We’ve appreciated several innovative trends in the best outdoor Bluetooth speakers this year: 鈥淭rue stereo,鈥 which lets you pair two speakers at once and play the left channel in one and the right in the other, is available in more and more models. While it may be a clever way of selling you two speakers instead of one, it makes the experience more like sitting in front of your home hi-fi system. Meanwhile, battery life keeps on improving across the board, and it鈥檚 kind of stunning how water-resistant these devices have become: All of the speakers we tested have an ingress rating of at least IP57, which means they can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. If you鈥檝e ever combined a swimming hole and a large dog in the same outing, you know why this matters. All of these upgrades make the new speakers highlighted here some of the best ever for your adventures. After 790 total hours of testing this year, we鈥檝e narrowed down the best Bluetooth speakers for outdoors, depending on your needs and budget.
Update November 2025: This fall we鈥檝e singled out two excellent, super-rugged Bluetooth speakers and added a new pick for 鈥淢ost Portable.鈥 Plus, we鈥檝e updated prices and availability for all. The Brane X holds on to its spot as the best all-around.