So both the JBL Charge 6 and Sony ULT Field 3 are brand new Mid Sized Speakers for summer 2025. Now for the last few years, the JBL Charge 5 has been my favorite mid sized speaker to use and recommend… but Sony’s new ULT line up of speakers has been really impressive lately. And the Sony ULT Field 3 has some very big improvements to it, just like the Sony ULT Field 5. So today we’re going to compare the brand new JBL Charge 6 to the brand new Sony ULT Field 3, and honestly this is a very tough decision.
Regarding pricing, both the JBL Charge 6 and Sony ULT Field 3 have a retail price of $200… both of these speakers have gotten a price increase from their predecessors… but I do expect these speakers to go on sale during shopping holidays. Nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always pick up some merch.
So first theres the design of these speakers. Now both of these speakers are very durable cause they both have mostly fabric wrapped bodies so they’ll be able to stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scrapes. And both of these speakers are water proof so they’re going to be perfectly fine if they get wet or if you have an annoying friend that just throws your speaker into the pool cause they’re easily impressed. However, I do want to point out that the USB C port on the Charge 6 is exposed, where as the USB C port on the ULT Field 3 is covered. So with the charge 6 you have to make sure the port is dry before you can charge it up where as that isn’t a problem for the ULT field 3. Now I know that this is a very niche scenario, but it is something that I have had to deal with in the past, escpially when I would take my Charge 5 to the lake.
But overall, both of these speakers are great options if you’re looking for something durable and portable… however, design wise these speakers are very different. Now the Sony ULT Field 3 is significantly larger than the JBL Charge 6. I feel that you can easily throw the Charge 6 into your backpack where as with the Sony, not so much. But with the ULT Field 3, it comes included with a shoulder strap, so its very easy to carry it around on its own. Now the JBL Charge 6 does have a new carrying handle that you can attach and you can use it in two different positions… but personally I do prefer the shoulder strap on the ULT field 3 over the carrying handle on the JBL Charge 6. So overall, the JBL Charge 6 is smaller and more styleized… where as the Sony ULT Field 3 is a little large for a mid sized speaker… but I really like having that included shoulder strap.
But then theres the battery life on these speakers. Both of these speakers have an advertised battery life of 24 hours… which is a lot for a mid sized speaker. And both of these speakers have a stamina mode, so you’ll be able to extend their battery lives more. But for me, when it comes to real world use, with both of these speakers playing at 80% and when they are both playing with their preferred EQ’s, the Charge 6 is good for about 10 hours of playback time, and the ULT Filed 3 is good for about 12 hours of playback time. And volume performance on these speakers is very similar to one another.
And to charge these speakers, like I mentioned earlier, both of these speakers charge via a USB C port. And the really cool thing is that with both of these USB C ports, you can use them to charge your own devices. Which I feel is very useful, escpailly if you plan on taking these speakers to the beach with you. However, the main difference here is, with the Charge 6, you can use its USB C port as a wired connection… where as with the ULT Field 3 you can only use this speaker wirelessly.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these speakers can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so 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 codecs, both of these speakers have support for SBC and AAC.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker set ups, but of these speakers have a frontward firing woofer, frontward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. And these woofer and tweeter setups on these speakers is a big deal cause its going to help with instrument separation and this set up is typically found on more premium speakers.
So like you may have just seen, the woofer handles the mids and the tweeter handles the highs, so this helps your speaker sound more open and it helps with instrument seperation. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Both of these speakers are using their preferred EQ’s. So the Charge 6 is playing with the Siganutre EQ and the ULT Field 3 is playing with ULT turned on. And we’re going to be using both of these speakers while at 75% volume and a max volume.
