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Sonos is a leading American audio technology company that is best known for pioneering wireless multi-room audio systems, which make it easy for listeners to stream music and other content throughout their homes. The company continues to innovate, creating wireless speakers, home cinema systems, headphones, architectural components, and integrated home audio solutions that revolutionise how people listen and connect to sound.

Rich, immersive audio is often associated with indoor sound systems, but a premium listening experience doesn’t have to be confined by the walls of your home. Thanks to outdoor speakers, you can expand the footprint of your sound system to cover your back garden, patio, or poolside hangout. These speakers are designed to withstand the elements and fill your outdoor spaces with music from morning to night, all year round.

If the phrase “outdoor speakers” sounds a bit broad and imprecise, well, it is. There are various subcategories of outdoor speakers, which distinguish between different capabilities and scenarios. For example, 

 are designed to be installed directly onto an external surface, such as a wood beam or stone wall bordering your back garden or patio. Other types of outdoor speakers include landscape speakers, which blend into your yard’s natural scenery, and 

, which you can take to the farthest reaches of your garden or to places far beyond.

In this guide, we’ll focus on surface-mount 

. But we’ll also touch on portable and architectural options from Sonos to give you a better sense of how you can fill all that fresh air with sound.

If you’re set on extending your home sound system beyond the interiors of your home, outdoor speakers can be a worthwhile investment.

 just leave your patio door open and blast the volume from your living room setup, but that won’t get you anywhere close to a full, detailed sound experience. And, yes, you 

 try to mount indoor speakers on your patio, but those speakers aren’t designed to withstand the elements, so you’d be playing with fire (or water or wind, more likely).

Outdoor speakers don’t only solve the practical challenges of creating a high-quality audio experience 

They do so with style, seamlessly integrating into your home and back garden. Pairing Sonos Outdoor Speakers with a Sonos Amp offers versatile options: create a seamless multi-room audio system that extends from your house to your garden, or set up a standalone powered outdoor sound system. The choice is yours.

Do surface-mount outdoor speakers require special installation?

When weighing whether outdoor speakers are worth it, be aware that most people prefer their surface-mount outdoor speakers to be professionally installed. The brackets included with the speakers can be installed on wood, brick or even stone, giving you a number of positioning options. But since these speakers are passive and must be connected to an amplifier for power (more on that below), you’ll likely need 

installation help from a Sonos professional

If you’re renting and know that you’ll one day need to uninstal the speakers and take them with you to your next place, the cost and effort involved with surface-mount outdoor speakers may not be worth it. On the other hand, if you’re a homeowner and ultimately decide to sell your home, you may choose to leave the outdoor speakers installed and include them in the sale, as they can increase your home’s value and attractiveness to potential buyers.

What are my options if I don’t want to instal outdoor speakers?

If surface-mount outdoor speakers aren’t right for you but you still want access to sound outdoors, you have a few options:

Portable speakers don’t require any drilling or complex wiring, which makes them ideal for those who aren’t ready to commit to a surface-mount system. Sonos options such as the ultra-portable 

 sound great in outdoor spaces and offer streaming over Bluetooth, so you can take music with you wherever you go.

If you prefer your speakers to blend into your outdoor space or patio, in-ceiling speakers could be a great option, but we recommend consulting with a professional to ensure they’ll work in your space. Like surface-mount speakers, architectural speakers typically require professional installation and are passive, meaning you’ll need an amplifier like 

 to provide power. You’ll also want to make sure any architectural speakers you choose are IP-rated and suitable for outdoor use.

Other brands may offer landscape systems with speakers that plant into the ground or otherwise blend in with the natural landscape of your yard or garden. These may require extensive installation and may be more vulnerable to long term wear and tear depending on where they’re placed, but they’re worth considering if you want to cover a larger outdoor space. If you find a set of passive landscape speakers that you like, you can connect them to Sonos Amp for power.

