Review: Sony brings booming bass, ANC, and wear detection to new ULT Wear headphones

Sony is taking the wraps off its latest pair of headphones today with the reveal of the new ULT collection. The new ULT Wear headphones do far more than just simplify the naming scheme, with some booming bass, reliable ANC, and other frills like wear detection and Spatial Audio – all at $199.

Hands-on with the new Sony ULT Wear headphones

Sony has a whole new collection of audio products to show off today. If you haven’t already read the launch coverage of the whole ULT lineup, it’s worth a look to see how the whole series stacks up. But here, I am focusing on all the nitty gritty details for the headphones themselves. Sony only has a single pair of them in the lineup, versus the multiple speaker models. So with only one attempt to marry its new ULT sound with the over-ear form-factor, I’ve been excited to get to spend the past few weeks daily driving them.

And daily drove them I have. Sony’s newest headphones have been locked onto my ears since they arrived back in March. They’ve been serenading me through workdays, on subway commutes around NYC, and even during gaming sessions on my iPhone.

The context for these headphones is important, before I get any further. These new cans aren’t meant to take on the flagship status of the oh-so-popular XM5s. They do offer flagship features as well as all of the new ULT technology, but these are a more mid-range offering versus the very best that Sony has to offer. I’ve found myself forgetting that through large parts of my time with them, just because of how good the ULT Wear are, but it’s worth mentioning before I get too ahead of myself.

Sony’s newest headphones come centered around the V1 chip that have graced its higher-end audio products for a few years now. That enables some very robust active noise cancellation as well as newfound wind reduction technology thanks to the dual microphones. They also have all of the other modern frills you’d expect from headphones in this kind of higher weight class, like multi-point Bluetooth connectivity. But what really surprised me was some of the features that you’ll only find on more premium models.

Wear detection was immediately one of the features that caught my attention. When you take the ULT Wear off, they’ll automatically pause music for you, or resume it once they’ve returned over top of your ears. Sony also delivers its own take on Spatial Audio with the onboard 360 Reality Audio tech, which is joined by support for all the popular codecs like SBC, AAC, LDAC, and LC3 (LE 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. Plugging in a charger to the USB-C port then gets you an extra 5 hours of playback from just 10 minutes of charging.

ULT sound modes really shine

But then there’s the ULT technology. It’s the uniting feature for the whole new lineup, and something you can’t ignore. The design of the Sony ULT Wear headphones is pretty tame, but has some shiny dichroic logos placed throughout the build. One of those is the dedicated ULT button, which lets you flip between the deep bass and extra power sound profiles. Both of these are just great, and really change how you can listen to different types of music. I’ve found that the audio produced by the pair of 40mm drivers is already worth writing home about, but the added focus of Sony’s ULT tech really shines to make these headphones even more special.

You’ll be able to buy the new Sony ULT Wear headphones starting tomorrow on April 12. They’ll debut with a $199.99 price tag in Black, Off white, and Forest Gray styles.

9to5Toys’ Take

I’ve worn and reviewed bass-heavy headphones in the past, but Sony’s look to take that focus and pair it with all the flagship features you’d expect from a $199 price tag. The bass isn’t as physically booming as champions in the space like the Skullcandy Crusher 2s, but that’s actually a plus. Mainly because you’ll actually want to enjoy the full bass here.

Like the rest of the ULT lineup, the Sony Wear headphones sport a dedicated switch on the side that lets you flip between the different playback modes. I’ve found that all three have their own justifications based on what you’re listening to, which isn’t something I was expecting. Normally when I get anew pair of cans, I just end up fine-tuning the EQ settings to my liking and then call it a day.

But throughout my time with Sony’s latest, I’ve just been naturally switching through the two ULT modes. I went in knowing that I had to give the feature the attention it deserves, but the way that it enhances music made me eager to use it outside of just doing my diligence for this review. I love all kinds of music, but specifically am a massive fan of all things house, DJ mixes, and techno tunes. Really, anything you’d hear at the club or at a rave. So being able to up the ante on bass-heavy music without completely losing out on the clarify of each track is like a revelation for me.

The ULT Wear headphones are great for more than just bringing the Brooklyn club scene into your apartment, too. Every part of the audio spectrum stays distinct, from the crisp vocals to guitar licks and everything in-between. I’m pleasantly surpised to how well Sony was able to balance these headphones out of the box, even when enabling either of the ULT sound profiles.

I will say, however, that the immersion of these headphones isn’t going to be the best that money can buy. I’ve found that the soundstage isn’t quite as wide as other cans out there, but that’s really just a personal preference. The rest of the playback is just so good otherwise that it’s hard to take off too many points. The ANC also is very solid in its own right, but the companion ambient mode leaves a little bit more to be desired.

Throughout my testing, I compared these directly to two of the more popular Apple-focused headphones out there: The AirPods Max and the newer Beats Studio Pro. There was really no world where the ULT Wear would best Apple’s own headphones – especially with a $350 gap in pricing. But Sony’s latest do perform far better than the newest from Beats. You miss out on some of the iPhone-oriented tech, but I would rather have a better-sounding pair of headphones any day of the week compared to something that’s a tiny bit more convenient.

What I ultimately end up disliking the most about the new Sony ULT Wear headphones is the actual design. Sony nailed the features just about everywhere. With a price tag like $199 that’s seemingly a little too good to be true, there had to be a downside somewhere. It’s not that these headphones are made of cheap materials, it’s that they’re giant. Even compared to some absolutely beefy cans like the AirPods Max, Sony’s latest are just big. There’s no getting around it.

I don’t necessarily think this is going to be a dealbreaker for anyone considering the ULT headphones, but it’s one aspect that I found myself coming back to throughout the past few weeks. It’s not just how weird they are to wear sometimes, but also that storing them away isn’t quite as convenient as some other compact models out there. At the very least, the ULT Wear are at least very lightweight and have enough padding that the sizes doesn’t make them uncomfortable to wear.

My final take is that Sony has a real hit on its hands with the new ULT Wear headphones. These are going to appeal to all kinds of listeners, especially anyone who’s looking for a more affordable pair of over-ears. They aren’t the cheapest options around, but the value is certainly there. At $199, you’ll be hardpressed to find a better pair of headphones out there, especially not ones with all of the tech and sound quality that Sony has packed into its newest releases. The ULT sound modes are really just a bonus for anyone who loves deep bass.

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