Sony ULT Field 1 speaker tested: is cheap also expensive?

Bram Veldt

When you say Sony, you say quality, but that also has its price. Sony wants to change that with the introduction of the ULT sub-brand. With ULT, Sony is mainly aiming at a younger target group and this is also reflected in the name ULT. ULT is used by (mainly) gamers as an abbreviation for Ultimate or Ultimate. Since young people often have (slightly) less to spend, Sony opts for a striking price-quality ratio that should appeal to young people. With Sony ULT, Sony wants to compete with JBL, which does not always have cheap recommended prices for its products, but is interesting in terms of (online) retail prices.

Sony ULT Power Sound series
Sony recently launched the ULT Power Sound series, consisting of the ULT TOWER 10, ULT FIELD 7, ULT FIELD 1 wireless speakers and the ULT WEAR wireless headphones. The ULT Field 1 has a recommended retail price of 139 euros, making it much cheaper than the ULT Field 7, which has a recommended retail price of 450 euros. Is the ULT Field 1 a good choice in terms of price-quality? Read our review here to find out.

Design
The Sony ULT Field 1 is 20.6 x 7.7 x 7.6 cm in size, weighs 650 grams and is therefore a fairly small and light speaker. The box also has a carrying strap so you can easily take the box anywhere. The speaker comes in different colors, namely: black, off-white, gray (forest gray) and orange. The box contains the following:

• 1x Sony ULT Field 1
• 1x USB-C cable
• 1x manual

There are a number of buttons on the speaker, starting with the on/off button on the far left and next to it the Bluetooth button. You use the latter to connect the speaker to, for example, your smartphone. This is only necessary if you connect it for the first time, after which it will be in your settings under Bluetooth. There is also a pause button on the box; the music is (of course) paused when you receive a (hands-free) call. Use the plus and minus buttons to make the sound louder or softer. The last button is the ULT button, which increases the bass. If you listen to music and you click on this, there is a small interruption in the song, but this is not disturbing. A funny detail about this ULT button is that it shows different colors from different perspectives. At the back of the box there is another compartment behind which you can place the ULT Field 1 thanks to a USB-C port. Furthermore, the box is dust, water and shock resistant with IP67 protection.

Sound
The Sony ULT Field 1 has a total of 2 speakers with a tweeter and a woofer; the tweeter unit has a diameter of approximately 16 mm, while the woofer unit measures approximately 83 x 42 mm. The speakers provide a good sound experience, even at a not too loud volume. If you want to use the box with even more bass, click the ULT button for ULT POWER SOUND and listen to your music with lots of bass.

App
To adjust your box’s sound settings, you’ll need to download and install the Sony Music Center app. In this app you can open various music apps such as Spotify and you can create playlists with your favorite songs in the app. In the app, go to settings and then choose Sound. Do you want to use the equalizer? Then set Sound Effect to Custom and then you can use the equalizer. There is also a QR code on the inside of the box that leads you to an online manual and it also tells you to download the app.

Battery
As mentioned earlier, the battery lasts 12 hours: this applies if you set the volume to 25 and also have the ULT POWER SOUND on. It lasts about 3 hours if you set the volume to 50 (maximum) and turn on the ULT POWER SOUND again. The power consumption of the box is approximately 7.5 W. A USB-C cable is supplied with the box, but unlike the larger ULT Field 7, there is no AUX connection.

Differences with the ULT Field 7
That said, these are more differences between the Field 1 and Field 7: the latter has two ULT SOUND modes (Deep Bass and Attack Bass) and the Field 1 only has the POWER SOUND on and off. Furthermore, the Field 7 has Sound Field Optimization, lighting and is almost 10 times heavier at 6.3 kilos.

Conclusion
All in all, it is a good box that performs well despite its size. The sound quality was good and in the app you can adjust the sound to how you want it with the equalizer. It is nice and small, light and has a strap that makes it very handy if you want to take it somewhere. The speaker is also water, dust and shock resistant. In short, by Sony standards, this is a relatively cheap speaker, but it is certainly a good buy.

Product: Sony ULT Field 1
Recommended retail price: 139 euros

+ good sound quality
+ very handy because compact and light
+ 12 hours of battery life

– app could be more extensive
– no power bank function