They’re zany. They’re unique. And they’re actually pretty cool! Today we’re looking at some of the more unusual things on Audio Punch: bluetooth speakers that looks like a rock!
In This Guide
Top reasons to install exterior rock speakers in your garden
- Create a fantastic ambiance in your garden
- Definitely a unique conversational piece!
- Brill for parties and BBQs
- Make your plants grow faster *
* This might not be true
Get to it – what’s the best fake rock speakers!
While not exactly a market with a great deal of competition, we’ve found some really top notch rock-shaped outdoor speakers in our tests. The best of the rocky bunch are:
- Lithe Audio All-in-one
- Qacoustics Qinstall Qi65
- Eagle 50w Outdoor Garden Rock Speaker
There’s a full overview of them all below, these exterior speakers are way ahead of the other ones we’ve seen.
What we look for in a garden rock speaker
Think it’s easy making a realistic rock speaker? Think again! There’s a lot that can go wrong. Here’s the stuff we DO look for comparing outdoor speakers in this unusual area.
- Durability – There’s weather. Then there’s UK weather. If something is going to go ‘out there’, it’s got to be tough. It needs to be the Dwayne Johnson of garden speakers.
- Sound quality – as weird and wonderful as these outdoor speakers are, they’re just that. Speakers. And they better make the grade when it comes to sound quality.
- Connectivity – What’s a rock if you can’t connect it to your Bluetooth? Welcome to 2021! A strong BT connection is a must here. We look at how stable the BT is.
- Overall Rocky-ness – want some embarrassing chunk of plastic you’re ashamed to put in the garden? Neither do we. One thing we’ve looked at is how organic looking each rock speaker is. Sure, you can hide them behind a planter, but kinda defeats the object, don’t you think?
In the next part of the guide, we’ll go over some of the more awesome outdoor rock speakers you can get to sit pretty in your garden and, well, rock out.
#1 Choice: Lithe Audio All-in-one
About this garden rock speaker
You’re getting a pair of garden rock speakers that are made from touch fibre glass and have everything built in. Once set in place and powered up, you can play the music you like from your phone or tablet. This is a mains only powered unit and it’s happy being left outside.
There’s plenty more pics of this awesome rock speaker here on Amazon.
Simple, easy setup
Like spending hours mucking around setting stuff up? Nah, neither do we. Lithe nailed the setup process with their funky garden rock speakers. It’s literally just a case of picking a good place in your garden, plonking them down and plugging in. To that end, you’ve got a 1.5m power cable to play with.
Quick Bluetooth setup and stable connection
Getting your tunes blasting out in the garden is really easy with this rock speaker set. There’s no app to download, simply pair over Bluetooth and kick back in the garden and enjoy your favourite music. Once set up, you should be able to get this thing connected and playing in under a minute.
Solid construction
This speaker is definitely rough and tough. It has a decent weighty feel to it and it’s fine to leave out all year round. These kinds of speakers can actually look a bit better once they’ve been in your garden for a while and picked up a good old fashioned bit of mud here and there!
Great sound quality
Did we mention the Lithe rock speaker sounds awesome too? The built in amp does a great job of driving the sound, with plenty of bass and volume for garden parties, while it also performs well at lower levels. All round, this is a top quality sound.
Aesthetics – does it look like a rock?
One thing that we would point out on this speaker, that’s not always apparent from the images, is that this fake rock speaker has a very dark coating. It’s closer to a black than a gray, although the granite looking flecks help it look more rock-esque.
Verdict
BEST QUALITY GARDEN ROCK SPEAKER
The sound quality with the Lithe rock speaker is top notch and definitely best in class. The thing is also definitely built to last. Setup is easy and it does exactly what it’s meant to. We highly recommend talking a look at this one.
- Very good build quality
- Top tier sound quality
- Easy set up
- No problems at all with bluetooth
- Happy outside whatever the weather
- Very dark aesthetic might not be to everyone’s taste
#2 Qacoustics Qinstall Qi65
What kind of rock speaker is this?
the Qi 65 is an all-in-one outdoor garden speaker. It’s mains powered only and plays music from any Bluetooth device such as your phone.
Looks like a real rock
Unlike some other outdoor garden rock speakers, the Qi65 nails the aesthetic and has a subtle look that will blend beautifully into any garden. The paint effect and the subtle mesh speaker cover are all very well done.
Will it rock my garden?
The sound quality is fantastic with the Qi65. It doesn’t distort at louder volumes and both bass and mid level sounds are clear and well defined.
Connectivity
There are no problems connecting via Bluetooth to this rock speaker. You can get on with the more important stuff like picking the right music and getting your garden looking just how you like it.
Nobody is going to knock this thing over
If you’re looking for a good garden speaker that you don’t have to worry about, and can leave it outdoors, even in bad weather, this is a really good choice. The toughened reinforced polymer cabinet certainly feels like it can take some serious punishment, which it will likely get in the UK’s outdoors.
You can also relax a bit because it comes with a nice juicy 5 year warranty.
Verdict
BEST FOR: Anyone looking for a solid, reliable speaker that looks and sounds really good.
The Qi65 is a seriously nifty little garden speaker that you won’t have to hide out the way. It does actually look like a a rock and the sound quality is brilliant. The cabinet feels like it’s going to last a long time and it’s backed up with a full 5 year warranty.
