9 Portable Gadgets That Can Upgrade Your Patio

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Whether you live in a house or an apartment, the patio is a great place for dining al fresco, entertaining outside, or just getting some sun. For some, the patio is a low-key space to enjoy some fresh air and read a book, but for others, this area is the centerpiece of their home. It's a place for parties and family gatherings, and it can even be a great place for a garden or other types of outdoor projects. No matter which category you fall into, a patio is more than just empty space.

If you're looking to upgrade your patio for added entertainment or relaxation, you're going to want to invest in some gadgets to get the most out of this special space. These gadgets all come recommended from professional reviewers and boast at least a 4.0-star rating on Amazon, and several of them are personal favorites of this writer. Here are nine portable gadgets that can upgrade your patio.

No outdoor gathering is complete without some music, but your iPhone speakers aren't going to cut it. An average Bluetooth speaker might cut it for some people, but if you're a true audiophile, you'll want something with better sound qualities. One speaker I'll personally recommend is the JBL Xtreme 5. JBL is one of the biggest and best brands when it comes to wireless Bluetooth speakers, though some of its cheaper offerings are better for small rooms, with sound quality that falters if you try to crank up the volume. If you want to party in a wider outdoor patio space, you're going to want a bigger speaker, like the JBL Xtreme 5.

Weighing more than 6 pounds, this beast of a speaker pushes the limits of portability, but the tradeoff for its larger footprint is a larger sound without any noticeable loss in sound quality. Whether you are having a party, want to do some outdoor yoga, or just catch some sun while listening to a podcast, the JBL Xtreme 5 is one of the best wireless Bluetooth speakers on the market. At a base MSRP of $399.95, the Xtreme 5 is a bit pricey, but if you're a music aficionado, it's well worth the price. If you want to save a few bucks, though, the older Xtreme 4 or even the Xtreme 3 are also good options, though they naturally come with fewer bells and whistles for A/V enthusiasts.

The worst part about entertaining outdoors is the pests, but mosquitoes might be the biggest offenders. Those blood-sucking insects can absolutely ruin an outdoor gathering, and sometimes it seems that even bug sprays and mosquito-repelling candles often fail to do the trick. So, if you're a mosquito magnet like I am, what can you do to protect yourself?

Thermacell specializes in repelling mosquitoes, and its E-ZoneGuard Patio Max Rechargeable Mosquito Repeller is, as the name suggests, intended to protect your patio from the little pests. At $43.98, this particular model promises protection over a 20-foot radius and 12 hours of wireless battery life. It also comes with a charging dock to extend the battery even further. The scentless spray doesn't leave a filmy residue like typical bug spray, but it's said to be truly effective at keeping mosquitos at bay. As expected, Thermacell offers a variety of mosquito repellants, with some designed to be handheld and mobile while others intended for larger outdoor areas.

When it comes to keeping drinks cold at an outdoor patio party, you have a few options. The most obvious is keeping the food and drinks in your kitchen refrigerator, but this can be inconvenient and disruptive to the outdoor party. Another option is getting a dedicated outdoor fridge for your patio space, although this can be expensive and not feasible for smaller patio areas. You can also use a portable cooler, keeping in mind that these devices have come a long way in recent years.

The Bodega Cooler 12V Car Refrigerator Portable Fridge/Freezer, for example, may look like a typical cooler, but it's really a portable refrigerator/freezer unit. With a foldable handle and wheels, this electric cooler is highly portable, making it ideal not only for patio parties but also beach days and camping excursions. This particular model is designed to fit into a car, so you can put food or drinks into it directly from the store. By the time you drive back home or reach your destination, the items will still be cold. At $414, this cooler is certainly not cheap, but since it's electric, there's no ice required, which means there's no giant mess of water at the end of the party. Who wants to deal with that?

Patios are perfect for outdoor cooking. Many would-be grilling enthusiasts like to think they know exactly when their burgers and steaks are ready to eat, but there's really only one way to be absolutely sure, and that's with a meat thermometer. There's no shortage of meat thermometers out there, but most of the modern ones are needlessly complicated. Why should I have to connect my meat thermometer to an app?

The Thermapen One by Thermoworks is simple, but the perfect meat thermometer. You simply poke the meat, and the temperature pops up on the side of the device, no superfluous app required. Sometimes, simpler is better. The Termapen One was introduced in 2021 as the successor to the Thermapen Mk4. Since then, this device has lived up to its name as the de facto digital meat thermometer. They've released a ton of color variants over the years, but the basic design is unchanged. Then again, why mess with perfection? You just stick it, wait a single second, and then you will know the exact temperature of the center of what's about to be a delicious, perfectly cooked hamburger. Simply put, no self-respecting grill master cooks without it.