Angle view of an Amp and pair of black Outdoor Speakers by Sonos and Sonance

Are outdoor speakers waterproof and weatherproof?

Most outdoor and portable speakers are outfitted with some degree of protection from the elements. But they are 

 to dust, humidity, water, and other unwelcome intrusions from the physical world.

When evaluating the weatherproof or waterproof qualities of an outdoor speaker, look for its 

. IP stands for Ingress Protection, and this rating system offers an easy way to evaluate how much protection a speaker provides.

There are two numbers in a typical IP code (e.g. IP56, IP66, and so on):

: The first number indicates protection from dust and other solid particles, with a higher number indicating more protection. For example, a 5 means that the speaker is dust-protected, while a 6 indicates that it is dust-tight.

The second number indicates the level of protection against water, with numbers 7 and up indicating that the speaker is fully waterproof (i.e. you can literally drop it in water).

Sonos Outdoor Speakers are rated IP66, which qualifies as highly weather-resistant. Sonos portable speakers, which tend to see a lot of action out in the world, also feature impressive weatherproofing. Move 2 is rated IP56, which is rugged enough to stand up to prolonged use in back gardens, parks, campsites, or wherever you may take it. And if you need a portable speaker that can survive a rainstorm or even a dunk in the pool, the super-robust and waterproof Roam 2 (IP67) is likely your best choice.

In terms of power, speakers can be divided into two groups: 

 have a built-in amplifier that actively powers the speaker, so they don’t need anything else. 

 lack this built-in amp and thus require an 

Sonos Outdoor Speakers are passive (as are all Sonos Architectural speakers). Sonos portable speakers are active and don’t require an external amp (which makes sense, as they are meant to be taken anywhere).

Don’t let the question of power steer you away from passive speakers, as you can easily power any Sonos passive speakers with 

Amp also gives you access to sound-enhancing features such as 

, which optimises the EQ to provide a more robust sound, and the 

 function, which protects against overdrive and helps your speakers come alive. And if you want to add additional speakers as your sonic ambitions grow, you’ll be glad to know that Sonos Amp can reliably power up to three pairs of outdoor speakers (six total).

The exact number of outdoor speakers you need depends on the listening area you want to cover and how you intend to use them.

Sonos Outdoor Speakers are sold in pairs, and it’s a good bet that you’ll need at least two surface-mount speakers to achieve rich sound in most outdoor spaces. But the specifics of outdoor spaces tend to vary even more than indoor spaces. Is it mostly enclosed? Are there traffic or other ambient noises nearby? The answers to these questions may help to determine how many speakers you need, and a professional installer is the best person to provide them.

Outdoor seating area with multiple white Outdoor Speakers mounted overhead

Where should I place my outdoor speakers?

You’ll get the best performance out of your surface-mount outdoor speakers by directing them toward your desired listening area. If you want to position the speakers overhead, you can simply pivot them downward to ensure that they’re pointed at the listening area.

You can orient the speakers horizontally or vertically depending on your aesthetic preferences; rest assured, your choice won’t affect the sound quality. If you opt for a vertical orientation, be sure the 

 is in the upright position with the Sonos logo toward the bottom.

You can read more about correct speaker placement in the 

Outdoor Speakers by Sonos and Sonance installation manual

Sonos Outdoor Speakers are housed in a tough polypropylene enclosure that can be painted to match your preferred aesthetic. Given their exposure to the elements, we recommend using only weather-resistant outdoor paint. Both speaker and grille can be painted, but you should remove the grille from the speaker prior to painting and reinstal it later, after the paint has thoroughly dried.

You find detailed painting instructions in the 

. If you ever need a replacement grille, you can order a pair of 

If your outdoor speakers are connected to Amp, you can control them directly via the 

Of course, you may wish to use a home controller that isn’t on your smartphone, or one that also controls your back garden lighting, hot tub temperature, etc. To which we say: No problem. Just look for the 

 to ensure that any third-party controller or hardware components you buy will seamlessly connect with your Sonos outdoor sound system.

 doesn’t have to stop when you step outside the walls of your home.

