Sony ULT Field 5 and Field 3 Review: A Different Approach to Bluetooth Speakers

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Both the Sony ULT Field 3 and ULT Field 5 speakers offer good audio clarity at high volumes and look the part with built-in lighting. Whilst more expensive, the Field 5 is the better purchase due to larger sound and an audio-in connection.

The Good

1. Good volume levels although the Field 5 is loudest
2. Unique design with built-in lighting
3. IP67 water resistance

The Bad

1. Field 3 faces stiff competition from cheaper and more compact competitors

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Need-to-knows

• Great volume levels, especially from the ULT Field 5
• IP67 water and dust proof
• Minimal distortion at high volumes

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If you’re wondering what ‘ULT’ stands for, it’s ‘Ultimate’, and it’s part of Sony’s ‘For The Music’ sub-brand, which was introduced in 2024.

During a recent press briefing, Sony revealed that all of its consumer speakers will fall under the ULT brand going forward. The Field 3 and Field 5 are the latest to join that fold, and if you’re at all confused by the opening to this review, please don’t be. These are simply Sony’s latest Bluetooth speakers that are designed to be loud, robust, and capable of getting the party started.

That isn’t new, innovative, or a differentiator, but this is a huge market segment, and Sony understandably wants to make its presence felt among the likes of JBL and Beats. Can the Field 3 and Field 5 achieve that?

Let’s find out.

How I reviewed the Sony ULT Field 3 and Field 5

I’m not a big portable speaker user. At most, I’ll grab one and stick it in the garden during a family BBQ, but beyond that, such speakers spend most of their time seeing only occasional use in my house.

However, I’m embarking on a DJing project, which has resulted in me craving a portable and decent-sounding speaker into which I can plug my decks, and that’s why a good portion of this review and my conclusion is based on that use case.

Despite this, I understand why portable Bluetooth speakers are so popular, and having spent a fair bit of time testing competing products, I knew what to look for when trying out the Sony ULT Field 3 and Field 5.

Specs and pricing

The Field 3 and Field 5 share a bunch of specs – but let’s start where they differ.

The Field 3 comes in three colours (black, white, and Forest Gray), versus the black and white versions of the Field 5. It also has 1 woofer and 1 tweeter, whereas the Field 5 has 1 x-balanced speaker unit and two tweeters.

Both have a big ULT button on the top of the speaker, but the Field 3 simply has on and off settings, whereas the Field 5 can cycle through two bass settings (I’ll get to the ULT sound later).

When it comes to battery performance, the Field 5 delivers one more hour with 25 hours in total quoted, and can quick-charge to 100 minutes of playback in just ten minutes (a ten-minute charge on the Field 3 delivers two hours of playback).

They both have IP67 water and dust resistance, but the smaller Field 3 benefits from shock resistance, too. Oh, and you can receive and make calls on the Field 3, as well, but not on the Field 5.

The Field 5 gains flashing lights that dance to the music (and which can be customised in the app), and it also has a line-in for connecting sound sources via a cable.

In terms of similarities, they both have a 20Hz-20,000Hz frequency response, two passive radiators, Party Connect for up to 100 speakers, stereo pairing capabilities, and a detachable shoulder strap, which is included in the box. They also have something called Sound Field Optimisation, which modifies the sound based on the ambient noise for the best audio, wherever you happen to be.

Sony has also mercifully taken the opportunity to consolidate all of its separate smartphone apps into one app that’s now called Sony Sound Connect. So, your settings and tweaks for Bluetooth speakers and headphones can be found in one place. Nice.

The Field 3 is priced at £180, and the Field 5 costs £260. That’s relatively keen pricing on the Field 5’s part, but the Field 3 does weigh in as slightly more expensive than some of the competition.

There’s more to this range, including the ULT Tower 9, which is an £850 monster of a speaker (complete with castor wheels for easy transportation), and the ULTMIC1, which is a £130 wireless mic with noise reduction and direct compatibility with the ULT speaker range.

