Customer Ratings & Reviews

speaker rounds out my full Sony lineup from the ULT 1 through the ULT 7. Each speaker has its strengths and weaknesses but the ULT 5 really feels like the sweet spot. ULT 1 is a great backpack speaker, ULT 3 is a great small/medium room candidate, and the ULT 7 is a beast for larger rooms or outdoor events. The ULT 5 rounds out the lineup and it truly feels like the best speaker in the lineup if you want a great living room speaker or a trusty road warrior for traveling and smaller/medium outdoor events. The ULT 5 feels like the perfect combination of all of these but volume is your friend. Anything below 40% seems to sound a tad muffled (even with ULT 2 mode selected) the speaker starts breathing like a dragon once you get to 50% and above up to about 90% when you lose a major majority of your bass and compression starts engaging. This speaker can get loud so it’s honestly too much if you want to get it loud enough to reach its full potential sound and eq response wise in a smaller apartment or bedroom. If you want a living room speaker that will hit in the living room as a party speaker or outdoor event speaker, this speaker will do you wonders! Lighting differs depending on which color you buy. I loved the ULT 5 so much that I bought a second one in white after my initial purchase of the black model. Lighting definitely seems brighter on the white model as you get more of a reflection off of the side LED’s mounted around the passive radiators and you definitely can see a noticeable difference between the two color options. The black model doesn’t show the lighting as well unless you are in a darker room and the speaker is placed in a corner. 4 stars you ask? Well that is because the Sony apps just straight up won’t connect or work sometimes. The Sony fiesta app hasn’t worked at all (a general app for features such as lighting and dj effect controls) even after many uninstall and reinstalls. I just get a black screen after opening and it’s been a problem for weeks now without an update. While you can work most of the controls in the Sony connect app, it’s sometimes slow and clunky and the deeper options are really buried in the settings. Feels like a majority of the features are too difficult to mess with on a consistent basis. How does this speaker compare to the XG300 or the xb43? In my humble opinion, the ULT 5 blows them both out of the water in not just sound, but also looks and functionality. While I love my old faithfuls (both still work fine for me and will serve as great options for years to come) you really feel like you are getting a premium device. How does this speaker compare to larger speakers like the JBL boombox or the ULt 7? You won’t get booming bass or thump at louder volumes over 90% but this speaker can nearly compare in loudness indoors. Outdoors the larger rivals really pull away from the ULT 5 but that is to be expected when you see the price difference. This speaker seems to have more of a flat profile for a majority of its volume range and doesn’t focus on a scooped sound like the boombox 3. Shares a similar characteristics with its larger brother the ULT 7 but you do sense more compression throughout the frequency range when you get over 90% in comparison to the ULT field 7 losing more of its bass at 75%. The ULT 7 can get insanely loud but it’s mainly pushing a ton of mids at you and compressing only the low end frequencies to keep the sound pressure numbers high. The ULT 5 lives to be played at medium volumes and it really sounds it’s best at 50-90% when the whole range gets pumping. Both the boombox and the ULT 7 tend to have more kick in the low end and brighter sound at lower volumes that’s seems to be a bit more rounded for lower volumes. The ULT 5 seems almost a bit muffled even with the ULT mode 2 engaged and custom EQ is essentially useless as it cancels out any ULT modes and you lose a lot of your sound pressure. While I do love this speaker in comparison to my other Jbl and Bose on the go faithfuls, I would wait for a sell of some sorts on any of the Sony models. It’s normal for Sonys to routinely go on sale randomly and I’ve gotten great discounts on all of my models by not buying day one or rushing to pay MSRP.

The sound is really sharp and has great volume. It's very easy to connect.

Great Little Speaker. I use it quite often. Battery life seems as expected and volume is good. Quality is high for the size of the speaker. The smaller option is more impressive for the size but not as nice over all.

Been using this speaker everyday since purchasing. Great sound and look. Highly recommend.

I am really impressed with this speaker. I wasn't expecting it to sound this good. With nice base and mid sounds. But the biggest plus is the incredible battery life. Even with regular use, it just keeps on going. Overall a really good wireless speaker rivalling the best out there I would wager.

Great sound and battery seems to hold a long charge

Love the sound and overall durability and battery life

Good sound, excellent volume, perfect size and great quality

I love my new Sony speaker. I was torn between this and the JBL. The Sony is the way to go. It is lightweight and the sound is amazing. I also like the shape and design better than the JBL. Not only is this good for parties, but I even use it in my house regularly to listen to my audiobooks

Loud and portable good sounding speaker with strong bass. Punch way above its size

Amazing sound. Easy to link to any bluetooth device.

Great speaker, good sound and the battery life is very good

Compact size. Quality noise blasts. Purchased two! It’s portable and lightweight!

Good quality sound, I use it at my job site & battery last pretty long with full volume

Replaced a UE bluetooth speaker with this Sony. Checked consumer's reports and this was rated middle of the pack. My take is it does what I want connecting to my android table and phone and windows pc. I don't need to link multiple units. Additionally Best Buy price beat Amazon and I was able to physically check this speaker out. A big plus vs. Amazon .

Not going to lie, the review for a chance to win a best buy gift card is a plus, but this review is official tissue. This is my second speaker, the first one was the off white. My wife liked it so much, she took it from me lol. Then at my job, the kitchen guys would ask to borrow it so much, i had to get them one as well lol I did not get this on sale, the other two I did. Peeps are impressed by the sound considering the size. If you're looking for a modern day boom box, this is it!

Considered several possible replacement models after consultation with very informed Best Buy rep and hearing all the pros and cons regsrding each device I purchased the Sony ULT. GREAT SOUND QUALITY, HIGH VOLUME RANGE,AND SPEAKERPHONE COMPATIBLE. EASY DECISION.

For the size of this speaker I am impressed with the sound of it. The only thing that I like and don't like is the rubber ends. It's great for a professional kitchen like I work in because it's stays put, however putting it into a backpack side pocket is more difficult than I prefer. It's an odd shape and the rubber just doesn't want to be put into the pockets very easily. Other than that, I really like it. Perfect for EVERYTHING else. Sound, durability, looks really cool and unique, and come on, it's Sony. They sort of know how to make a speaker right lol. Can't wait to get a the new field line up.

Has some terrific audio for the compact size. Ease of travel

Needed a new travel speaker, LOVE IT. Great sound and can be heard through the house without being on max volume. Cant go wrong with Sony.