The best outdoor speakers for gardens and patios
Our pick is the Polk Audio Atrium 6. On a budget, get the Polk Atrium 4. For a big garden or parties, the Klipsch AW-650. Wired garden speakers need an amplifier: we recommend the Fosi Audio BT20A, a small Bluetooth amp that lets you play from your phone.
How we make money: if you buy through our links we may earn a commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you. Brands can't pay to be included or ranked. Read our disclosure.
Our top three picks
Polk Audio Atrium 4
Best for patios and balconies
- Same weatherproof build as our pick
- Compact, easy to hide under eaves
- Runs from any small amp
Polk Audio Atrium 6
Best for most gardens
- Loud from a modest amp (90 dB)
- Fuller sound than small speakers
- Paintable, all-weather certified
Klipsch AW-650
Best for long gardens, pools and parties
- Loudest per watt here (95 dB)
- Horn tweeter throws sound far
- Paintable cabinet, rustproof grille
Already use Sonos? See the Sonos Outdoor speakers. Not sure which suits your garden? Use the 3-tap finder.
Find your kit in three taps
Loud from a small amp and full-sounding. Right for most gardens.
Amazon shows you the items and asks you to confirm before anything goes in your basket. Nothing is bought until you check out.
What you need to play music outside
Wired garden speakers don't plug into the mains or connect to your phone on their own. Every setup needs three things:
- A pair of speakersMounted on an outside wall, ideally under an eave.
- An amplifierPowers the speakers and stays indoors. A small Bluetooth amp lets you play straight from your phone.
- Speaker cableRuns from the amp, through the wall, to each speaker.
Already have a hi-fi amplifier or AV receiver? You only need the speakers and cable.
Complete kits, ready to order
Each kit is everything for one pair of speakers: the speakers, an amplifier and 30 m of speaker cable. Add the whole kit to your Amazon basket in one go, or check each item.
Garden kit
Polk Atrium 6 with a Bluetooth amp. Right for most gardens.
Add kit to Amazon basket
Patio kit
Polk Atrium 4 with a Bluetooth amp. For patios, balconies and small gardens.
Add kit to Amazon basket
Party kit
Klipsch AW-650 with a Bluetooth amp. For long gardens and pools.
Add kit to Amazon basket
Sonos kit
Sonos Outdoor with a Sonos Amp. Controlled from the Sonos app.
Add kit to Amazon basket
Amazon asks you to confirm before adding a kit to your basket. Outdoors, run speaker cable through conduit or use outdoor-rated cable.
Why you should trust us
This site covers one thing: speakers that live outside. For this guide we read the full manufacturer spec sheets for every shortlisted model, cross-checked them against independent reviews from audio publications, and read long-term owner reviews looking for one failure in particular: speakers that stop working after a winter or two. Every pick was on sale at Amazon when we last updated this guide.
Who this is for
This guide is for anyone who wants music in the garden every summer without carrying a speaker outside. Wired speakers mount on a wall, never need charging and spread sound more evenly than a single portable box. You'll need an amplifier or AV receiver to run them, and a way to get cable from it to the wall.
If you only want music on the odd picnic, a portable Bluetooth speaker is cheaper and simpler.
How we picked
We shortlisted more than fifteen wired outdoor speakers and judged them on four things:
- Sensitivity. How loud a speaker plays from one watt. Outside there are no walls to reflect sound back, so this matters more than it does indoors.
- Weather protection. UV, rain and corrosion resistance, and whether the hardware is rustproof.
- Amp requirements. Whether an ordinary stereo amp can drive it, or it needs a specific one.
- Long-term reliability. Patterns in owner reviews after years outdoors.
Polk Audio Atrium 6
The one to buy for a typical garden: loud from a modest amp, full-sounding, and built for years outside.
The Atrium 6 sits in the middle of Polk's outdoor range, and it is the size most gardens need. Its 90 dB sensitivity means a basic stereo amp gets it properly loud, and the 5.25-inch woofer gives noticeably fuller sound than the small speakers most people start with. Polk tests the range for UV, salt fog, moisture and temperature extremes, the hardware is rust-resistant, and the finish is paintable.
Reasons to buy
- Gets loud from a small amp
- Works with almost any amp or receiver
- Paintable, all-weather certified
Reasons to avoid
- Wider cabinet than slim designs
- Mounting bolts not always included
- Woofer
- 5.25"
- Tweeter
- 1"
- Sensitivity
- 90 dB
- Amp power
- 10–100 W
Choosing a size? See Polk Atrium 4 vs 5 vs 6 vs 8, Atrium 6 vs Atrium 4 and Atrium 6 vs Klipsch AW-650.
Polk Audio Atrium 4
The same weatherproof build as our pick in a smaller, cheaper box. Perfect for a patio, balcony or covered seating area.
The Atrium 4 is one of the most-bought outdoor speakers on Amazon, and it earns that. You get Polk's all-weather certification and rustproof hardware with a compact 4.5-inch woofer and an aluminium dome tweeter. At 89 dB it is still efficient enough for an ordinary amp. It won't fill a big lawn, but over a patio it sounds clear and balanced.
Reasons to buy
- Much cheaper than the Atrium 6
- Compact and easy to hide under eaves
- Same weatherproofing as pricier Polks
Reasons to avoid
- Bass thins out below 75 Hz
- Runs out of volume in large gardens
- Woofer
- 4.5"
- Tweeter
- 0.75"
- Sensitivity
- 89 dB
- Amp power
- 10–80 W
Klipsch AW-650
For long gardens, pools and parties. It plays louder per watt than anything else here.
