ANALYSIS: OUTDOOR LIVING Home Entertainment


Marshall Bromley 450 Portable Party Speaker


guest room. It also doubles as a transportable second screen for weekend breaks. The built-in battery delivers around three hours of use, enough for most movies or sporting events, while the matte anti-glare panel, rear carry handle and ability to run directly from vehicle power make it genuinely practical in outdoor and travel scenarios. There’s no traditional TV tuner onboard. Instead it takes a streaming-first approach, with top tier services such as Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and Prime Video the main source of entertainment.


24 Majority M4 Portable Speaker


Majority’s step-up Move M2 is still compact enough to remain portable, but boasts a 30W speaker and offers Micro SD card playback, useful when streaming isn’t an option. The Move M3 offers more power still, at 40W, while the top of the line Move M4 is the most substantial of the quartet, boasting a whopping 70W power plant. “We wanted to make a range of fun audio


products that meet the needs of how people listen to music every day,” explains Majority founder Eddie Latham. “That they looked modern, had practical features and offered the latest tech - TWS stereo pairing and Bluetooth 6.0 are a breakthrough at the price.” Even at the entry level, waterproofing has become almost mandatory for summer audio. Enter Groov-e’s Wave Spark speaker. Its IPX6 waterproof rating, can-sized dimensions and six-hour battery life make it ideal for beaches, poolside use, festivals and even showers. The pulsing LED lights are a fun embellishment, while the accessible £17.99 price point makes it an easy pick-up for holidaymakers and festival-goers.


Party hard


Marshall, which has already carved a distinctive niche in the portable Bluetooth speaker market, is now looking to turn up the volume with its second party-speaker offering, the Bromley 450.


This portable builds on the success of the larger Bromley 750, but retains the brand’s signature Marshall amp styling, stage lighting, and True Stereophonic 360° sound. Battery life is an impressive 40 hours. Plus it’s also IP55 dust and splash resistant, has microphone and instrument inputs, should anyone want to put on a show. Power output is a stonking 120 Watts. Premium design will always be a major


differentiator in outdoor audio, and audio specialist ELAC leans into that trend with its portable NAVA100. Its £199 price point positions it some way above the Bluetooth portable speaker mainstream. It’s probably best presented as a lifestyle object that happens to travel well. With an aluminium construction, 3-inch full-range driver, dual passive radiators and up to 15 hours of playback, it offers enough sonic and physical substance to justify the premium ticket. “The NAVA100 embodies ELAC’s heritage while answering the way people listen today, portable, powerful, and beautifully designed. It’s more than just a speaker - it’s Music in Motion” enthuses Joe Riggi, President of ELAC Americas Inc. Perhaps the most intriguing development in the broader outdoor living trend is the emergence of portable displays. The MPE7 from Metz is a battery-powered 24-inch Full HD Google TV screen, designed for those who want to watch telly in the garden, or movies in a


Outdoor viewing solutions If punters are looking for something larger, then portable projectors are the obvious step up. Of course, for outside use, buyers will need either a pop-up screen or handy sheet to cast to, The Optoma Photon Go is a compact Ultra Short Throw 1080p projector, with a bright RGB triple-laser light engine. It can cast a 100-inch image from 25cm away.


Brightness is quoted at 650 lumens, so buyers will need to wait until sunset before they line up a movie. There’s Time of Flight auto keystone and focus to aid setup. The Optoma’s lamp-free design also means reduced maintenance. A 10W audio system means no separate speakers are required.


OPTOMA Photon Go Projector


Battery life is limited to just 90 minutes though, so don’t expect to get through the whole of ‘Avatar Fire & Ash’ in one sitting. Interestingly, the Photon Go can also double as a Bluetooth speaker, and in this mode, will entertain for around four hours before it runs out of juice. Clearly, outdoor entertainment is no longer a fringe category. It’s as rich and diverse as everyday home entertainment. Fingers crossed the sun keeps its hat on for 2026.


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