Especially in the warmer months, when most of your social activities migrate to the patio or garden, outdoor speakers let you keep the music going. And they’re built to withstand all the elements, so there’s no stopping you from finding your groove even in wet conditions or freezing temperatures.

They also sync up with other speakers from Sonos. Combine them with other 

 to create a whole-home audio system that amplifies every experience, from watching films on the couch to hosting guests in the dining room and back patio.

For help installing and designing your Sonos outdoor speaker system, 

Professional installing a black Outdoor Speaker by Sonos and Sonance

The Beginner’s Guide to Outdoor Speakers

Cleaning your headphones seems like a simple task in theory, but it can be stressful in practice. Many people count their headphones among their most prized possessions, and the idea of damaging them with harsh solvents or excess moisture is simply too much to bear.

But cleaning headphones is actually easy. You can start by getting in the habit of wiping them down daily with a clean, lint-free cloth. For tough smudges and lingering odours, a simple cleaning solution with water and mild soap should do the trick.

Cleaning your headphones does not require an extensive (or expensive) list of supplies. Chances are, you already have everything you need at home:

Tap water should work fine in most places, though you may want to use distilled water if you only have access to hard tap water, which may leave behind mineral deposits if you let your headphones air dry.

 Opt for a mild washing-up liquid and avoid any soaps that contain dyes or fragrances, as these are more likely to damage your headphones (or leave behind a lingering smell of pine or citrus).

This can be a normal flannel, a microfibre cloth, or any other type of soft and non-abrasive material. Just make sure it’s clean and avoid materials that may scratch up your headphones or leave behind residue.

And… that’s it! You don’t need any special soaps or cleaning supplies. You certainly do not need harsh chemicals or solvents like isopropyl alcohol or paint thinner, and you should in fact steer clear of these at all costs. Not only are they unnecessary, but they may well ruin your headphones’ finish.

Pair of black Sonos Ace headphones with the ear cups removed

How to clean headphones: A step-by-step guide

Still nervous about cleaning your headphones? We get it. But if you follow these five simple steps, you’ll have a sparkling pair of headphones before you know it.

 headphones in mind, but they should apply to any pair of 

. (To clean in-ear earbuds, refer to your earbuds’ user manual, as they may contain detachable silicon or foam components that are not safe to disinfect with alcohol.)

1. Turn off and/or unplug your headphones

 water, like the amount we’re using — do not mix. You can avoid unnecessary damage or short circuits by turning off and unplugging your headphones prior to every cleaning session.

Now it’s time to mix your water and mild soap to create a cleaning solution. For a mild solution that’s still effective, the right ratio is something like:

Don’t worry if your measurements aren’t exact — the point is that you really don’t need much soap to mix an effective solution. Just a few drops should do the trick. On a related note, you shouldn’t need more than one cup of water for a single pair of headphones.

A typical pair of headphones has different types of surfaces you’ll need to contend with while cleaning. The hard and non-porous external surfaces (plastic, metal, etc.) are the most straightforward to clean. Start by wiping these surfaces down with a dry, clean cloth. To remove tough smudges, you can dampen the cloth with your mild soap solution.

By “dampen”, we don’t mean “soak.” Your cloth should be damp enough to clean effectively, but not so wet that it leaves droplets of water behind. In any case, take care to avoid any openings or electrical inputs as you clean. If you see a crumb or piece of lint stuck in an input, try to remove it with a soft brush. Just be careful, as you may risk pushing it further in.

Next, remove the ear cushions. This allows you to clean them thoroughly, without risk of damaging the underlying headphone speakers.

You can clean the ear cushions with the same solution and method you used for the non-fabric surfaces. Just keep in mind that they may be constructed from material that’s a bit more delicate, so go a bit easier on them. The ear cushions on Sonos Ace are made from memory foam and wrapped in plush leather, which won’t get damaged by a bit of soap and water.

