The Sony ULT Field 1 has been my favorite small sized speaker to use and to recommend for the last year just cause it sounds so full. But now we have the JBL Flip 7 which does have some sound improvements over the JBL Flip 6. Now both of these speakers are great options to consider if you’re looking for a small speaker for summer 2025. But today we’re going to compare the JBL Flip 7 and Sony ULT field 1 and we’re going to see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Sony ULT field 1 has a retail price of $130 and it likes to go on sale for $100 on a regular basis where as the JBL Flip 7 has a retail price of $150… but I also expect it to go on sale. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button 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 the Sony ULT Field 1 and JBL flip 7 are very portable and durable speakers cause they both have mostly fabric wrapped bodies so they are going to stand up to constant abuse from bumps and scrapes and they are both water proof. So a little bit of water isn’t going to hurt either of these two speakers. However, the Sony ULT field 1 is a little larger than the JBL Flip 7 but you’re still going to be able to throw this speaker into your water bottle holder. But the thing that ir really like about the ULT field 1 is that is has this carrying strap which has two positions. So you can either carry this speaker around, you can attach it to your back pack or you can easily hang it from something. Where as with the JBL Flip 7, it has this little strap and you can switch it out for a carrabenaer if you want. So you can also very easily attach this speaker to your back pack. Personally I just find that the ULT field 1’s convertible strap is a lot more versatile than what the Flip 7 has going on. So portability wise, I do prefer the ULT Field 1 here.
Also I do want to point out that the Sony ULT Field 1 is a little more durable than the JBL Flip 7 cause its USB C port is covered and protected, where as the USB C on the Flip 7 is exposed. Now you can still get the Flip 7 wet without any problems… but before you can charge it, you have to wait for it to be properly dry. So if you ever try to charge your Flip 7 and the indicator light starts to blink red, dont worry its not broken, you just gotta let it dry. Where as this isnt an issue for the ULT Field 1. And I know that this is a very specific problem, but I point it out cause this has happened to me in the past.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Sony ULT field 1 has an advertised battery life of 12 hours where as the JBL Flip 7 has an advertised battery life of 14 hours, and both of these speakers have a stamina mode, so you can extend their battery lives even more… but they are going to sound very flat cause this is going to reduce their bass.
but real world use with both of these speakers playing at 80% volume, and this is with the ULT feature turned on on the ULT field 1, the ULT Field 1, the ULT Field 1 is good for around 7 hours of playback time and the JBL Flip 7 is good for about 8 hours of playback time. Not bad.
And like I mentioned earlier, both of these speakers charge via a USB C port as they should. However with the JBL Flip 7, you can also use this USB C port as a wired connection. However, unlike the USB C port on this speaker’s larger counterparts like either the JBL Charge 6 or Sony ULT Field 3… you can not use these USB C ports to charge your own devices… which is understandable cause these speakers a much smaller.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these speakers can be connected to two 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. Regarding speaker set up, both of these speakers have a frontward firing woofer, a fonrtward firing tweeter and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. And the fact that both of these speakers have a woofer and tweeter set up is a big deal cause this is normal used on more premium speakers, and this is going to help with your instrument separation.
Tweeter demo Flip 7
So like you may have just seen, the woofer handles the mids and the tweeter handles the highs and this helps you speaker sound more open. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. Now both of these speakers are running with their Stock EQ, and we’re going to be using them at 75% volume and at max volume.
Sound test
So like you may have just heard… I genuinely feel that the Sony ULT Field 1 sounds better than the JBL Flip 7 both at 75% volume and especially at max volume. With the Sony ULT Field 1… this speaker sounds a lot fuller and a lot more defined in the mids and it also has more bass. And sony has just been working on improving the mids and the overall sound pressure on all of their speakers starting with the ULT field 1 all the way up to the ULT Field 7. Where as with the JBL Flip 7, yes this speaker also sounds good, but I cant help but feel that the mids sound a little hollow… and at max volume this speaker sounds overly bright cause the bass just isn’t able to keep up. And like I have mentioned in the past, I feel that JBL is pushing their Flip 7 and Charge 6 a little too hard, cause at max volume sometimes you’ll might hear a little distortion in the highs. Now it didn’t happen in this sound test, but I have experienced it on rare occasions. So sound quality wise, I feel that the Sony ULT Field 1 sounds noticeably better than the JBL Flip 7. And then theres the max volume performance on these speakers. Now these two speakers get equally as loud as one another… and I feel that these two speakers are going to be good for like an 8 person get together… if you actually have that many friends. But even if you’re most likely jut going to use this speaker alone, I do feel that that Sony ULT Field 1 does give you a fuller listening experience.
But finally lets talk about pair these speakers up with other speakers. Now with both of these speakers if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode so you can have one speaker for your left channel and another for your right channel.
Now like I mentioned before, I love the Sony ULT field 1 and I prefer it over the JBL Flip 7… but where Sony really dropped the ball with this speaker is that it doesn’t have party connect. So you cant pair it up with Sony’s other speakers that are using Partyconnect like either an ULT field 7, XG500, XG300, XE300, XE22, XB43, XB33, XB23, or to an ULT Field 5 which is sick or an ULT Field 3. And you cant pair it up to any of Sony’s larger box speakers either.
Where as the JBL Flip 7 is using aura cast, so you can pair it up to other JBL Speakers that are also using aura cast like either a Charge 6, an Xtreme 4, another Flip 7, clip 5 or to a go 4, or to any of JBL’s newer party boxes which are also using aura cast like either a Partybox Encore 2, Partybox 120, 320, 520 or Partybox Ultimate.
And also with aura cast, you can pair your JBL Flip 7 to non JBL speakers that are also using aura cast. So with the JBL Flip 7, its a lot more versatile if you plan on growing your collection of speakers. However, with the JBL Flip 7, you can not pair it up to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using party boost. Only the JBL Xtreme 4 can connect to both aura cast speakers and Partyboost speakers… and I dont know if the JBL Flip 7 will be getting a firmware update in the future to also do this. So if you have any party boost speakers, then you’ll might want to just spring for an Xtreme 4.
But with all of that being said, both the JBL Flip 7 and Sony ULT Field 1 are great small portable bluetooth speakers to consider. However I do prefer the Sony ULT Field 1 here cause the this speakers sounds fuller across the board cause the mids are more defined and it has more bass and distortion is never a problem. And I also think that its convertible carrying strap is a lot more versatile. However Sony really dropped the ball with the ULT field 1 cause it doesn’t have Party Connect. So if you plan on growing your collection of speakers… you can only connect it to one other ULT field 1. So if you do plan on getting more speakers in the future or if you have friends that also have speakers… then you’ll might want to go with the JBL Flip 7 cause it does have aura cast.