Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Sony ULT Field 5 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker has mind blowing sound for it's size! The bass and rich sound that fills my entire backyard using this speaker is what I would expect from a much larger package. The ULT Field bass options are surprisingly distinct, and I am very happy with how they enhance the music in their own unique ways. Even when you are listening to bass heavy music however, this speaker maintains excellent sound quality with clear mids and crisp highs. The portable factor of this speaker is very impressive as well. You can use the included shoulder strap to take this to the lake or beach, have more than enough battery life to use this all day or night, and not have to worry about splashes of water with its impressive level of water resistance. The party lights really add to the fun, especially when using the speaker at night! It is a cool extra touch that really helps this speaker stand out, as if the excellent build and sound quality wasn't enough! This speaker is an absolute joy to use, and it will definitely be going with me everywhere this summer!

I love the sound quality but this product has a major flaw, and Sony support’s recommendation is unacceptable! When listening to music paired to my iPhone 16 Pro Max, the speaker will pause the music when a notification is received on my phone. I unpause to listen again and another notification comes in only to pause the music again. Yes, you heard that right! I finally got tired of this happening so i reverted back to my inferior Bose Soundlink speaker. Sony recommended that I put the iPhone in DND mode and that simply isnt an option, the speaker shouldn’t behave in this manner. Yes, the firmware is up to date. What a major FAIL!

I really like a lot that Sony has done here, and I think most will as well, but there are a few things to look at to make sure this is the speaker for you. The first thing to consider is the size. I suppose it might be considered a bit larger and heavier than quite a few portable speakers out there. I do like the size, and while it might require a bit more thought than simply “tossing it in your bag,” I still think it is quite portable. The included strap works well, and I really like the fact that it is removable, and the attachment points go flush and mostly “disappear” when not in use. I also really like the look. Black. Simple. Clean. I like the squared off shape. This also allows the speaker to easily be placed either horizontally or vertically. A nice add for me. Further, while I am not typically a fan of RBG, lights, etc…I think Sony implemented the “party lights” well here. That said, they are not overly bright, and you will really need a dark space to get the most out of them. Lastly, while I typically take my speaker to safe spots, it is nice to know the IP67 rating means I have some peace of mind if/when it comes with me to beach, pool, lake, desert, or mountains. If, lol. As for the sound, it definitely gets quite loud, fills well, is mostly clean, has some nice low ends, and I like it overall. Out of the box, it sounds “good,” but I really think it is worth the time to both play with the equalizer and explore both ULT modes. I really think it improves the sound quite a bit. For me, I preferred the ULT 2 mode, as well as when I played with the EQ separately. All in all, I am very pleased with the sound. Again, I think most would benefit from dialing it in to your likes. Connectivity is great. Pairing has been quick and easy. My connections have been rock solid. A real nice add for me is the Aux In capability. These are getting harder to come by, but they offer some nice flexibility and versatility. Additionally, Sony offers “Party Connect” which allows you to sync up multiple speakers (up to 100? lol). I have not tested this, but it’s nice to know it is there for down the road. Battery life so far has been fantastic. It has been as rated (25 hours), but of course this will depend on how you use your speaker. While I did tout the lighting above, it does drain the battery somewhat aggressively. It’s just not something I will really use, just something to note. Charging is via USB-C, and, frankly, is great. A 10-minute charge gives 100 minutes of use. Further, the USB-C port has In/Out capability. Not saying this is something you should always rely on, but you can charge your phone via the speaker. Just another nice add when you are in a pinch. Lastly, the Sony Sound Connect app is done well. Nothing fancy, but you get nice control over your speaker. EQ, updates, lights, settings…it is all there. Ultimately, I really like this speaker. It looks good, has a nice feature set, and most importantly to me, sounds good. It is a bit premium, but I think the value is there.

Boomy and bassy. Not in a good, clear way. If one simply wants to make muddy noise this will do it loudly. I like Sony but this makes no pretense at hifi. In fairness, it has a party market.

