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A red outdoor speaker sitting in the grass in front of a yellow tent.

Turn Up the Volume on Summer With These 4 Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers

What Are the Best Outdoor Bluetooth Wireless Speakers?

When you are in the house, in the car, at the gym, or at the café, you have probably got in your preferred earbuds or headphones. But if you are having any sort of outdoor gathering, like a barbecue, you obviously will not be having your headphones in. You’re going to want to blast your music for all the world to hear and that is where speakers come into play. More specifically, outdoor Bluetooth wireless speakers.

What Are Outdoor Bluetooth Wireless Speakers?

Bluetooth speakers are amplifiers and loudspeakers that function via Bluetooth wireless connectivity that you can pair with an assortment of smart devices and computers. They come in all shapes and sizes with varying degrees of charging methods, portability and durability.

Pros of Bluetooth Speakers

Portability

When it comes to your more traditional speakers, you are often talking about entire sound systems. These things can be heavy and take up a ton of space. A lot of Bluetooth speakers can fit in your purse.

Wireless

Don’t like wires? Yeah, most people do not. With Bluetooth speakers, you will not have to worry about dealing with the Rapunzel of electric cords. Bluetooth speakers mean less clutter, and one less thing you could potentially trip over.

Easy to Use and Convenient

Traditional speakers are often parts of entire sound system. They are a lot more of a hassle setting up. Bluetooth speakers are pretty easy to get up and going, even for people who are not the best with technology.

Affordable Options

If you are worried about Bluetooth speakers costing a pretty penny, do not be. You can find plenty of good Bluetooth speakers at reasonable prices.

Cons of Bluetooth Speakers

Bluetooth speakers are kind of like convenience stores. Most of the value comes from the convenience, but they fall off in other areas when compared to traditional competition.

Connectivity Issues

One of the downsides for Bluetooth, be it speakers, headphones, or anything else, is that these devices can be cheaply made when it comes to connectivity. It just comes with the territory of Bluetooth. What’s worse, is that sometimes your particular device might not be compatible with the Bluetooth that you are using.

Lacks Security

Cyber hackers are becoming more and more of a problem nowadays, and Bluetooth speakers do not exactly have much in the way of defenses. You might want to be careful when choosing what device you link up to your speaker of choice, because it is not impossible for a hacker to gain access to your device through your Bluetooth connection.

Range Limitations

Just like you cannot use a WiFi network if you are too far away from it, your speaker cannot be too far away from what it is connected to. This is not really a problem for any sort of gathering in your backyard, but still something to keep in mind

Inferior Sound Quality

It should not come as a surprise that something that fits into your purse is not capable of what a speaker half the size of your desk can do, but Bluetooth speakers are not the best sound systems. They are not made to be either. If you want to go all-out on the party music, stick with old-fashioned, wired speakers.

Best Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers

Bose Soundlink Color Bluetooth Speaker II

A household name in sound, Bose’s Soundlink Color Bluetooth Speaker II is a great option. It comes in seven different colors, including a festive aqua blue, and has a lot of perks, such as lithium-ion battery charged with eight hours of lifetime and USB rechargeability. It has voice prompts and a built-in microphone that can be used to take calls with a wireless range of 30 feet. It is also compatible with Siri and Google Assistant. The Bose Connect app makes it easy to control your Bose devices and you can connect it to other Bose devices as well for increased performance. It is also completely waterproof, which is a nice plus. It’s sold for $129.

JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker

The JBL Charge 3 is a good speaker to consider. It’s got a unique look, looking more like a miniature sleeping bag than a traditional speaker. It comes in six different colors, including army camo for the hunters and it is IPX7 waterproof. That means it is completely waterproof and can be submerged in water as deep as 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.

The JBL Charge 3 is also battery-powered and can last a whopping 20 hours before it needs charging. You can connect it to up to three devices and it can also be used as a charging port for said devices as well. It has noise and echo-cancelling technology which allows for crystal clear speakerphone calls. It’s sold for $109.

Klipsch AWR-650-SM

Have you ever wanted speakers that look like rocks? Well, you can have speakers that look like rocks thanks to Klipsch. The Klipsch AWR-650-SM are more on the expensive side, costing almost $500, but they are worth it. Unlike our previous two picks, these always come in pairs, so you do not have to worry about getting another set if you want to amplify your sound system’s capabilities.

Coming in granite or sandstone variety, these speakers come in UV-resistant enclosures to keep them nice and durable. These speakers have a two-way design, and thanks to a 6.5-inch dual voice coil polymer woofer and dual polymer dome, it allows for left and right stereo signals to come through crystal clear.

These are the strongest speakers on our list, but obviously they are not for everyone. These cannot fit into your pocket and are just for home usage. Specifically, these are for those who are really into home décor. They also are not capable of wireless functionality on their own and you will need to invest in one of Klipsch’s wireless amplifiers.

NYNE Boost Portable Bluetooth Speakers

The NYNE Boost Portable Bluetooth Speaker may be our cheapest option, but that does not mean it is a bad choice, sitting at $60.

Sporting a design similar to the JBL Charge 3, the NYNE Boost Portable is IP67 waterproof is about the best you can hope for in a speaker. It has an outstanding 20 hours of playtime before your rechargeable battery needs more juice and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity of up to 100 feet. It will also remember any device it is hooked up to and will automatically sync up in future outings.

A built-in microphone allows for hands-off calling and the built-in power bank lets you charge your other smart devices with it. This offers up great value and is definitely the best budget outdoor Bluetooth speaker.