Before reassembling your headphones, leave the ear cushions off to dry separately, if needed. Some fabrics can soak up water, and it’s best to keep these away from your headphones’ electrical components until they’re totally dry. Air drying is fine, though you can pat lightly with a towel to speed things along a bit.

Once your cushions are dry, pop them back on and enjoy!

Person listening to black Sonos Ace headphones outdoors

Even with proper cleaning, ear cushions will eventually show signs of wear and tear. In fact, cushions are often the first headphones component to break down, as they’re generally constructed from softer fabric and experience regular friction with the ear.

This is an annoyance you simply have to live with if you own a pair of headphones that doesn’t come with replaceable cushions. But as avid headphone wearers ourselves, we designed Sonos Ace with 

 that easily attach with magnets. So, if this was ever a sticking point in your quest to 

The biggest issues often arise when people 

 want their headphones clean and take things a bit too far. When cleaning your headphones, avoid the following at all costs:

Harsh chemicals and alcohol-based solvents

. These are unnecessary and may damage the finish on your headphones.

Yes, this includes submerging your headphones in water. Don’t use any more water than you need, as it may get into the electrical components and affect performance.

. This only applies to headphones with built-in microphones, which can be damaged by applying too much air pressure.

We’ve always designed Sonos products with audio quality in mind. But with Sonos Ace, we also considered the day-to-day aspects of 

wearing your favourite pair of headphones

, 30-hour battery life and pillow-soft ear cushions, you may never want to take them off. Other highlights include:

A custom-designed driver takes full advantage of the over-ear footprint to deliver 

 in a hyperrealistic, three-dimensional soundstage

Effortlessly swap TV audio with a compatible 

Add it all up, and you’re left with the cleanest sound you’ve ever experienced in a pair of headphones — no soap or water required.

Person taking black Sonos Ace headphones out of the case

The Beginner’s Guide to Cleaning Headphones

Raise your hand if this has happened to you: You’re listening to music on your Bluetooth headphones at home and you get up for a snack — only to lose your connection somewhere between your home office and kitchen. This is an all-too-common experience, though it inadvertently doubles as a real-life test of Bluetooth range.

Prior to 2016, most consumer Bluetooth connections topped out at a range of around 30 feet (10 metres) — probably not enough to cover an entire park or back garden, or the floor plan of a large house. However, the launch of Bluetooth 5.0 changed the game, nearly doubling Bluetooth’s range. The latest iteration, Bluetooth 5.4, makes for an even more stable connection at the outermost edges of that range.

Of course, the Bluetooth range of a speaker or headphones usually can’t be pinned down to a precise measurement, as it varies depending on interference from objects, walls, passersby, and even electromagnetic fields. Let’s take a look at why this is the case, and what your best options are for optimal range.

Bluetooth is a relatively short-range wireless technology used to connect Bluetooth-compatible devices. It’s not meant to connect two Bluetooth devices across great distances. Rather, it’s most often used to connect peripheral devices (headphones, speakers, keyboards, etc.) to phones, tablets, or laptops.

With that said, recent advancements in Bluetooth technology have significantly expanded the range of a Bluetooth connection. Generally speaking, devices outfitted with Bluetooth version 5.0 and higher can maintain a connection over a relatively vast range of up to 800 feet (approx. 243 metres) under ideal conditions.

A newer iteration, Bluetooth 5.4, was launched in 2023 but is currently available on only a few devices, such as 

Bluetooth devices use ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio waves to communicate with each other. These radio waves enable easy device pairing without using the internet, but they can also fall victim to various types of interference.

A Bluetooth signal doesn’t have much trouble passing through most solid objects, though some solids are friendlier to Bluetooth than others.