At 95 dB this is the most efficient speaker we looked at. A 6.5-inch woofer and a horn-loaded titanium tweeter throw sound a long way, which is what you want when the seating is ten metres from the wall. The cabinet is UV-resistant and paintable, so it can match your render. Bass stops around 70 Hz; add an outdoor subwoofer if you want deep low end.
Reasons to buy
- Loudest per watt of the four
- Paintable cabinet, rustproof grille
- Accepts thick 12 AWG cable
Reasons to avoid
- Priciest of the four
- Large and heavy at 4.1 kg each
- Woofer
- 6.5"
- Tweeter
- 1" horn
- Sensitivity
- 95 dB
- Impedance
- 8 Ω
How much louder is it? See Polk Atrium 6 vs Klipsch AW-650.
Sonos Outdoor by Sonance
If your house already runs on Sonos, this turns the garden into another room in the app.
Passive speakers designed with Sonance to run from a Sonos Amp. They carry an IP66 rating and meet the MIL-STD-810 standard for humidity, salt spray, temperature and UV. One Sonos Amp runs up to three pairs. Budget for the Amp on top, because the speakers don't work without one.
Reasons to buy
- Controlled with the rest of your Sonos system
- Toughest weather rating here (IP66)
- Pivoting woofer helps aim the sound
Reasons to avoid
- Real cost includes a Sonos Amp
- Poor value if you don't use Sonos
- Woofer
- 6.5"
- Tweeter
- 1"
- Sensitivity
- 89 dB
- Rating
- IP66
Fosi Audio BT20A
A small Bluetooth amplifier that lets you play from your phone, with enough power for garden listening on any of the passive speakers here.
Most homes no longer have a hi-fi amplifier, and passive garden speakers can't run without one. The BT20A is a compact class-D amp with Bluetooth, so you stream from your phone, plus bass and treble controls. It comes with its own power supply and is one of the most-bought amps of its kind on Amazon. Keep it indoors, near where the speaker cable enters the house and within Bluetooth range of where you sit.
Want more headroom to run the Klipsch at party volume? The BT20A Pro is the bigger version.
Reasons to buy
- Play straight from your phone
- Small enough for a shelf or windowsill
- Power supply included
Reasons to avoid
- Not weatherproof: keep it indoors
- Bluetooth range drops through thick walls
Compare every option, including streaming amps with HDMI for a TV, in our guide to the best amplifier for outdoor speakers. Want garden sound from the TV? See how to connect outdoor speakers to a TV.
Compare the specs
| Speaker | Woofer / tweeter | Sensitivity | Amp power | Impedance | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk Atrium 6 | 5.25" / 1" | 90 dB | 10–100 W | 8 Ω | Any amp |
| Polk Atrium 4 | 4.5" / 0.75" | 89 dB | 10–80 W | 8 Ω | Any amp |
| Klipsch AW-650 | 6.5" / 1" | 95 dB | 85 W | 8 Ω | Any amp |
| Sonos Outdoor | 6.5" / 1" | 89 dB | 5–130 W | 8 Ω | Sonos Amp |
Amp power needed to sound equally loud
Every 3 dB less sensitivity needs twice the amp power for the same volume. Relative to the Klipsch:
Check how loud each will be at the distance you sit with our outdoor speaker calculator.
Mounting and wiring
Mount speakers about 2.5 to 3 metres up, under an eave if you can, angled down towards the seating. Space a stereo pair 3 to 4 metres apart, and aim them into your garden rather than over the fence.
Use cable rated for outdoor or direct burial, and go thicker as the run gets longer: 16 AWG (1.5 mm²) up to 15 m, 14 AWG (2.5 mm²) up to 30 m, and 12 AWG (4 mm²) beyond that. For several pairs or very long runs, ask an installer about a 100 V line system.
Full step-by-step instructions, a parts list and common mistakes are in how to install outdoor speakers. Our calculator works out the cable size for your run.
The competition
Pyle 3.5-inch weatherproof speakers: the cheapest wired outdoor pair worth considering and hugely popular on Amazon. Fine for a shed or small balcony at low volume, but the tiny drivers can't match any of our picks. Check price
Herdio 5.25-inch outdoor speakers: a lot of woofer for the money, but less proven than Polk over many winters outdoors. Check price
Polk Atrium 8: Polk's flagship. Worth it for very large spaces; overkill for most gardens. Check price
Polk Atrium 5: sits between our two Polk picks, but it often costs as much as the Atrium 6, which plays fuller. Check price
FAQ
What is the best outdoor speaker for a garden?
For most gardens, the Polk Audio Atrium 6: it gets loud from a small amp and is built to stay outside all year. On a budget, the Polk Atrium 4. For big gardens and parties, the Klipsch AW-650.
Can I leave outdoor speakers out all winter?
All-weather speakers are built to stay mounted year-round. Mount them under an eave where you can and point the cable entry down so water drains away. More in can outdoor speakers stay out in winter?
Do outdoor speakers need an amplifier?
Yes. Wired outdoor speakers are passive, so they need an amplifier or AV receiver. To play from your phone, a small Bluetooth amp such as the Fosi Audio BT20A works well. Sonos Outdoor speakers run from a Sonos Amp. See the best amplifier for outdoor speakers.
How high should I mount outdoor speakers?
About 2.5 to 3 metres up, angled slightly down towards the seating. Step by step: how to install outdoor speakers.
Can I play music from my phone through wired garden speakers?
Yes. Connect the speakers to a Bluetooth amplifier such as the Fosi Audio BT20A, then pair your phone with the amp. The amp stays indoors.
Where should the amplifier go?
Indoors, somewhere dry, close to where the speaker cable passes through the wall and within Bluetooth range of where you sit.
How many outdoor speakers do I need?
One stereo pair covers most patios and average gardens. For a long garden or separate seating areas, add a second pair. Try the outdoor speaker calculator.