Trust Caro Max – What can the portable Bluetooth speaker do?

Trust not only offers gaming peripherals, but also other technical devices like portable Bluetooth speakers. One of them is the Caro Max, which Trust advertises with various connectivity options, IPX7 certification and ‘stereo sound’.

How the Caro Max performs in practice, and what the speaker does for its current price of Price not available * [test time: 54 € ], we clarify in the following test.

Technical details (manufacturer specifications)

Scope of delivery

Trusts Caro Max is delivered in a colorful printed cardboard box. Inside it are the speakers and the accessories. The latter consists of two booklets with legal information and instructions. There is also an unsleeved USB-C and 3.5 mm jack cable with a length of 0.5 m each.

Design & workmanship

The Caro Max relies on the typical cylindrical design of many portable Bluetooth speakers. The sound is generated by two speaker membranes, which are installed in opposite directions and should thus radiate the sound as broadly as possible. There are also passive membranes at the ends of the speakers, which serve to amplify the bass.

The end pieces of the Caro Max are made of plastic, which frames the passive membranes. The speakers, on the other hand, are protected by a grille that largely covers the sides. It is only pierced by two plastic strips: one houses the controls and another the holder for the carrying strap as well as the connection panel, which is located behind a silicone tab.

In its basic construction, the case of the Caro Max is stable and torsion-resistant, but this does not apply to the areas directly at the transitions of the individual plastic parts. These don’t mesh perfectly flush with each other, which is visible and noticeable. This should not lead to problems in operation or durability, but could have been avoided. On the other hand, we can’t complain about the other points, such as the haptics or the protective grille, with regard to the build quality.

Operation, battery life & range

There are five buttons on the Caro Max. Two of them are used for volume adjustment and one each for power on, Bluetooth configuration and pause. The volume up and down buttons are double-assigned with a forward and rewind, respectively.

The speaker is very easy to use. With regard to the playback via the microSD card, it should of course be considered that you can only select the desired song with effort due to the cyclical scrolling of many songs. However, a different implementation would not have been possible, and even so, the independent playback via microSD definitely has its areas of application.

In terms of battery life, the Caro Max unfortunately fell short of the promised twelve hours in our test, although this was of course an “up to” specification. We achieved a battery runtime of about eight and a half hours during Bluetooth playback with a higher room volume. Accordingly, a power bank should be planned for trips of several days.

In terms of range, the Caro Max delivers the usual Bluetooth package: In the open field, the speaker reached a good 25 meters before the first dropouts occurred. Indoors, playback is still possible without problems even in the next room.

Sound quality

The two speakers installed in the Trust Caro Max do a solid job, but cannot hide the size and construction of the device. The two installed passive membranes do not manage to replace an independent woofer. The bass of the speakers therefore only starts slowly from around 60 hertz.

The audible bass is therefore not too deep, and the Caro Max is only suitable for creating a party atmosphere to a limited extent. In addition, we do not want to leave a slight background noise unmentioned, which, however, is no longer audible from about 30 cm and thus negligible even without running music.

With regard to the overall sound image, the speakers do not deliver an overly detailed result, but it is quite suitable for outdoor use: You should hardly hear the quality differences to more expensive models outdoors, and the dispersion behavior of the Caro Max is also well suited for this purpose. However, we would not recommend it as a (permanent) replacement for floorstanding speakers, due to the somewhat thin bass and limited detail.

Conclusion

With the Caro Max, Trust offers portable Bluetooth speakers for Price not available * [review time: €54 ], whose purchase recommendation is based in particular on the current price as well as the intended area of use. On the plus side are the numerous playback sources as well as typical features like the IPX7 certification or the easy transport.

On the other hand, the speakers have slight weaknesses in terms of build quality and playback quality: The connections of the individual casing parts are stable but not quite flawless optically and haptically, and we would have wished for a bit more bass. As usual, however, the following naturally applies here: A test and comparison listening with your own ears can hardly be replaced.