So when it comes to sound, I think both of these speakers sound good, you cant go wrong with either one. However, I do feel that the Sony ULT Filed 3 sounds a little better than the JBL Charge 6, cause the Sony ULT Field 3 has a little more emphasis on the mids, and it also have noticeably more kick in its bass. And when it comes to max volume performance, I feel that both of these speakers are going to be good for like a 5 to 8 person get together… but I do feel that the amount of sound coming out of the Charge 6 is very imrespspive for its size… where as with the ULT Field 3, since this speaker is noticeably larger… I kind of expect it to get this loud… if that makes sense. But I do feel that the Sony ULT Field 3 gets a little louder than the charge 6… but its not a noticeable enough difference to definitely say that the ULT Field 3 gets louder than the Charge 6. However, with the Charge 6, I do feel that JBL is pushing this speaker a little too hard. And sometimes you’ll might hear a little distortion… now it didn’t happen in this sound test… but I have heard a little bit of distortion on the Charge 6 in rear occasions. Where as distortion is not a problem with the ULT Field 3. So overall, both of these speakers sound good… but I do feel that the Sony ULT Field 3 sounds a little better than the JBL Charge 6… but it only wins here by a few millimeters.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with both of these speakers if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can always pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode.
But with the Sony ULT field 3, its using Sony’s party connect. So you can pair it up to other sony speakers that are also using party connect like either an ULT Field 7, XG500, XG330, XE300, XE200, XB43, XB33, XB23 or to another ULT Field 5 or ULT Field 3 and you can pair up to 100 speakers together and get them to play in sync.
But also, you can pair your smaller Sony speakers to any of Sony’s larger speakers that are also using Party connect like either an ULT Tower 10, ULT Tower 9, or XV800, XV500 or to an XP700 or XP500. The only unfortunate thing here is, you cant connect your ULT Field 1 to an ULT Field 5… and I really think that this is unfortunate cause this is my favorite small portable bluetooth speaker…
But then there’s the JBL Charge 6 and this is speaker is using aura cast, so you can pair it up to other JBL speakers that are also using aura cast like either another JBL Charge 6 or to an Xtreme 4, Flip 7, Clip 5 or go 4… and you can also pair it up to JBL’s larger speakers that are also using aura cast like either a Partybox encore 2, partybox 120, partybox 320, partybox 530 or partybox ultimate.
However, unlike the JBL Xtreme 4 which is also using aura cast… you can not connect your JBL Charge 6 to JBL’s older speakers that are using Partyboost… and I dont know if the JBL Charge 6 will be able to connect to Partyboost speakers in the future. However with aura cast, you can also pair you JBL Charge 6 to non JBL Speakers that are also using aura cast.
Now no, the ULT Field 3 isn’t using aura cast… so if you plan on growing your collection of speakers, you are going to have to stick inside of Sony’s eco system. But personally I dont really mind, I think its a small amount of people that plan on getting multiple speakers from multiple brands. But more importantly, I have noticed that Sony’s party connect is more stable and easier to use compared to aura cast. Cause for at least right now, I have noticed that echos form very regularly with my aurcast speakers.
But overall, if you already have aura cast speakers or a partybox… then you’ll might want to go with the charge 6. Or if you already have some Sony speaker, then you’ll want to go with the ULT Field 3. But if this is your first time getting a speaker, then technically you do want to go with the JBL charge 6 cause it has aura cast, so its going to be more flexible.
But with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between the JBL Charge 6 and Sony ULT Field 3…I honestly think that its a tough call. Now you cant go wrong with either one… but I do feel that the Sony ULT Field 3 sounds a little better than the JBL Charge 6. The Sony sounds better in the mids and it puts out a little more bass and it gets a little louder. Plus distortion is never an issue for this speaker. Now the Charge 6 also sounds good… but I do feel that JBL is pushing this speaker a little too hard cause sometimes you’ll might hear a little distortion. But since the JBL Charge 6 is noticeably smaller than the ULT Field 3… I feel the JBL charge 6 is more impressive from a sound to size ratio. Honestly, I think aura cast might be the deicing factor here for some people. But I do prefer the ULT field 3 here cause it comes with that shoulder strap.