Best Outdoor Wireless Speakers Overall

Bringing music outdoors can be difficult. Running wires from your indoor stereo involves drilling holes through the walls of the house, and mounting speakers. If on-ground, or free-standing outdoor speakers are used, then the cables must be buried to keep them out of site. These issues are helping to make wireless speakers the choice for outdoor areas such as the patio, poolside, and even the garden for those who spend much of their time there.

There are several important factors to consider when purchasing wireless speakers.

First, the distance at which a reliable wireless link can be maintained. When you get to the extreme range of the speaker from the source transmitter, you will begin to experience drop outs or static. Interference on the same wireless frequency as the speaker's transmitter can shorten the effective range as well. If you have a number of devices in your house operating on the 2.4 GigaHertz band, for example, you might want to look for wireless speakers that use a different frequency.

Second, consider whether your outdoor speakers will have access to an electrical outlet for power, if not then you'll want to think about the cost of battery replacement, and the average playing time between battery changes.

Outdoor speakers must stand up to all kinds of weather. Not only will they be rained upon, but sunlight can actually break down plastic over time resulting in unsightly discoloration, warping, and even cracking. Make sure your outdoor speakers have UV protection blended into the plastic to protect it from the sun.

The outdoors sees much more uncontrolled activity than the indoors. This can put your speakers at greater risk of physical damage from things like running children, bicycles, volleyballs, frisbees, and more. Outdoor speakers should have a rugged and robust design that prevent them from being seriously damaged by moderate impacts.

Of course, loudness and sound quality are important both indoors and out, but outdoors, the speaker's maximum volume becomes and even greater issue. In the outdoor environment, there are all sorts of background noises that can have a masking effect on the music your are trying to hear. Things like wind rusting through the trees, traffic noises, and other noises that we barely notice when we are outside, mean that your speakers have a lot of competition. Additionally, free-standing or on-ground outdoor speakers may not have the advantage of being placed near a wall or other hard, reflective surface. This means that the sound is not buttressed by near reflections that would benefit indoor speakers, making them seem louder than they really are. For the same perceived volume, outdoor speakers will need to be played louder than indoor speakers.

Considering all of these factors and throwing in price considerations, here is my list of the 5 Best Outdoor Speakers Overall.