The Best Outdoor Speakers for Next-Level Backyard and Patio Entertainment

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Summer is around the corner, and if you’re in the mood for more outdoor living this year, then now is the time to outfit your backyard for streaming your favorite smooth sounds — or, if your neighbors have been consulted, a proper full-bore blowout. Outdoor speakers — like their TV counterparts — are designed to withstand the elements while still delivering great sound. They’re equipped with large and powerful audio drivers, which allow them to deliver a stellar sonic experience in open spaces. And with more programmable tech than ever before, usually accessed with a brand’s app, it’s easier to boost the treble or the bass to suit your mood.

Wired outdoor speakers are more durable than their Bluetooth cousins, thanks to their wired setup. They also don’t require recharging, so if you plan to be in your home for years, they make a lot of sense. For renters and more adventuresome souls, investing in a high-quality Bluetooth speaker may be a better route — these grab-and-go speakers can move around within the space, and many of them play as loud as you (and your neighbors) will ever want them to without compromising sound quality.

Best Outdoor Speakers

• Best Overall: Polk Audio Atrium8 SDI Outdoor Speakers

• Best Budget: Yamaha Audio NS-AW150 Outdoor Speakers

• Runner-Up: Klipsch AW-650 Indoor/Outdoor Speaker

• Best Connectivity: Sonos Outdoor Speakers

• Best Under-$500: Bose 251 Environmental Outdoor Speakers

To identify today’s best outdoor speakers worth buying, we spent hours researching products from leading audio brands like Bose, Klipsch, Polk Audio, and Sonos, to name just a few. We scrutinized speakers in a multitude of form factors and at various price points.

What to Consider

Wired Models

One important factor in outdoor speakers is installation: most of them require wiring and wall mounting. Many of these products need a source of audio content (e.g., a media player, computer, tablet, etc.) and an amplifier to work. Before finding the best model for your needs and budget, make sure you have space for all the necessary equipment. In terms of the

In terms of the hardware, outdoor speakers with bigger audio drivers usually deliver a more powerful sound. On the other hand, the number of drivers a speaker packs impacts its audio fidelity (aka how true the sound is to its original source).

Wireless Models

Many of the most recent Bluetooth speakers come with a long battery life — from 30 to 50 hours or more — making them a suitable option if you don’t want to deal with installation. They just pair and play. And with their more powerful drivers, many of them can reach impressive heights volume-wise, making them a more viable option than before. Plus they offer the versatility of going with you on your next road trip.

Most wired outdoor speakers are sold in pairs, while others are available as individual units. If your budget permits, we suggest you opt for a duo of outdoor speakers — whether wired or Bluetooth — that allow “true stereo” pairing — the sonic experience will be much richer.

For more wireless speakers that can handle the outdoor elements, check out our guide to the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers.

How We Chose

We picked speakers with a good balance of bass, treble, and midrange. In terms of sheer output, all outdoor speakers on this list can produce a powerful audio experience. Our editors focused on speakers with at least two onboard audio drivers — a crucial factor for good sound. All of the wired products we included on our list can survive exposure to water, humidity, heat, and cold weather. Read on to learn more about the best outdoor speakers available on the market today.

Atrium8 SDI Outdoor Speakers

Polk Audio’s Atrium8 SDI outdoor speakers are our top pick for most consumers. Priced well below $300 for a set of two, the speakers offer an easy and versatile mounting setup, top-tier sound, and a long warranty.

I like the Polk Audio Atrium8 SDI speakers' low-key design. Available in black or white, they easily blend into most outdoor settings. The installation process takes time and careful planning, but the end result will be worth it.

Each Atrium8 SDI speaker packs three audio drivers, which combine to deliver powerful and detail-rich stereo sound. Connecting two in a stereo pair produces a price-defying sonic experience that even nitpicky audiophiles would approve of. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

More: The Most Essential Portable Speakers

NS-AW150 Outdoor Speakers

Quality outdoor speakers can hardly be more affordable than the compact Yamaha NS-AW150. Priced in impulse-buy territory by wired outdoor speaker standards, this set is ideal for first-time buyers or upgraders on a tight budget.

