Customer Ratings & Reviews

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)

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.