Sony ULT Field 1 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker, Enhanced Bass, 12h Battery, IP67 Rated Dustproof Shockproof Rustproof, Detachable Strap, SRSULT10D, Orange by Sony

Super speaker. Purchased Sony ULT Field 1, JBL Flip 6, Bose SoundLink Flex and SoundLink Revolve +II for comparison (give away Bluetooth speaker at end of annual international trips, so I go through a few of them). Have also had several UE Boom 1-3 (unbeatable speakers, but no longer available), and a few cheaper Bluetooth speakers. My criteria include: battery life, weatherproof, sound quality (realism rather than bass-heavy, although good base is required for projection, especially outside or when on boats or with much noise), size, portability, volume without distortion, affordability (~$100). All are comparable in most aspects. Full volume level is very similar, none distort, bass is a little more distinct in JBL. Soundstage is absent with all, but mid- to high-volume compensates for this, and projection is good with all. Running two UE Booms was a good way around this, but I want to carry only one speaker (traveling, in the garden, fishing, etc) and not deal with proprietary apps required to run two in stereo. The JBL beats all for portability (size, shape, hanger), with the Sony right behind (just a bit larger). SoundLink Flex doesn’t project quite as well, but is still a great speaker (when on sale and cheaper than the other two). The Revolve +II sound quality, projection, soundstage and volume beats them all, but is too large and expensive to carry on trips, so was just used as a comparison to what a Bluetooth speaker could do (nothing even touches the sound quality of the Sonos Move, that I borrowed from a friend – out of curiosity only – doesn’t fit my criteria of portability or affordability). In short – you’ll be happy with any of these three, but I’ll stick with the JBL and Sony until no longer available.

The best you can get in my humble opinion. It checks all boxes:
Sound Quality
Build quality
Connectivity is simple fast and reliable
Sony style clarity
Has all the functionalities it promotes on the box
It provides sufficient portability for it’s size

We were on the market for a bluetooth portable speaker for our 18 year old daughter as a birthday present. We normally gravitate to the JBL brand – which ARE, and still remain to be, great speakers. But, being the baby of the family and living with hand-me-down [you name it]s all her life, I knew she’d appreciate a speaker in a style that was totally her own — not another one of mom and dad’s (or big brother’s) speakers. Fun and easy as that sounds, this meant stepping out of my comfort zone. (You know how it is: you like what you like!) So I REALLY did my homework by researching many different brands/styles/specs (Bose, Beats, etc.) of speakers in the (about $100-150) price range.
The number one thing our daughter was asking for was portability – hesitantly saying nothing bigger than her brother’s JBL Charge 4, but I could tell smaller would be better. Bigger speakers may give better sound, but she wanted a “water bottle speaker” as they’re called because they fit nicely in cup holders. So I began my search by comparing models to JBL’s Flip 6 – the one I was originally going to purchase.
I came across this Sony ULT Field 1, which is a new model that Sony released just a few months ago. I was impressed by it’s veratility. Built the same way as the Flip 6 (outward facing woofer and tweeter, side bass) it has many of the same features as the Flip 6 like an app with an equalizer so you can fine tune your music and 12 hours of battery life. But the Field 1 came with a few extra features that raised my eyebrow… A ULT bassboost button giving you an extra, little option: go with a deeper bass if you’re dancin’ the night away – or turn it off if you’re, say, talking with friends around a campfire and save on battery life. (By the way, it sounds GREAT even with it off!) It also comes with a phyical pause button and voice feature – where you can answer the phone through the speaker, (like in your car). Although it IS bigger than the Flip 6 it is smaller than the JBL Charge 5 – the newer version of her brother’s speaker.
As far as sound quality, several reviewers (YouTube) stated that the Field 1’s sound quality falls BETWEEN JBL’s Flip 6 and Charge 5 models. (I used my headphones to listen while they demonstrated the different speakers’ sounds and, yes… uh-huh… I agree.) Again, ALL 3 speakers have very, VERY good sound quality – you really can’t go wrong with any of them. We were looking at Sony’s ULT Field 1 simply because we wanted to give our daughter something unique to our household – that fit her description of “bottle speaker” but measured up to my (ha!) standards of sound quality.
I also want to point out (on a petty note) that we DO LIKE the carrying cord – a feature I thought at first glance might be awkward. It can be removed if desired but lemme tell ya, it’s QUITE handy! 😀
So I added it to my cart, did that lil’ ‘hold-your-breath’ pause thing we all do …then tapped the ‘ORDER’ button.
It arrived today (very next day) and, wanting to surprise her [a month] early, went ahead and handed her the package. (Sigh…gone are the days of my elegant gift wrapping sessions.) The surprise alone tickled her – but when she opened it, her eyes grew WIDE! She genuinely LOVED it!! (May I be clear here: I couldve given her a cleaned up, secondhand, garage sale speaker and she, in her sweet-nature, would have “LOVED” that. Ha! Ha! It was a sweet treat to do this for her.) 😄🥲
I asked if the size was too big and she said it was very much OK!
Now, my picky ears are truly impressed by it’s CLEAR sound – even turned ALL the way up, there’s no “fuzziness” here! I had chosen the white color and it’s very nice. It’s not a sporty, bright white – just kind of a classy, muted off-white.
One thing I DO like over the JBL brand is that the buttons have little, lights by each one so they’ll be more easily seen in the evenings. (Cool!😎) Connectivity was easy – or so I assume. She had it out if the box and connected to her iPhone faster than I could say “Wait; there’s an app…”. She was already downloading the app and was playing music as I sat at down at the table to look it all over. So I’m feeling pretty confident to say it’s easy to set up.
As far as fitting in the cup holder, it does fit…kind of. It sits about 2½ inches down – snuggly enough to keep it securely upright while driving, but not all the way seated down inside it. Our car’s cupholders (Ford Escape) have these little spring loaded, retractable, grabber things that prevent it from being seated all the way down inside. Bump it with your elbow and it’ll go flying. That said, it still may fit in YOUR cupholders.
It definitely will fit the (Ford) truck’s cupholders. Lol!
She loved the speaker so much though, it wasn’t a deal breaker!
After all that – go figure! (RME) But, hey!…that just tells you how good this speaker is!!)
Overall, it is very much a sweet little speaker for its size and price point! (Way to go, Sony!) As they say in other Amazon reviews: “If you’re on the fence give it a try – you will be pleasantly surprised.”
(🤔Hmmm…Let’s see…
MY birthday is in March…) 😄

For its size and weight, this has to be the best portable blue tooth speaker around in terms of sound quality. I own the Sony ULT field 5 and JBL extreme 4. I must say that at higher volumes, the Sony performs distortion free whereas the JBL extreme 4 cannot claim the same consistency. Not that the JBL extreme 4 is a bad product but it lacks the sound details and clarity that the Sony ULY field 5 offers even at increased volumes IMO. Also, the weight of the Sony is about double what the JBL is, ( 8 lbs. vs 4 lbs.) which means more components and/or sturdier materials. My conclusion: pick the Sony if you don’t mind the extra weight.