The Yamaha NS-AW150 speakers deliver a good audio experience — as long as you manage your expectations accordingly. When mounted in a stereo pair, the speakers can pump out a balanced and entertaining sound, which, while not the best on this list, will be noticeably better than the output of standalone Bluetooth speakers, which cost a lot more.

The speakers’ housings are available in black or white. Their retail package includes mounting brackets for easy installation. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

AW-650 Indoor/Outdoor Speaker

The AW-650 mountable outdoor speakers by Klipsch deliver the audio brand’s legendary sound with exceptional quality.

Sporting a higher price tag, they produce higher-fidelity sound than the Polk product we already mentioned, courtesy of a tweeter with the audio maker’s signature Tractrix horn design. If you like detail-rich sound, this is the speaker for you!

Klipsch offers the AW-650 in black and white. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

Outdoor Speakers

The Sonos outdoor speakers are designed to blast the audio maker’s powerful, incredibly entertaining sound in any weather. However, you need to connect them to the pricey Sonos Amp in order to enjoy them.

The above setup is worth the splurge if you have the means, though, because it will allow you to stream content on the speakers from your favorite mobile device over Wi-Fi. Such ease of use is one of the reasons why Sonos is a leading audio brand. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

251 Environmental Outdoor Speakers

The Bose 251 speakers are designed to deliver a wide sound field perfect for outdoor listening. Each outdoor speaker in this set packs a trio of audio drivers — more than most similarly priced competitors.

You can order the speakers in black or white. Bose backs the product with an excellent warranty. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

AM-1 Outdoor Speakers

The Bowers & Wilkins AM-1 outdoor speakers are the best on this list in terms of transparent audio fidelity. Considering their maker’s long history of making amazing headphones and speakers, that’s hardly a surprise.

Each speaker has a 5-inch main audio driver and a 1-inch tweeter, whose inverted placement (the smaller tweeter sits below the woofer) brings better sound dispersion in an overhead setup. Thanks to a cleverly designed bass radiator, the AM-1 speakers also deliver surprisingly powerful bass, despite having compact enclosures.

Available in black or white, the speakers have durable wall mounts that rotate 220 degrees. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

AW6500 Outdoor Speaker

When it comes to transparent bass output, the Definitive Technology AW6500 outdoor speakers are the best worth your attention. In addition to standard audio drivers, each speaker packs a massive radiator, allowing it to deliver an entertaining bass without affecting the treble and midrange.

The AW6500 speakers are also incredibly versatile. Their steel mounting brackets have a 360-degree rotation, so you can adjust the sound in any direction. Definitive Technology offers the product in black or white. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

Move Smart Outdoor Speaker

The Sonos Move is a portable and smart outdoor speaker that's compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The weatherproof gadget can be controlled with voice commands as long as it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Like all of the brand's products, the Move is easy to set up on its own or integrate into an existing Sonos audio system. It also supports Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth wireless playback.

Best of all, the Move allows you to enjoy it without wires — it can deliver up to 10 hours of audio playback between battery charges. Although the product’s bundled charging base is designed to be used indoors, you can still power up the Move outside with a compatible USB-C cable and charger. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

AWR-650-SM Outdoor Rock Speaker

The Klipsch AWR-650-SM is the most discreet outdoor speaker worth your attention. Its durable enclosure is designed to look like a rock, and you can order it with a granite or sandstone finish.

Powered by a high-quality woofer and a duo of tweeters, the AWR-650-SM speakers deliver amazing sound that’s in line with the legendary brand’s heritage. The tweeters are arranged to play left and right audio channels, allowing users to enjoy stereo sound with just one speaker. -Reviewed by Stefan Vazharov

EcoBoulder Ultra Outdoor Speaker

Lots of speakers can play in the outdoors; few can be thrown in the pool and keep on playing. The Boulder Ultra has an IP67 ingress protection rating, so it can handle a dust storm or be dunked in three feet of water for brief periods — but because it actually floats, it won’t stay underwater for long.