I have realized the value of a multipurpose, “go anywhere” speaker the more I do things like camping and hanging out with friends in the yard. This little, but powerful speaker has raised the bar for me for awesome sound, portability, and just fun. The highs and mids project out from the center, and on either end are woofers that give you a really big sound for such a small device. The end drivers are behind vibrating diaphragms that are exposed, and that would be one of things I’d be nervous about in more active environments. The speaker has an IP rating for dust and water resistance, which makes this a great outside device. I haven’t taken it for a battery longevity test yet, but just having around the house, in the week or so I have had it, it seems to be pretty good. The real feature Sony is showcasing on this speaker is the multiple ULT settings that it uses for tuning your music. This speaker is here for bass, for punch, and I would says the ULT button on the top gives you a measure of feeling your music. I personally don’t notice too much of a difference between the two options, except that ULT 1 feels a little less punchy to me than ULT 2, but slightly clearer highs and mids if I had to distinguish between the two. ULT 2 is for the bass head in other words. The speaker really puts out a huge, clean sound, and I really like it. On the top of the speaker are two rubberized blocks embedded in the body. These pull out and provide loops for an included strap. So this is a throwback for me having a stereo with a handle! The Bluetooth connection is strong, and I have had no issues connecting to it. It’s heavier than it looks, but not so heavy to be a nuisance. And in my estimation this is due to the amount of effort Sony put into the internals to provide a really great sound. It fills the room! Overall, I highly recommend this speaker. It definitely fills my must haves for an all around sound device for outside and inside.

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 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. 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. 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.

When I saw this speaker, I immediately thought of the community events my company supports or sponsors. What would be more fun for the kids then music with party lights? It came just in time to try it for an event that weekend. It came well packaged and is very easy to use. It even has a demo feature so you can immediately hear what you're getting. The sound is great. And not just for a portable speaker. The sound was better than the speakers we usually use in our Hall. It comes with a strap that is easy to put on and take off so it can be carried on your shoulder. It is nice and fairly compact so it doesn't take up much room. When used outside, the sound wasn't lost in the backround noise. It is charged through USB cable and we played it for over two hours with no issue. There were no issues with connection to play our desired playlist. The directions are easy to understand and follow. The party lights pulse to the beat of the music. They are located at each end and show in two places, in the middle of the end and around the "shoulder" of the speaker. While I absolutely love this speaker, I have 3 issues with it. While the lights are great, they really don't add much in daylight. The light around the shoulder might as well not be there as it really isn't seen. The lights were much more effective when the lights were dimmed as you'd expect. Second, I found this speaker heavy for something portable. This is not something I could carry around all day without feeling it weighing me down more and more given the only hands-free way to carry it is by the shoulder strap. Though given the way the strap is attached I wonder if there is a way to attach it to a backpack which, at least for me, would eliminate a lot of the weight issue. The third isse for me is that other than the shoulder strap, there is no way to pick-up or carry the speaker other than your hands which for me means two hands. It needs a handle of some type so one doesn't have to constantly adjust the shoulder strap to make carrying it more manageable. Perhaps a separate small strap that would act as a handle could be added. Overall, I thought this speaker added much to our community event and it will see much use in the future not only for events but it is now in demand enough by our various ministries, its use is now officially scheduled.

I got this so that my wife and I could crank out some tunes from our phones in our home gym. Seeing the physical size, you're a bit shocked when you hear the amount of sound that pumps out of this little thing (right around a foot long) and for how little space it takes up. We do use an equalizer app to crank up the bass a little, but at the end of the day it sounds good - it sounds REALLY good! It has built-in RGB "party lighting" , which can be turned off, or will automatically adjust itself to the music playing. It has a built in battery that recharges when on power that lasts 24 hours, so this could be useful for a day at the beach/in the park, or even for an afternoon hike as it includes a carrying strap that could be use to sling it over your shoulder or across your chest, or attach to your pack. No issues at all pairing two devices to it, no app required either. Over the past few years I've reviewed several Sony bluetooth speakers - all had RGB lighting and were portable. Compared to those, this speaker shows the continued advancement in technology and definitely does not disappoint - bravo Sony!