Design

The Field 3 and Field 5 are rather unique looking in this, erm, field. Most Bluetooth speakers, such as the Beats Pill and JBL Flip7, are tube-like in their design, whereas Sony has opted for a rectangular casing. I like that decision – they feel far more secure when placed on less-than-flat surfaces, and they just look a bit more purposeful.

In terms of build quality, both speakers feel incredibly well-made as soon as you unbox them. That’s all we can ask for from Bluetooth speakers; you need the reassurance that they can be chucked around, left outside in the rain, and taken to the beach without trouble. Sony has nailed it.

The button selection and placement are also superb. There’s even a hidden button on the rear of both speakers labelled ‘Battery’. Press it once, and you’re informed of how much battery is remaining – a very useful quality of life addition. Press and hold the same button, and it enables a battery care mode which reduces maximum charging to 90%. That’s a nice addition for people who think about that kind of thing, but I’m not sure many who will buy either of these speakers will give that any kind of consideration.

Oh, and yes, they turn themselves off automatically after a period of inactivity, which is yet another very nice quality of life feature.

As noted earlier, the Field 3 and Field 5 both come with nice shoulder straps which can be attached to the speaker via ingeniously designed rubber caps that can be flicked out and over to reveal hooks. I’m not the sort of person to walk down the street with one of these speakers blaring out Dark Side Of The Moon, but I appreciate that it’ll be welcomed by some users, and it does make carting the heavier Field 5 around a lot easier.

There are no other design differences between the two; the Field 5 is simply a bigger version of the Field 3. The included lights on the former are obviously a bit gimmicky, but an ever-popular addition to portable speakers of this kind, and they did put a smile on my face whenever I spotted them flashing away.

Audio quality

I expect three things from Bluetooth speakers:

1. Volume.
2. Clarity (even when the volume increases).
3. Zero distortion.

If any one of those three must-haves is overlooked by the brand in question, I’m not interested.

Good news – this is Sony. So, we’re in good hands. They’ve been doing this for quite a while, after all.

Both the Field 3 and Field 5 are plenty loud enough given their relative sizes. They produce very clean audio, too, with plenty of top end, lots of presence, and enough bass to ensure kick drums and bass parts play nicely together. As that volume increases, there is zero audible distortion, too. Sony has achieved this, I think, by subtly reducing the bass response as the volume heads to 11. A classic technique, and one I have no problems with.

These are great sounding speakers which do the job intended, which is to help get the party started and continue providing pumping music for as long as possible, no matter how rowdy it gets.

If you’re wondering about the differences between the two, the Field 5 is essentially just a louder version of the Field 3 with a bit more body to the sound. It also has more ULT settings, which brings me to that little button.

On the Field 3, the ULT button either turns the bass boost feature on or off. I’d leave it on, personally; it’s one of those EQ tricks that might as well be on by default – it just sounds better.

On the Field 5, we get two ULT settings (three, if you count ‘off’). The first is ‘Deep Bass’, and the second is ‘Attack Bass’. They’re signalled by their own characterful audio idents, which sound when you press the ULT button. All you really need to know about these two settings is that they increase the bass response in two stages. I’d stick with the first one, personally, because it seems to offer the best balance of audio quality and bass response. I guess you can grab some Attack Bass when the night really starts swinging.

Conclusion

The ULT Field 3 and Field 5 are a solid release from Sony – literally. These are Bluetooth speakers which predictably nail the tasks asked of them and do so in an unmistakably Sony package.

The Field 3 has quite a bit of competition from the likes of Beats and JBL (their options are smaller and cheaper), but if you’re a Sony person, you’ll already have made your decision. Expect a more comprehensive comparison from me in the not-too-distant future.

The pick of the two for me is the Field 5, which sits in a class of its own and offers just enough upgrades for the relatively modest retail price. The larger sound, fun lighting, and presence of an audio in connection are big wins for me.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from the ULT range.