Retrofitting the Tigerbox with Bluetooth
24/3/2024
Translation: machine translated
The first Tigerbox model does not have Bluetooth. Tigermedia, the company behind the Hörbox, offers a transmitter for retrofitting. That's great, but also possible with third-party products.
Children and cables are such a thing. My older son has two Tigerboxes on his conscience because he pulled the box while it was charging. Result: broken USB plug. Fortunately, the connection has been optimised on the newer boxes.
You still have cables in another place with the Tigerbox. Namely when your little ones immerse themselves in strange worlds via headphones. With the original Tigerbox, wireless operation is only possible via detours. Tigermedia now offers such a solution itself with the Bluetooth transmitter.
Works - even with third-party products
Connect the transmitter via the headphone socket. The short connection cable leads into the transmitter itself. It measures a total of 97 × 19 × 12 millimetres and weighs just 12 grams. It therefore does not interfere with the box. The design is based on the Tigerbox with its orange-coloured accents. The comparable CM403 transmitter from Ugreen is slightly longer, but less wide.
Source: Kevin Hofer
There is a slider on the side for switching on. To connect, switch on your headphones and activate pairing mode. The connection is automatic. Use the play/stop button to disconnect the headphones again.
The Ugreen model works in a similar way. However, the CM403 can also be a receiver as well as a transmitter. In theory, you can also connect it to the amplifier and connect it to your smartphone.
The Tigermedia transmitter is charged via USB-C. A full charge takes around forty minutes. After that, the transmitter runs for just over five hours. The one from Ugreen offers around six and a half hours more, but the charging process also takes an hour and a half.
Source: Kevin Hofer
If you are worried about the transmission power: Tigermedia advertises that the transmission power does not exceed 0 dBm. Bluetooth usually operates between -20 and +20 dBm. With the Ugreen transmitter, the transmission power is slightly higher at a maximum of 4 dBm.
The connection with the transmitter from Tigermedia was always stable in my tests. I was able to move about ten metres away from the transmitter in my home - even with walls in between. However, the connection was interrupted at greater distances. Despite the higher transmission power, I had similar results with the CM403 from Ugreen.
The latency of the transmitter from Tigermedia is pleasing. This is significantly lower than with the CM403. This is due to the Bluetooth standard. The CM403 uses Bluetooth 5.0 and the transmitter from Tigermedia already uses version 5.2.
Conclusion: I would choose the transmitter from Tigermedia
With the BT transmitter, you can retrofit your Tigerbox with Bluetooth. This is nothing new. There are comparable adapters, such as the CM403 from Ugreen. It fulfils the same function, costs about the same, offers a slightly longer battery life and can also be used as a receiver.
The adapter from Tigermedia impresses above all with its design, which is based on the Tigerbox, a lower dBm value and lower latency. The fact that the battery doesn't last quite as long is made up for by faster charging. Personally, I would go for the Tigermedia transmitter for my children. I wouldn't consider the one from Ugreen, mainly because of the high latency.
Header image: Kevin Hofer
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