Bought at bestbuy ,bring home and couldn’t turn it on tried to charge it - no response Returned next day Best Buy refunded without problems

Bring the party anywhere you go. Need to keep the volume and bass up? Need some party lighting? This is the wireless speaker for you. As an owner of several wireless and portable speakers, High end and lower end, I was expecting the Sony to be so impressive. This speaker is a little on the larger side as far as most portable Bluetooth speakers go. At about a foot long and seven inches tall the provided shoulder strap is a great feature so you don’t have to use both hands to carry it. Sound quality is better than expected loud clear sound and just enough bass. A little extra bass can be added with a touch of a button easily accessible on the top of the speaker. Battery life is great as well but if you listen to music all day like I do charging is done through a USB type C located on the back of the speaker. If you opted for the lighted speaker the RGB LEDs are located on the ends on the speaker and flash to the beat of the music. This adds a nice little fun factor that looks pretty cool in a dark room. So if you’re looking for a nice quality speaker to keep the party going or to fill whatever area you want music in. This is a really nice option.

Worst Sony portable speaker the ULT have no real bass as for the XB 40 they were very good they need to go back to that speaker set up XB40s

This speaker is about 4 times the size of a typical 'pill' sized portable bluetooth speaker. But, it's ok, because it's still fairly portable. There are a couple clear advantages to its bigger size: bigger sound and bigger battery. I wasn't super blown away by the sound on first play, but it's still dramatically better than smaller speakers. It has two equalizer presets, "power" and "bass". I found depending on the music and space I was listening in one present would sound better than the other, or maybe even use none of them. There is an "ULT" button at the top, which you can use to change the presets. But, unfortunately, it just plays some unusual sound effects when switching, so it's hard to know which one you are on. The speaker can be used with the "Sound Connect" app on Android/iPhone which lets you also control the settings, such as turning off the light, setting battery saver mode, and changing the equalizer preset. It also has gimmicky DJ effects you can play on the speaker if that's your thing. I've been pretty impressed with the battery life of this. It does depend on volume and listening mode a bit, but at a modest volume it can easily last all day. It can be charged via USB-C, and it comes with a USB-C cable; but you can also charge your phone from it too. It has a bit of an unusual system for attaching the straps, but I kind of like it. There are two rubber/silicon wedges on the top that you can pull out and are held on by two nylon loops. You turn the wedges to the side and pull out the loops and then put the wedges back into their slots. You can then hook on the included strap. It was a bit awkward the first time I did this, but once I figured it out, it wasn't too bad. Once the strap is on, it can be tricky to get off, but it is designed to come off... just not easily, so no mishaps while it's on. Overall, I really enjoy this speaker, and might be my new speaker for sitting out in the backyard with drinks.

Wasn’t as loud or clear as stated. Price not worth it, purchase a cheaper item with better sound.

The Ult Field 5 Wireless Speaker is a great sounding speaker that looks awesome. While measuring in at about the size of a loaf of bread, the Ult Field 5 definitely packs a punch with the right settings. With the Sony Sound Connect app you can update firmware, choose your color vibe, sound settings and more. I personally prefer a more punchy and bright sound so I have my speaker set to the ULT 2 setting. Didn't much care for the ULT 1 profile and it seemed that when I messed with custom sound settings I ended up with basically the ULT 2 profile. However, for those of you who enjoy tinkering with the EQ, that option is there. You don't have to settle for a preset profile. Volume level is great with this speaker. It would definitely fill a medium to large room. I would try to have this speaker set against a wall or in a corner of a room to further amplify the nice bass sound that this speaker produces. Overall, I really enjoy this speaker. I have used dozens of speakers and this one sounds excellent. Great sound and customization that I think anyone would enjoy!