Dense materials (e.g. brick and concrete) and materials with high electrical conductivity (e.g. metal and tinted glass) can be harder for Bluetooth radio waves to pass through. It’s much easier for Bluetooth waves to pass through non-conductive, low-density materials like plastic, wood, glass, and drywall.

Bluetooth devices operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band — the same band used by a host of other wireless devices including WiFi networks, cordless phones, and microwaves. As you might imagine, the 2.4 GHz band can get pretty crowded, especially in areas where an especially high number of devices are being used simultaneously, like hospitals and busy city streets. In these places, you may experience some additional limitations in the range of your Bluetooth signal.

The good news? Bluetooth has evolved to (at least partially) overcome these limitations. Bluetooth 5.3 rolled out a new approach to channel classification, which is the process by which a Bluetooth device evaluates the quality of the radio channels available to it, then chooses the best channel to use for transmission.

In previous versions of channel classification, only the 

 device (e.g. the phone or the laptop) performed channel classification. But in Bluetooth 5.3 and higher, both the central device andthe 

 device (e.g. your headphones) perform channel classification, resulting in a channel selection that’s optimal for both devices and not just one.

Bluetooth 5.0 and higher can also sniff out and squash any frequency impedances that happen at the edges of the 2.4 GHz band — one reason why the music you listen to on Sonos Ace sounds crystal-clear compared to what you’ve come to expect from earlier Bluetooth versions.

The lower the battery on your Bluetooth device, the lower its ability to transmit signals over long distances. So, be sure to keep your device optimally charged, and 

prioritise battery life when shopping for a new pair of headphones

Updates in Bluetooth 5.3 and 5.4 have resulted in more efficient power consumption and battery life. Sonos Ace, which uses Bluetooth 5.4, has up to 30 hours of battery life with 

 enabled — and up to three hours of playback with just a three-minute charge.

Have you ever noticed that your Bluetooth range shrinks during a rainstorm? This has to do with water, another substance that can seriously interfere with a Bluetooth signal. There’s more water in the air during a storm, or during particularly humid weather, so your Bluetooth range may suffer in such conditions.

With that said, your Bluetooth speaker should still function just fine in most weather conditions. That’s why we’ve built our 

Low-grade materials can also lead to a low-grade connection. For example, a cheap battery that can’t hold its charge will lead to a persistently weak signal. And a cheap plastic casing can easily crack open, allowing water and other signal-blocking elements to seep in.

But it’s not just materials; it’s design, as well. A lot of engineering goes into the best Bluetooth products, enabling them to withstand the elements and stay out of their own way. This is the case with 

, which is rated IP67 waterproof and dustproof for optimal performance even when you’re outdoors.

Person listening to black Sonos Ace headphones at an outdoor cafe

Bluetooth technology has a lot to recommend. It’s portable, enables fast and easy connections, and newer versions boast a pretty astounding range. Bluetooth also works in places where it can be difficult to get a WiFi connection, such as the middle of a park or on a long run with headphones. A small class of Bluetooth headphones can even support lossless audio, which was previously thought to be unattainable with a Bluetooth connection.

But! If you want continuous sound in your living space with audiophile-level quality, Bluetooth isn’t the best answer. A 

 with a WiFi connection can offer higher bandwidth and data transfer rates than Bluetooth, enabling 

 without compression. WiFi also has a more extensive and reliable range than Bluetooth and better supports 

, which gives you more flexibility in positioning 

Sonos portables and headphones bring Bluetooth to life

It used to be that using Bluetooth meant prioritising convenience and portability over sound quality. While you’ll still get the absolute best sound quality from a WiFi system, Sonos portables and headphones bring Bluetooth 

 than ever before. With portable speakers like Move 2 and Roam 2, you’ll get amazing acoustics and exceptional clarity no matter which room (or field, or beach, or hiking trail) you listen in.

Person listening to Sonos Ace headphones at the park

What Is the Bluetooth Range for Speakers and Headphones?