When the sun goes down, that's when a patio party can kick into high gear. A firepit in the middle of your outdoor space is an easy way to add some illumination, but why not add more style with string lights? Whether you set these up permanently or hang them up temporarily, these can be a quick and easy way to transform your outdoor space.

One can easily solve the problem with some smart illumination, such as Lifx Outdoor String Lights. You can control these lights with an app from your phone, adjusting the color and brightness to your personal preference. They come with 24 feet of stringed lights, but you can link three of them together, and 72 feet of string lights should be more than enough to give a shine to all but the most grandiose patio areas. The only issue is that your Wi-Fi needs to extend to your patio, but there's a solution for that, too.

As mentioned above, if you want to take full advantage of your patio area in today's era of smart devices and integrated apps, you must make sure your home Wi-Fi setup extends to the patio. If you search online, you can easily find a lot of so-called "Wi-Fi extenders," which promise to boost your internet speeds and range, but most of them are snake oil. Even the ones that work and actually extend your internet's range have the downside of crippling internet speed.

In this situation, the ASUS ZenWiFi BT8 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Mesh makes it so there's simply no need for Wi-Fi extenders anymore. If you're not hip to the scene, Wi-Fi mesh systems use multiple devices to create an interlinked Wi-Fi network without sacrificing latency and connection speed. The $279 Asus ZenWiFi BT8 earned top marks from Consumer Reports, and it is rated to provide enough coverage to handle a 5,900 square-foot home — that should be more than enough to cover your home and outdoor space. If you're having internet trouble on the patio, get one of these. It should clear up all of those pesky Wi-Fi dead zones and allow you to make use of your online devices while outside.

Patio parties are easy because there's more space for your guests, but sometimes it can be miserably hot on a cloudless, windless summer day. While outdoor air conditioner units are an option, they're pricey and energy inefficient. On the other hand, a misting fan can keep you cool on a hot day at a fraction of the price. Take, for instance, the $156 Ryobi 18V One+ Hybrid Whisper Series Misting Air Cannon, which is a cordless misting fan.

Like all misting fans, the advantage of this device is that you can connect it to a garden hose to spray a mist of cool water to dampen the summer heat. So, whether you're having a group of people over or just want to stay cool while tanning on your patio, the battery-powered Ryobi misting fan is a compact and portable solution. Just point it at your patio, and the results will speak for themselves.

Who says patios have to be limited to the summer months? If you have a nice outdoor living space, you might want to use it all year round. But if summer is too hot, then winter is too cold. What to do? A fire pit is always an affordable option, but then you have to find firewood and be sure you properly tend to the outdoor flames. A safer, easier alternative is an outdoor heater, such as the ThermoMate Outdoor Indoor Electric Patio Heater.

This oscillating heater is priced at $189, weighs less than 12 pounds, and it is rated to cover 100 square feet. And you don't have to worry too much about overdoing it, since it has a tip-over protector, protection from overheating, and fireproof brackets. That's not to say you should ever leave a product like this unattended, though. Used improperly, any kind of space heater can be a dangerous fire hazard. It's the kind of gadget you should never leave plugged in overnight. As such, keep it away from flammable objects and, just in case, keep a fire extinguisher or the garden hose nearby.

So, you've got all these cool gadgets. Great, right? There's only one final problem that needs to be solved: how are you going to keep these devices charged? There are certainly outdoor power outlets available, but they're probably in use by one device or another already. A regular handheld power bank probably isn't sufficient for more than your cell phone. Not every device has an unusually long battery life. If you want to charge multiple heavy-duty pieces of patio equipment, you're going to need a heavy-duty battery.

Enter the Anker Solix C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station. Anker is a prominent name in this space, and it's an essential gadget for camping, hiking, and everything outdoors. In addition to outlets for power cords and USB cables, the $500 Solix can charge itself using solar power, so if you decide to go camping, take this with you. If it's a cloudy day, though, don't worry about it. This device can charge from empty in just 49 minutes using the included AC connector. That's not just fast: it's Guiness World Record fast. Throw in a five-year warranty and a 3000W peak, and the result is a charger that's more than capable of handling just about anything you can plug into it.

All of these products were chosen for their utility on patios and front porches of various sizes. Individual products were chosen based on a combination of personal experience, professional reviews, and reputable enthusiast blogs from across the internet. Additionally, every product here has at least a 4.0 user review score on Amazon, indicating overall satisfaction from everyday consumers.