The $329.99 Sony ULT Field 5 sits in the middle of the company's lineup of portable outdoor speakers, which includes the smaller ULT Field 3 ($199.99) and the larger ULT Field 7 ($499.99). It strikes a good balance between the two, delivering more potent audio than the former, better portability than the latter, and an equivalent amount of battery life and durability. We like the Field 5's customizable LEDs, its detachable carrying strap, high-res codec support, tunable EQ, and its strong bass response, though the higher frequencies could be a bit clearer. The Bose SoundLink Max ($399.99) offers more well-rounded audio for a bit more money, while the ULT Field 7 is our Editors' Choice thanks to its bigger sound and support for karaoke, though it costs a lot more and might be overkill for your needs.

Design: Finding the Middle Ground

The Sony ULT Field 5 is essentially an upsized version of the Field 3. The two look almost identical, though the ULT Field 5 is larger at 5.7 by 12.6 by 4.9 inches (HWD) and 7.3 pounds, compared with the 4.4-by-10.1-by-3.1-inch, 2.6-pound Field 3. The Field 7 looks totally different, thanks to its cylindrical shape, and is much bigger and heavier at 8.8 by 20.2 by 8.7 inches and 13.9 pounds.

The Field 5 has a rectangular design, with a passive radiator on each end, controls on the top, and a mesh textile wrap covering the outside. It looks and feels solid. We received the Off White model for review, which looks nice, though we wish the speaker came in more colors (the only other option is Black). The passive radiators are surrounded by customizable LED lighting, however, which lends the muted tones a bit of personality. The speaker has an IP67 rating, which means it is protected from dust and dirt, and can handle brief submersion in shallow water.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

All the basic controls you need are on the speaker's top surface. There are buttons to manage power, pairing, volume, and playback, in addition to the large ULT button that toggles the ULT effect between off, ULT 1, and ULT 2. The ULT 1 setting boosts the lowest bass frequencies, and the ULT 2 setting tightens things up for more punch. 

You’ll also find small rubber inserts on top that you can remove and flip around to expose loops for the shoulder straps. This neat design element keeps the top of the speaker flush when you’re not using the strap. 

The ULT Field 5 offers more connectivity than the ULT Field 3. The rear panel has a USB-C port, which can be used both for power in (charging the speaker) and power out (charging your phone). The speaker has a 3.5mm AUX port for wired input, which the Field 3 lacks.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Wirelessly, the speaker connects via Bluetooth 5.3 and supports Bluetooth Fast Pair and multipoint connections. It offers the Sony Party Connect feature for stereo pairing or for joining up to 100 speakers together. It doesn’t support the newer AuraCast standard, however, which is the standardized way to connect multiple Bluetooth speakers together. If you want to connect to lots of speakers at once, they’ll all have to be from Sony.

The ULT Field 5 supports the AAC, SBC, and higher-resolution LDAC codecs—another thing that sets it apart from the Field 3, which doesn’t have LDAC support. It delivers audio through two tweeters and a single woofer, aided by two passive radiators. Thanks to the separate tweeters, the speaker supports stereo audio. Sony doesn't say how big the tweeters are, but the racetrack woofer measures 4.2 by 3.1 inches and is capable of reproducing a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz.

Sony claims the ULT Field 5 has a battery life of 25 hours, which is quite good considering the speaker's size. Not only can you live it up all day and night, but moderate users can likely go days between charges, while light users may eke weeks out of a single charge. When you do need to plug in, you’ll get two hours of playback time from 10 minutes of charging.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

In addition to the speaker itself, Sony supplies a shoulder strap and a USB-C charging cable.

App Experience: Control the Lights and the EQ

You can manage the ULT Field 5 through the Sony Sound Connect app (available for Android and iOS), which Sony uses for most of its current audio products. The app is relatively easy to use and mostly well-designed, and through it, you get a number of controls for the speaker.

To start, a DJ feature lets you add sound effects like drums and record scratches to whatever music you're listening to. It's kind of gimmicky, and I only used it to test it, but some may find it entertaining. You can also control the LED lighting on the speaker and basic playback parameters. 

(Credit: Sony/PCMag)

The app lets you customize your own EQ curve, though the process is a little confusing. You have to select the custom EQ as your listening mode before Sony lets you tweak it. Once you do, you have access to 10 bands ranging from 50Hz to 16kHz, which allows for plenty of room to tune it to your liking.

Sound: Bass-First Audio

The main reason to buy the ULT Field 5 over the ULT Field 3 is for its better bass response. It has a larger woofer and correspondingly larger passive radiators that give it a deeper, rounder sound than its smaller sibling

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The improved bass impacts tracks like The Knife's “Silent Shout," which relies on deep sub-bass in the synth; the added depth is palpable. The speaker still isn't able to produce the absolute deepest bass frequencies—for that, you'd need something enormous like the Sony ULT Tower 9 ($899.99)—but it does better than the Field 3 and other smaller speakers. In fact, the Field 5's bass response sometimes overshadows the higher frequencies, including those from the percussion.

On Kendrick Lamar's "Loyalty," a sub-bass synth line pulses through the verse and the chorus, and gives the track much of its depth. The Field 5 isn't able to hit all of these notes, but it gets some of them, which is better than many compact speakers can do. Thankfully, the speaker doesn't overshadow the high frequencies thanks to its certain lo-fi quality. While Lamar and Rihanna's vocals are relatively rich and deep, they lack some sibilance to help them stand out.

The speaker does well with Bill Callahan's "Drover." It provides a nice, rich tone to his baritone vocal and emphasises the driving kick drum that's featured throughout. The cymbals lack some sparkle, though, and the acoustic guitar doesn't quite feel as present as I like.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The Field 5 does a fine job on the orchestral opening track to John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, though it isn't flawless. The speaker technically supports stereo listening, but with the tweeters separated by mere inches, there isn't much of a stereo effect. Combined with the lack of high-end extension, the track feels a little crowded, almost as though all the instruments are stacked on top of each other. The strings sound relatively rich, and the brass is decently bright, which helps balance things out.