Though some listeners prefer their shelves of vinyl and stacks of CDs, most music libraries now exist in digital file formats that are more convenient to store and easier to access on the go. But it’s not particularly helpful to simply describe an audio file format as “digital” because that can mean different things — and different levels of sound quality. In fact, audio files come in multiple formats, and not all of these formats are made equal.

One of the major differences between audio file formats relates to a process called 

. As its name implies, compression makes file sizes smaller. This can be useful for saving storage space on a hard drive, but it can also have consequences for the quality of the original audio recording.

The compression process essentially reduces the amount of data contained in an audio waveform, and this loss of data may result in noticeable loss of quality to the listener. Some audio file formats that undergo this 

 type of compression include MP3, AAC, and Ogg/Vorbis.

However the compression process doesn’t 

 diminish audio quality. Some newer compression technologies manage to shrink the file size while retaining all of the audio information from the original recording; audio files that undergo this type of compression are known as 

Finally, there are audio files that undergo no compression. These 

 audio files are generally much larger in size, but they avoid the audio quality issues that plague some compressed formats.

To summarise, digital audio files can be 

. Let’s dive deeper into each type and explore some common examples.

Lossy audio files are compressed in such a way that some of the original recording’s fidelity is lost. You may find it strange that 

 would prefer a lossy audio file to one that retains all of the richness and complexity of an uncompressed file. However, lossy files tend to take up much less bandwidth and storage space, which makes them a good compromise for music-streaming services.

Before you think “lossy” automatically means “bad quality,” consider whether your ears will even notice the difference. Many people find it difficult to detect any difference between CD quality (16 bits/44.1 kHz) and higher bitrate standards, which some lossless file formats technically achieve. If it makes no difference to your ears, it makes sense to opt for a smaller file size when possible.

On that note, let’s look at four lossy audio file types you may come across.

The MP3 audio file format became immensely popular in the early 2000s. At the time, it was among the most efficient ways to get an audio track from a CD and store it on a digital hard drive or on a “burned” CD. The MP3 file format is much smaller than that of an uncompressed CD audio track.

MP3s were revolutionary for their time and led to a huge leap forward in portable listening, as they were the basis for early digital audio players. You may even still have some MP3s stored on your hard drive, but the format is lossy and some people may be able to pick out the difference between an MP3 and a CD-quality track.

AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding, which is another lossy coding standard used in audio track compression. AAC quality doesn’t rise to the level of 

 but it is a step up from the MP3, delivering better quality at a comparable file size.

Though perhaps not quite as ubiquitous as the MP3, the AAC format is everywhere and you’ve probably encountered it yourself. It was the preferred format of the iTunes music store and continues to be available on AAC-compatible devices.

OGG is a versatile and open-source multimedia compression technology. You may have heard of Ogg/Vorbis, which is an OGG format typically used for audio compression. Spotify frequently uses this format for its streams.

Though lossy, OGG audio files retain quite good sound quality. Their size and quality are both advantages over other lossy compression formats, and they are widely used for streaming audio over the internet.

WMA is short for Windows Media Audio — a hint that this is a proprietary format developed by Microsoft. Though it achieves slightly better quality than MP3, the lossy WMA format is not widely compatible with non-Microsoft devices and thus has limited utility.

Person seated in a chair listening to a white Era 300 placed on a console

The Beginner’s Guide to Outdoor Speakers

The Beginner’s Guide to Cleaning Headphones

What Is the Bluetooth Range for Speakers and Headphones?

Beginner's Guide to Audio File Types (And Which to Use)

What Is Lossless Audio — And How To Stream It at Home

Update on the Sonos app from Patrick

What Is a Speaker Amplifier (And Do You Need One)?

How to Hear Dialogue Better When Watching TV Shows and Films

The Ultimate Guide to Wearing Headphones

Things To Consider When Choosing New Headphones

Which Is Best: Over-Ear vs. On-Ear vs. In-Ear Headphones

How Do Noise-Cancelling Headphones Work?

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