Surprisingly effective and high quality, delightfully easy to put on your pockets

Honeywell Trueno U300 Review: When it comes to 20W Bluetooth speakers, you have a few options to choose from, but almost all of the products will either look like they’d be more at home at a college dorm party (with their annoying LED lights) or will look like flat bars that look more like mini soundbars than anything else. So, if you’re on a budget and want a speaker that not only packs a punch but also gives your coffee table a premium look, the Honeywell Trueno U300 is worth checking out.

Honeywell Trueno U300 Review: Quick Tips

What we love:

• Powerful sound without adding unnecessary bass
• Top quality table top design
• Lots of connectivity options
• IPX6 waterproof

What we don’t do:

• Exposed bass radiators
• Quite heavy for a “portable” speaker
• The rear rubber cover is quite thin

Hassle-free, clear sound

Typically, when it comes to budget speakers, the drivers are generally tuned to deliver a lot of bass – even if you don’t like it. Sure, a punchy bass can work well in certain scenarios or if you prefer listening to a certain genre of music. However, for someone like me who almost always gravitates towards classic rock playlists or even classical music (when working out), a cleaner sound signature with a wide soundscape where I can listen to different instruments or sound sources is always preferable.

When I played The Beatles’ “Blackbird” through the U300, I was happy to immediately hear Paul McCartney’s boots stomping to count down the beats as he played his iconic guitar riff. Most speakers at this price point would simply mute that sound to push the high-heavy guitars forward.

Of course, when you’re hosting a house party, somber acoustic rock doesn’t always cut it. When you’re playing dance or R&B tracks, if you crank the volume up to 11, your room will quickly become a thumping club, with solid sound throughout the space no matter where you place the speaker. Some speakers tend to emit their clearest sound right in front of them. However, thanks to the rear placement of the dual bass radiators (shown above) and the angular shape of the speaker makes the sound bounce nicely, leaving no empty spaces in a large room.

Of course, the Trueno U300’s sound comes into its own when the volume is turned up to maximum. So whether it’s The Weeknd’s twangy synth on “Save Your Tears” or Billie Eilish’s gurgling vocals on “Lunch,” you’re sure to get a clear sound signature (clear mids and highs) without having to rely too much on bass beats.

The Trueno U300 comes with Bluetooth v5.3, which provides a comfortable range of almost 15 meters for connected devices. In my case, I could easily walk a few rooms away from the speakers while my phone was still connected to the speaker and there were no interruptions in playback.

Honeywell says the speaker also comes with a dual pairing feature, but ABP live could not be tested.

Good look, good look, good look

Yes, when it comes to gadgets, I tend to become Kareena Kapoor Khan’s ‘Poo’ from ‘K3G’. If it doesn’t look good, I don’t feel like buying it. As mentioned earlier, at this price, the most you can get from the rivals are tumblers, cylinders and even flat bars.

On the other hand, the Honeywell Trueno U300 clearly draws inspiration from premium offerings like the Bose Soundlinks and Marshall Woburn. It looks nice on almost any countertop you can imagine – whether it’s a coffee table or a workbench.

Given its splash-proof design (IPX6 rating), you can place the device in the corner of your shower if you need some music to go with your bathroom sing-along sessions.

The open rear dual bass radiators also look premium. They look especially good when they’re pumping along to the music, giving the feeling of owning a top-of-the-range audio product that spared no expense.

The front grille, which houses the two 78mm drivers, has a thread-like texture that makes it very pleasant to the touch.

On the top are four contoured buttons for controlling volume, playback and pairing, which blend seamlessly into the housing, emphasizing the minimalist design of the Trueno U300.

A strong hit and some power

The Honeywell Trueno U300 speaker is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery that lasted a little over 12 hours on a full charge, according to our tests. Charging was also quite fast, with the USB Type-C port taking almost 3 hours to fully charge the speaker.

Of course, if you don’t let it discharge, you can still use the speaker while charging without any problems.

Quite large for a portable speaker

There was one element that I found a bit confusing. The Trueno U300 has a high-quality fabric strap on the side that you can use to carry the speaker when you go outside, like for a walk in the park or a hike in the hills.

Now, as I was spinning the speaker with the assembly, I realized two things. First, the assembly is quite solid and it takes a lot of force to break it, no matter what you do. Second, the Trueno U300 is quite heavy.

At around 1.5kg, it’s definitely heavier than smaller speakers on the market. I wouldn’t expect a 20W speaker with dual drivers and dual radiators to be lightweight, either. So, if you’re looking for a travel speaker for walking or hiking, the Honeywell Trueno U300 might feel a bit bulkier than you’d like. However, given its premium looks, I happily kept it cozy (and pretty) on my coffee table rather than taking it on trips.

Plus, the back panel offers all sorts of connectivity options, which is a great thing. From microSD card to USB and even aux playback, you won’t be short of options anytime soon.

There’s also a 3.5mm aux cable in the box, which might come in handy for older laptops or computers. The Trueno also includes a USB Type-C charger in the box.

However, the rear rubber panel that covers the connectivity ports felt a bit flimsy to me and didn’t stay properly attached to the hinges most of the time. While it’s not a dealbreaker given the speaker’s overall aesthetic, a bit of finesse would have been nice.

Finally, the rear radiators are also suspended in the air, like any bass radiator. This also increased my concerns about portability a bit. What if I pack the speaker too tightly and damage the rear radiators? The best solution would be to carry the box with me everywhere, which is not good for tightly packed travel bags anyway.

Given the above, I decided that the Trueno U300 would be best as a standalone home speaker rather than a portable one.

Honeywell Trueno U300 Review: Final verdict

The 20W Bluetooth speaker segment under Rs 2,500 is pretty saturated with the usual players like Boat and Portronics. However, Honeywell certainly has a nice looking disruptor in the form of the Trueno U300.

Priced at Rs 2,499 on Amazon, the Honeywell Trueno U300 offers a solid sound signature that can suit any mood. It looks great on the corner of a table. And there are no unnecessary glares from the LED lights. For me, strategic minimalism always wins, and so the Trueno U300 scores enough points for casual listening.