The latest member of Sony's ULT bluetooth speaker lineup -- the ULT Field 5 -- is something of a mixed bag. At barely over a foot wide and 6 inches high, it only about half the size of the its big brother, the ULT 7, which rolled out a year ago. And therefore has a lot harder time producing the kind of room filling, bass-booming party music it claims to be designed for. Smaller speakers produce less sound with less punch and that is certainly true here, even if one has to admit, for its size, it does not sound bad. It does get pretty loud and pushes out a LOT of bass, one of the main selling points of the ULT lineup. All Bluetooth speakers in this series have two levels of bass boost, controlled with the ULT button on top. (or none at all if you prefer) And to be honest, I find the overall sound coming out of the ULT 5 much cleaner and better balanced than what comes out of its larger sibling, the ULT 7. That means if you are more into actually LISTENING to music in a more intimate setting, as opposed to rocking out to a very loud heavy beat on a pool deck, the ULT Field 5 is probably a better way to go. But that is not how Sony is marketing it. Big bass, flashing party lights and portability (it comes with a strap to make it easier to carry) are the main selling points. The sound quality of the ULT Field 5 varies considerably depending on placement and configuration. It can stand on its end or rests horizontally. I would recommend experimenting with both was well as different spots around the room where you are listening to get the best sound. Ideally, you might want to use this in combination with other larger speakers of a similar pedigree in Sony's catalog. That produces a wider sound field and much bigger sound. And you are supposed to be able to do that using Sony's wireless "party connect" feature. Sadly, I found getting that to function was an exercise in frustration --and futility for the most part. In more than a dozen attempts, I got it to work only once and only with an older pre-ULT XPS 500. The ULT Field 5 would never connect to its more recent ULT 7 sibling. And even getting that single success story required firmware updates to all the speakers. The app lets you know when firmware updates are needed and handles the download process. I suspect the problem here has a lot to do with Sony's unfortunate decision to require a new app, dubbed Sound Connect, to control the latest ULT series speakers. It does not work with older Sony party speakers and the app that controls them, Music Center, does not work with ULT Field 5. Who thought this was a good idea? In theory, you don't need the apps to accomplish a party connect because there are dedicated buttons on some of them that are supposed to make it happen. Most of the time, it doesn't, at least not for me. Even worse, some speakers that don't even have a "connect" button (including last year's ULT 7). So the process require an unintuutive "push this button and that button at the same time" technique to activate party connect. Which is part a more complex process that involves "turn this speaker on first, hit connect, then the other speaker, then connect, etc. That did not work either. (dig around on Sony web site or the app for full instructions.) Maybe future firmware updates will fix this. Another questionable decision by Sony was changing the charging system on the ULT Fiel 5 to USB C only. And to not even provide a charger or a useful cord to do it (the one provided is a too short 12 inches). Earlier generation speakers would charge with a direct AC connection (no power brick needed) , which was much more convenient. Once fully charged the ULT 5 is supposed to run for up to 25 hours. And because it is designed to be portable and taken to places like the beach or pool deck, it is rated as waterproof, dustproof and rustproof. (IP 67 for all you nerds out there) The bottom line here is you just want a small bluetooth speaker to listen to music in your dorm or bedroom, the ULT 5 is a good choice. It won't blow the walls down but can get quite loud and push out a lot of bass. The beat driven-light show also provides visual interest, in places that are dark enough where you can see them. (not so much in bright daylight)

Great sound and battery for the money I don't leave home without it.

Let's start with the simple stuff. If you're looking for a battery powered, wireless speaker that can rock a decent sized room without too much hassle and looks pretty cool as well. The this is a great choice. Right out of the box it's easy to tell this is a quality product. It's got some heft to it and feels like it's very solidly built. It's also nice that it has a nice shoulder strap that comes with it because it's on the larger size as well. So, if you want something that's "portable" then technically this fits the bill. However, it's on the heavier side. Now with that said heavy is actually probably a good thing in this case because if it was of lighter construction as soon as the bass kicked in it would rattle apart. This though no such issue nice and solid even on the punchy base lines. Overall, the sound quality is fairly decent as well. I mainly listened to some Rock and Electronic music before posting this review, but both sounded great in all ranges. Battery wise, I've not had to charge it yet so I can't give you a full runtime but it's not been a worry for me in my use case so I imagine if you want to rock a party for a bit it will do you just fine.

Sony makes the best speakers, the quality of build and sound is amazing, easy to setup and not to mention the heavy bass and the trebs are the perfect combo, pick this over JBL and Bose respectively.

Do not waste your money on this. I have a 2014 Bose Soundlink III and it’s got more bass than this at full volume. Couldn’t try it in store on display because it wasn’t working. Reviews showed decent so I bought it. Took it home, tried it at max volume, fixed the EQ issues it needed, still had no deep bass. However deep the treble sounds that’s the bass you’re getting. Had it for maybe an hour and a half including drive time and messing with it then went right back to the store and swapped it out for the JBL On-The-Go Essential. Way better. Slightly bigger. Only downside is there’s no EQ settings. You’ll have to use EQ setting from which ever music app you’re using if it’s offered. If it’s not offered then what you hear is what you get, which still sounds wayyyyy better than this Sony. I have the Sony ULT headphones too which I absolutely love so I was shocked with this speaker being so bad.