So this is the Sony ULT Field 7 and I personally really like this speaker cause it sounds very balanced, it gets loud and it has a ton of bass… the only real drawback is that it is a little big. But the Sony ULT Field 7 is quickly becoming one of my new favorite speakers… And believe it or not, im starting to like I more than the UE Hyperboom which was my favorite speaker to use during my at home work outs during the time that we couldn’t go out… so today lets see how the Sony ULT Field 7 Compares to the UE Hyperboom.
Regarding pricing, the Sony ULT Field 7 has a retail price of $500, but I do expect this speaker to go on sale from time to time, and this speaker is brand new for 2024. But then theres the UE hyperboom which came out in the winter of 2020 and this speaker likes to retail for $400. Personally I really feel that the UE Hyperboom is over due for an upgrade. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first theres the design of these speakers… now both of these speakers are decent enough to take on the go with you, however the ULT 7 simply dwarfs the Hyperboom. But nonetheless both of these speakers are very durable cause they both have mostly fabric wrapped bodies so that can stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scraps and they are both water resistant. So if they get rained on or if a drink spills on them, they’ll be fine. But besides the ULT 7 dwarfing the Hyperboom, the ULT 7 also has a built in light feature thats tucked away in the passive radiators. Now this light feature it decent and you have a few different modes to choose from… but personally I dont use this light feature just cause its so hard to see, and instead I just enjoy the improved battery life. Cause if you do use the light feature on this speaker, that is going to take its toll on the battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life, the UE Hyperboom has an advertised battery life of 24 hours where as the Sony ULT Field 7 has an advertised battery life of 30 hours. However this advertised battery life on the UE Hyperboom of 24 hours is with this speaker playing a little below 50% volume
Where as with the ULT Field 7, its advertised battery life of 30 hours is this speaker playing at 32% volume which is already a good listening volume, with the light feature turned off but with the ULT feature turned on which is good. And if you were to use this speaker with its light feature turned on then its going to be good for about 25 hours.
But real world use with both of these speakers playing at 80% volume which I feel is a really good volume to use with friends, then both of these speakers are going to be good for about 8 hours of playback time. However 80% volume on the ULT 7 is louder than 80% volume on the Hyperboom. And this is with the Lights on the ULT 7 being off.
So overall battery life on the ULT 7 is a little better than the on the Hyperboom. But something that I really like about the ULT 7 is that it charges via an AC port, so you can charge it with any standard double barrel AC cable. Where as with the Hyperboom, it charges via a DC port and theres an external power brick that you have to worry about loosing or breaking… cause this is actually my second power brick.
Now when it comes to connectivity, both of these speakers can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone, and when it comes to audio codes, the Hyperboom only has support for SBC where as the ULT 7 has support for SBC, AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codec. Just keep in mind that if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
Regarding ports, both of these speakers have a USB A port so that you can plug in your own devices and charge them up… or with the ULT 7, you can also plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. Now I think its great and all that both of these speakers have USB A ports on them, but I still really wish that they have USB C sticks so that you can charge your own devices and or use them as a wired connection like you can with the USB C port on the Xtreme 3 cause most phones these days come with USB C to USB C charging cables.
But, both of these speakers still have your standard 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can use them with a wired connection. Now I know this sounds very basic, but I do have to point this out cause 3.5 millimeter audio jack aren’t all that common on smaller speakers now.
But something the Hyperboom has over the ULT 7 is that it has an optical port, so if you want you can connect it to your tv and use it as a soundbar. And peronsally I am surprised that the ULT 7 doesn’t have an optical port cause Sony’s larger box speakers do have optical ports on them.
but something the ULT 7 has over the hyperboom is that it has a single quarter inch input so you can plug in a microphone for karaoke or you can plug in a guitar. Just keep in mind that you can only use the ULT 7 with a wired microphone, and you cant use it with a wireless microphone like lets say the ULT Tower 10. But the important thing is, with the ULT 7 you can do karaoke with it if you want… but with the hyperboom you can hook it up to your TV.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker setup, the ULT 7 has dual frontward firing woofers, dual frontward firing tweeters and exhaust ports that shoot out the sides. A pretty standard speaker set up. But then theres the Hyperboom with which also has dual woofers, dual tweeter and dual passive radiators… but the set up of these speakers is a little different. The Woofers and tweeters shoot out the front, but the passive radiators shoot out the back… so with the Hyperboom, you can very easily amplify its bass by placing it up against a wall. Now with both of these speakers you can go in and adjust their EQ to your liking. But with the Hyperboom I have always liked using it with its stock EQ… and with the ULT 7 it has it ULT button. Theres ULT 1 and ULT 2. Now with ULT 1 you’re just going to get more bass and then there’s ULT 2 which is also going to give you more bass but its also going to amplify its mids. So I like to use this speaker with ULT 2. Now with the ULT 7 if you use it while its plugged in you’re going to get a performance boost. Its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. Where as with the Hyperboom… you dont really get a performance boost when its plugged in. Nonetheless were going to jump into the sound test. Both of these speakers are playing at 87% volume. The Hyperboom is playing with its stock EQ and the ULT 7 is playing with ULT 2 and we’re going to use these speakers while they are unplugged and plugged in.
Sound Test
Regarding sound quality, the UE hyperboom leans towards a warmer sound signature and theres a good amount of resonances to its bass. And like I mentioned earlier, with the Hyperboom you can very easily amplify its bass by putting it up against a wall cause its rear passive radiators is going to have something to bounce its bass off of. However, the Hypberboom doesn’t sound as open as the ULT 7 and the mids on the ULT 7 are a lot more pronounced. So with the ULT 7 you’re getting a similar amount of resonance in your bass… but your mids are also a lot more defined… so you’re going to get a much more balanced lisnteing experience with the ULT 7. But then theres max volume performance, the ULT 7 get noticeably louder than the Hyperboom. Now I feel that both of these speakers are good for like 15 people parties… but with the ULT 7 you are going to get more volume out of it and if you were to use it while it plugged in its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. So overall, I have always really liked the Hyperboom cause of its compact size and lots of bass… but with the ULT 7 this speaker easily out performs the Hyperboom, it gets louder and it sound more open.
But finally lets talk about paring these speakers up to other speakers. Now with both of these speakers, if you get two of the same speakers you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode. Or with the Hyperboom you can pair it up to other UE speakers that are also using party up like either a Megaboom 3, boom 3 or an epic boom and you can pair up to 150 speakers together and get them to play in sync.
But then theres the Sony ULT 7 which is using Sony’s party connect and you can wirelessly connect it to other Partyconnect speakers like either another ULT 7, or to an XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200 or to an XB43, XB33 or to an XB23 and you can pair up to 100 speakers together and get them to play in sync.
But the really cool thing about Sony’s party connect is that you can connect your smaller more portable speakers to Sony’s larger speakers like lets say the ULT Tower 10, XV900, XV800, XV500 or XP700 or XP500. The only sad thing here is that you can’t connect the ULT 7 to Sony’s ULT Field 1.
But overall, I do feel that if you plan on constantly pairing your speakers together or if you plan on growing your collection of speakers, I think Sony is the better option here cause there are more portable speakers to choose from… and you can always connect your smaller speakers to your larger box speakers.
But with all of that being said, the UE Hyperboom is a speaker that I have always felt that it was slept on and it was one of my favorite speakers to use for multiple years. However, age is starting to show on the Hyperboom and UE’s speaker line up is still pretty stale. But more importantly, from a sound quality standpoint, the Sony ULT Field 7 easily out performs to the UE Hyperboom. It has a lot resonance in its bass, but it also get louder, it sounds more open and it sounds more balanced.