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The Best Luxury Outdoor Speakers

3 months ago

Crank up the music with these stylish speakers

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Love hosting al fresco events? Complete the experience by investing in a good outdoor speaker, which are specifically designed to withstand the elements. Whether you’re an aesthete with a penchant for vintage speakers, or an outdoorsy type who needs some outdoor speakers that don’t suffer from getting bashed about a bit, we’ve got something for everyone. Here’s our ultimate guide (including all the nitty-gritty tech specs) for choosing your portable speakers for summer and beyond.

C&TH Outdoor Speakers Edit

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Look & feel: Sleek and swish; the handle is a nice touch too.

Battery life: 12 hours

Water Resistance: Water-resistant design: IPx4 rating

Charging time? Approx 4 hours

Size: 19.15 cm x 11.9 cm x 10.4 cm, 1.06 kg

Connectivity: Bluetooth and Wifi enabled, as well as having multi-room functionality. NB. It’s voice-enabled, and it can be synced up with Google Assistant, Spotify, and Alexa, among a flurry of others.

Best for: Those looking for the best of both worlds: it’s relatively lightweight which makes it easily transportable, but you’d easily use it for years as an indoor and outdoor option.

£369.95, bose.co.uk

SoundLink Flex Bluetooth® speaker in blue by Bose

Bose Soundlink Flex

Look & feel: With its loop, it’s designed to be hung on a tree, strapped to a backpack, or just popped on a branch as you potter around. It’s compact design makes it easy to carry around, too.

Battery life: 12 hours

Water resistance: Waterproof and Dustproof (IP67)

Size: 9 cm x 20.1 cm x 5.2 cm, 0.6 kg

Connectivity: Bluetooth enabled.

Best for: Outdoorsy types (or people who are always moving about and sometimes let their tech get a bit bashed up, despite their best efforts). Plus its rugged, compact, and waterproof design makes it great for those ticking off their travel bucket list.

£149.95, bose.com

Sonos Move Speaker

Sonos Move

Look & feel: Sleek, but certainly weighty.

Battery life: 10 hours

Water resistance: Water-resistant (IP56).

Size: It’s a hefty one: 24cm x 16cm x 12.6cm, 3kg

Connectivity: Bluetooth enabled (and what’s good with Sonos is that you can connect with the Sonos Home Network over Wi-Fi). There’s also Wifi (2.4gHz and 5gHz), AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa.

Best for: A long term buy for the home; perfect for every day at home listening indoors, as well as portable for the garden – but we wouldn’t advise you to carry it for a picnic (or hike) unless you were based there for the long haul.

£449, sonos.com

BANG & OLUFSEN Beosound Explore waterproof wireless speaker

Bang & Olufsen

Look & feel: The brilliant zingy forest green is a nice designer’s touch. But it’s equally made to be robust enough so you’re not too precious about packing it in a backpack to play on your summer van trip hiking holiday.

Battery life: Up to 27 hours

Water resistance: Waterproof

Size: 108.25cm x 189.22cm x 2.72cm, 44.50kg

Connectivity: Bluetooth enabled (it’s also worth mentioning you can also sync it with Alexa, Google Assistant, amongst a flurry of others)

Is it wireless? Yes.

Best for: Lovers of the outdoors, but who don’t want to skimp out on a bit of designer gear.

£219, selfridges.com

Marshall

Marshall Emberton II Speaker

Look & feel: Think of the classic rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic with that charcoal luxe black emblazoned with the iconic brass Marshall logo – but packing a *small* punch. It’s got that rugged feel, but still suitably bougie for your garden parties.

Battery life: 30+ Hours.

Charging time: 3 hours to full charge.

Water resistance: It’s got IP67 dust and water resistance rating, which in laymen’s terms means it won’t let rain or dirt get in the way of your music.

Size: 68 x 160 x 76 mm, weight: 0.7 kg

Connectivity: Marshall is keen to cut the faffing about with pairing devices (aren’t we all) with a dedicated app. N.B. Connectivity is just through Bluetooth; not Wi-Fi.

Is it wireless? Yes.

Best for: Music junkies after a proper piece of kit for on the go portable music. Perfect to grab for a picnic on a hazy summers’ day.

£129.99, marshallheadphones.com

Cambridge Audio Outdoor Speaker

Look & feel: Designed to be sold in pairs, Cambridge Audio’s ES30 outdoor speakers are white, sleek and cleverly engineered. Despite their compact size, they deliver a great bass thanks to a ported cabinet design – perfect for gardens, patios or rooftops. The speakers can also be mounted to a wall, which is a handy feature.

Size: 330 x 202 x 198mm, weighs 3.4kg

Is it wireless? Yes

Best for: Venues looking for big sounds without installing a huge speaker.

£299 for two, cambridgeaudio.com

Loewe We.HEAR pro x Kylian Mbappé

Look & feel: It doesn’t get much more stylish than Loewe. Created in partnership with footballer Kylian Mbappé, this speaker comes in three bold colours: blue, neon yellow and black, all wrapped in premium acoustic fabric. But it’s not all style over substance – the sound is excellent too, with a class-d amplifier, and the option to sync up to 14 speakers.

Battery life: 24 hours

Charging time: Two hours

Water resistance: IPX6 water resistant

Size: 280 x 138 x 135 mm, weighing 2.2 kg

Connectivity: Bluetooth.

Is it wireless? Yes

Best for: Chic party types who want to kick their garden soirees up a notch.

£249, loewe.tv

Featured image: Sonos Roam Picnic, Image courtesy of Sonos

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The Best Luxury Outdoor Speakers

C&TH Outdoor Speakers Edit

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DON'T MISS AN ISSUE

C&TH Outdoor Speakers Edit

Bose Portable Smart Speaker

Bose Soundlink Flex

Sonos Move

Bang & Olufsen

Marshall Emberton II Speaker

Cambridge Audio Outdoor Speaker

Loewe We.HEAR pro x Kylian Mbappé

You might also like...

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