Music outside is usually one of two compromises. Either somebody carries a portable speaker out to the table and carries it back in again, or you wire speakers under the eaves and hear everything from one corner of the yard. This is the third option. It is a 22 centimetre moulded rock with a driver in the face and a solar panel on top, and once it is sitting in the garden bed nobody looks at it twice. It charges itself, it pairs to a phone from ten metres away, and it stays outside permanently because it is built to.

Why It Stands Out

• It Disappears — ABS and resin with a painted stone finish, 222 by 178 by 171 millimetres. Among planting or on a gravel bed it reads as landscaping, which is the whole reason garden speakers are made this shape.
• It Charges Itself — A polycrystalline panel on the top face keeps the battery up through daylight. A solar speaker that lives outdoors never needs carrying in to charge.
• USB as Well — After a week of grey weather, plug it in through the port under the flap and it is back to full. Two ways to charge means it is never out of action.
• Lithium Iron Phosphate Cell — 1500 mAh of LiFePO4 rather than ordinary lithium. It is the chemistry that handles heat and long outdoor life better, which matters in a rock sitting in an Australian summer.
• Five to Ten Hours — A full charge covers an afternoon and an evening, depending how loud you run it.
• Remote in the Box — Power, volume, track skip and a timer from a wireless remote, so a weatherproof speaker twenty metres down the yard does not need anyone walking to it.
• Pairs With a Second — TWS pairing means two of them run together as one system, one on each side of the patio.

Where to Put It

• In the Garden Bed — Among low planting at the edge of the paving, facing the seating. It is the position the shape was designed for.
• On a Gravel or Pebble Area — Where it genuinely vanishes. Nobody picks out one rock among forty.
• Beside the Outdoor Setting — A metre or two from the table, low down, so the sound comes up rather than across people's faces.
• At the Pool Edge — Back from the wet zone on the paving or in the garden behind it, where pool speakers want to be anyway.
• Either Side of a Deck — Two units at opposite corners as deck speakers, paired, so the whole deck is covered instead of one end of it.
• Along a Path — Set into the planting beside a walkway, which is where landscape speakers end up in any professional install.
• By the Barbecue — Within remote range of wherever the cooking happens, so the volume comes down when someone starts talking.

How It Works

1. The Panel Keeps It Topped Up — The solar cell on the upper face charges the battery through daylight. Nothing is plugged in and nothing is carried indoors.
2. Bluetooth 5.0 Does the Connecting — Press pairing once and it appears on a phone, tablet or laptop. Effective range is ten metres, so the phone stays with you rather than next to the speaker.
3. The Remote Does the Rest — Power, volume, tracks and timer from the handset, which is what makes an outdoor wireless speaker practical once it is sitting in a garden bed out of reach.
4. Two Make a Pair — Pair a second unit over TWS and they run as one system with a stereo spread across the space instead of a single point of sound.

How to Set It Up

1. Charge It Fully First — Give it a day in sun, or an hour on USB, before the first use so the battery starts full.
2. Open the Flap, Press On — The rubber cover on the rear panel lifts to reach the on/off button, the pairing button and the USB port. Close it firmly afterwards.
3. Pair the Phone — Press pairing and select it in your Bluetooth list. It reconnects on its own after that.
4. Place It Low and Facing In — Driver pointed at where people sit, sitting on the ground rather than on a table. Sound travelling across a space at seated height carries better than sound thrown down from above.
5. Keep the Top Clear — The panel is the upper face, so no overhanging foliage and nothing resting on it.

Tip: Put it a little further away than feels right. A speaker at the edge of the garden fills a patio evenly; the same speaker a metre from the table is loud for two people and nothing for the rest.

Care and Maintenance

• Wipe the Panel — Dust and pollen on the top face cost charge. A damp cloth every few weeks is the whole job.
• Keep the Flap Shut — Check the rubber port cover is seated after every charge. An open flap is the one way weather gets in.
• Brush the Grille — Leaf litter and cobwebs collect across the driver mesh. A soft dry brush, never a hose straight at it.
• Top It Up Over Winter — Short days mean a USB charge every few weeks keeps the cell healthy through the quiet months.

Specifications

What's Included

• 1 × Solar rock speaker
• 1 × Wireless remote control