varies depending on your usage habits and selected volume level. There's a power-saving feature that turns the speaker off following 10 minutes of inactivity.
The TREBLAB HD-Max comes with an AUX port you can use to wire your devices to it. The speaker can also act as a power bank for your devices via its USB output.
The TREBLAB HD-Max has decent Bluetooth connectivity. It has an outstanding range, so your paired device stays connected to the speaker even when you aren't close by. Its latency with iOS devices is too high for watching videos and causes syncing issues between the visuals you see and the audio you hear. It performs better with Android devices, though some apps compensate for latency differently, and your experience may vary.