This Bluetooth speaker on wheels, which can play for an impressive 50 hours at average volume on a single charge or remain plugged in full-time, is a heck of a lot of speaker for $250. With booming sound, rock-solid build quality, and an array of features — even AM/FM radio! — it’s got more bells and whistles than any speaker I’ve tested before. There's a bottle opener built into the side and a Velcro pocket, including a universal waterproof phone pouch, so you can join your speaker in the water. It may not bring all the richness of a speaker twice its price, but it can play as loud as you’ll ever need it to.

The EcoBoulder Ultra Outdoor Speaker can also be wirelessly chained together with up to 100 of the company’s speakers for multilayered stereo sound. Its wireless range is a stellar 100 feet.

The speaker was easy to pair with one tap of the Bluetooth button, and then I was off to the race (this feature is made possible because the speaker has heavy-duty wheels built right in). As it’s a somewhat heavy unit, at 27 pounds, I appreciated the ability to pull up the telescoping suitcase-style handle and roll it around in my backyard. After dark, it's also fun to hit the LED light button and watch it play multicolored light shows (you can choose your own colors) that sync with the music. -Reviewed by Will Palmer

Middleton Portable Outdoor Speaker

For mellow listening with your partner or a small group, the very portable 9-inch-wide, 4-pound Marshall Middleton churns out surprisingly loud, full-ranging sound. With a 20-hour battery life, the nicely sized Bluetooth model has the advantage of being easily repositioned, and, like the company’s famous amps, multiple Middletons can be "stacked" (wirelessly linked to one another) and placed around your space for more volume and more immersive sound.

But don’t rush out and buy two before you’ve tried a single one, because Marshall's True Stereophonic multi-directional technology is one their speaekers’ best features. True Stereophonic replicates the experience of being on a soundstage by "moving" different tones to different areas of the speaker, so you experience a more well-rounded sound.

In addition to the signature aesthetics the Marshall brand is known for (we like the brass logo on the front), the Middleton has convenient bass and treble controls right on the top of the unit; to supplement that, the equalizer on the Marshall app allows more granular control. I enjoyed being able to tweak these depending on whether I had a voice-centric podcast playing or a cacophony of drums and bass.

Water and dust resistance allows it to stay outdoors in bad weather. The Middleton is not as majestic-sounding as Marshall’s larger Woburn III, but at half the price and with greater portability, its advanced sound makes it a winner. -Reviewed by Will Palmer

4 Performance Outdoor Speaker

Though it’s billed as a “portable” Bluetooth performance speaker, this 35.5-pound beast is best stationed on your patio and awakened for your next neighborhood barbecue. The incredibly loud (126-decibel) SoundBoks 4 has a poplar wood case that produces some of the richest sound of any speaker like it. (and helps justify the high price tag). It defaults to booming bass, but an in-app equalizer allows you to dial it down to a lounge setting or customize the sound yourself.

Having played this speaker indoors during dinnertime, where it rattled the nerves of family members (the volume control literally goes to 11), I’ve settled on it as a devoted outdoor unit where it can really shine. Whether inside or out, I was impressed by how well-rounded the sound was: enough bass to drive any party but with equally vibrant midrange and higher tones. Among its slick-looking controls are two inputs that allow you to plug in guitars, microphones, or mixing boards, making this much more than just a speaker.

The SoundBoks 4, which stands higher than two feet tall, runs for up to 40 hours on a charge at mid-volume (more like 10 at full volume), though recharging requires removing the battery; there’s no fully plugged-in option. To address this, the company offers the BatteryBoks for $149, so you can always have a backup ready. With good weather resistance, a sturdy protective case, and rubberized ball corners, it can actually be transported to the beach or swimming hole. more easily than looks would suggest.

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