Sony today is launching a whole new suite of audio products. All united by the new ULT Power Sound features, Sony is launching some of its best-sounding and most booming speakers and headphones to date – all with more streamlined names, too.
Sony’s new lineup of speakers and headphones, most notably, all come backed by the new ULT tech. The listening modes change up the default sound with an emphasis on either balance and deep bass or sound pressure – all packed into a single button that rocks a shiny dichroic logo. I personally spent some time with the lineup back in March, and have even been daily driving some of the gear that will get full reviews shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the whole Sony ULT collection stacks up.
One of my favorite parts about today’s announcement is that the Sony ULT lineup is simplifying the names of all the new releases. Gone are the days where I have to memorize weird strings of letters and numbers that signify a product and instead are easy to remember names. It’s not just a tech journalist thing, either. Sony specifically told me that customers aren’t all too entralled by the old naming scheme.
- SRS-XE200 becomes ULT Tower 10
- SRS-XG500 becomes ULT Field 7
- WH-XB910N becomes ULT Wear 1
Headlining the new lineup is the Sony ULT Wear. These new headphones aren’t meant to take on the flagship status of the oh-so-popular XM5s, but still looks to offer flagship features that come centered around the new ULT technology. These cans have all of the modern frills that you’d expect, like active noise cancellation and multi-point Bluetooth connectivity, but they also add some very nice touches on top. Wear detection was immediately one of the features that caught my attention, as was the 360 Reality Audio tech – Sony’s take on Spatial Audio.
The ULT Wear headphones sport an over-ear design that can fold up when not in use. It packs 30 hours of listening with the ANC features enabled, but as much as 50 hours without it. A 10-minute charge will net you 5 hours of playback, too.
You’ll be able to buy the new Sony ULT Wear headphones starting tomorrow. They’ll debut with a $199.99 price tag in Black, Off white, and Forest Gray styles. I’ll have a hands-on review going live shortly that explores my own hands-on experience with the headphones from the past month of daily listening.
Moving over to the speakers, the new Sony ULT lineup has three different options. My favorite of the batch is the ULT Field 1, which packs the most compact build of the lineup. It comes in Forest Gray, Off White, and vibrant Orange colorways while sporting a handheld design. There’s an adjustable strap, as well as a rugged build that’s a bit more durable than anything else out there. The IP67 water resistance rating is nothing new on its own, nor is the dustproof design, either. But being shockproof and rustproof are both more unique, especially the latter for anyone who likes poolside listening or being serenaded in the shower.
Sony backs its ULT Field 1 with the same signature ULT button, but enables just a single alternative sound mode. There’s a customizable 3-band EQ on top of it, too. Like the rest of the lineup, this speaker will go on sale later this spring starting on April 22 with a $129 price tag.
Then there’s the ULT Field 7, which packs everything that its smaller counterpart did into a more capable design. It has a pair of ULT modes and a 7-band EQ system while packing in some ambient lighting into the design. Sony continues to wrap it in an IP67 durability rating that keeps the same waterproof, dustproof, and rustproof finish. The larger side means that it packs up to 30 hours of listening alongside Sony’s Sound Field Optimization tech.
You’ll be able to buy the ULT Field 7 starting later this spring for $499.
The third form-factor as part of the new Sony ULT lineup is the new ULT Tower 10. This is easily the most capable release in the new family of audio gear and a release that more than earns it $1,199 price tag. I won’t be having a full review coming any time soon, but I did get to spend some time with this behemoth of a speaker back in March.
It’s the kind of speaker that you’d find in a club or venue and not your house, but you totally can just score it to be the centerpiece of your at-home DJ setup, party, or tailgate. It features omni-directional sound and lighting, as well as Sony’s Sound Field Optimization. A 7-band EQ helps you tailor the listening experience even further than the two different ULT modes, and you’ll even get a wireless microphone in the box for taking advantage of the karaoke features.
The ULT Tower 10 isn’t going to be for everyone, or likely even most of you reading this, but it’s great to see the company push the limits of its tech. As someone who spends her weekends enjoying Brooklyn’s club scene, this is definitely the closest experience from a consumer speaker for recreating the booming bass at home.
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