Five Bluetooth portable speakers, from Sony, Bose and others, for the beach, your lockdown balcony or wherever this summer
- The Sony SRS-XB12 is small but delivers a big sound; the Bose SoundLink Micro is waterproof enough to take in the shower with you
- The JBL Boombox 2 is big and powerful, but only just about portable – and your neighbours will thank you for limiting its use to the beach
Portable wireless speakers are good for use around a hotel room or in a tent, and if they’re waterproof you can also take them to a swimming pool, hot tub or even a shower while on holiday. With many of us confined to our homes this season, though, “outdoor electronics” are coming into their own as a way of providing much-needed entertainment in our outside spaces and on our balconies, too.
Here are five of the latest and greatest wireless speakers for the outdoors that wirelessly connect to any smartphone, tablet or laptop via Bluetooth.
Bose SoundLink Micro
This is a big-name brand speaker that’s about as weatherproof as you’ll find. Somewhat resembling an Amazon Echo Dot in both size and appearance, the 290g (0.63lb) SoundLink Micro (US$99.95) is covered in a layer of soft-touch rubberised silicone and is almost impossible to damage.
It has IPX7 certification, which means it can be completely submerged in a metre (3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes, so you don’t have to worry if it gets splashed. It has a tough, stretchy silicone loop on the back for hooking on to the back of a chair, a tree branch, or even a shower door handle.