- Makes light work of any kind of music
- Sounds great at louder volumes, with zero distortion
- Perfect aesthetic (looks like a real rock at a glance)
- Easy setup
- Bluetooth works great
- Not the cheapest outdoor speakers, especially if you’re buying more than one
#3 Eagle 50w Outdoor Garden Rock Speaker
About this rock speaker
the Eagle 50w speaker is an outdoor speakers camouflaged as a natural looking rock. They are not active and need to be connected up to a hifi or amplifier. You can buy one, or a pair of them to play music in your garden. They’re fine to leave outdoors and can withstand heavy rain and other ‘bad’ weather.
Great speakers at a budget price
Whether you’re plugging the Eagle speakers into your amp, or straight into the HiFi, they deliver a good sound, with a decent level of bass. Especially considering they are 50W speakers. You’ll need to buy some additional cables though, which will add to the price. (Get some nice THICK speaker wire, to make sure it will last outdoors).
Excellent natural looking design
Ths is one of the more ‘rocky’ looking outdoor speakers you can get. The light mottled rock paint, combined with the asymmetrical rocky shape looks great and you won’t need to hide it behind anything.
Simple set up
You’ll need to run cable(s) from your HiFi but there’s no power cables to worry about here. Setting the speakers up is not difficult once you’ve figured out how to run the cables into he house. The good part about this is you’ve got complete freedom of playing anything from your system.
Verdict
BEST ROCK SPEAKERS FOR: Anyone with an existing amp or setup looking for a good budget set of outdoor speakers.
They look good and they don’t cost the earth. Obviously there’s compromises to be made on sound quality at the 50w level.
- Impressive sound quality considering the price
- Excellent granite effect
- Perfect for patios, BBQs and any sized garden
- May be too meek for larger gardens
The Big Party Speaker BUYER’S GUIDE
All-in-one rock speakers
As well as looking the part, and being completely 100% rock-like, your new outdoor speakers are going to have to actually put out a decent sound too. To this end, the typical setup is one speaker will be the active one, with an amp built into it, and the other will be a slave speaker.
Types of Bluetooth rock speakers
While there’s not a gigantic marketplace for decent rock speakers, there’s still plenty to choose from. When it comes to power, they generally fall into one of 3 categories.
- Mains powered – most common and a good permanent solution.
- Rechargeable battery – less to set up, but more work long term
- Solar – Less choice of products but a great choice with less work
- No power! Some speakers are just speakers and will require an amp (or use your HiFi)
Does this speaker actually look like a rock?
Another ‘captain obvious’ point here, but we’ve seen our fair share of rock speakers that didn’t exactly look too rock-like, if you know what I mean. While a butt-ugly rock speaker can always be craftily concealed and still do it’s job, we recommend finding one that has a good paint job and blends into your garden…
You know, like a rock speaker actually should!
Rock Speaker Waterproofing
The UK weather isn’t exactly all fun in the sun so the idea of leaving any electrical item out there a the mercy of the British weather is enough to get anyone worried. Especially as some of these speakers can set you back a few hundred quid.
Outdoor rock speakers use the IP waterproofing scale. This gives you a good guide as to just how wet they can get and not have any problems.
A bit about wireless range
The main way to get your tunes blasting out of your new secret rock speakers is going to be via Bluetooth, more than likely from your phone, although any tablet or Bluetooth device can be used. The range refers to the distance you can stream your music to the rocks.
Yes folks, in 2021 we’ve now got Bluetooth rocks!
Leaving them out all year round
As long as you check your new rock speakers are built to be left outside in the UK, you can actually leave them out there all year round. While they’re not made from actual rock (although that would be cool) construction is generally decent quality fiberglass and will be fine to leave outdoors.
Having said that, if you’re not going to be having any parties int he winter months, it might be an idea to stash them in the shed to keep them ‘nice’ once a year.
A decent HEFT!
It sounds slightly ridiculous saying that rocks should be heavy but a light weight, flimsy speaker is not going to fair well in the UK. A good garden rock speaker should be easy enough to carry around but still have a few KGs to stop it getting blown all over the place.
The Big Party Speaker FAQs
How do you power them?
Depending on which rock speakers you buy for your outdoor space, they’ll generally need an outdoor mains plug. There are more temporary solutions if you don’t have one of those, or don’t want to mess around with wires. Some speakers are rechargeable.
What sort of temperature ranges do rock speakers operate at?
This is something that can vary between speakers but, generally speaking, your rock speakers should be perfectly happy at temperatures at anything from -20°C up to around 85°C.Although we would’t recommend sitting in your garden for long at -20°C.
What if the cable is too short?
One weird thing we found was that often the cable you get with your rock speaker isn’t exactly the longest. If you’ve got a larger garden and are planning on having the speakers a good way from your socket, oyu might want to look at getting a waterproof extension cable to make life easier.
Will I need cables?
This one is definitely worth checking as not all outdoor rock speakers include cables. More than likely, if you’re buying all-in-one speakers, the cable will indeed be in the box but it’s less certain with non-pwoered speakers. You may well have to order yourself some speaker cables to go with them from Amazon, or another retailer.
