Get Them Here:
⚡️🔋 Anker Prime Base: https://geni.us/GC-AnkerPrimeBase
Sony ULT Field 5: https://geni.us/GC-SonyULTField5
JBL Xtreme 5: https://geni.us/GC-JBLXtreme5
Bose Soundlink Max: https://geni.us/GC-BoseSoundlinkMax
So the JBL Xtreme 5 is here much sooner than I expected, and this speaker is louder and its a lot more bass than the JBL Xtreme 4. And overall this is a speaker that you can’t go wrong with, however today we’re going to compare it to both the Sony ULT Field 5 and the Bose Soundlink Max. Lets see which one it right for you.
Regarding pricing, both the JBL Xtreme 5 and Bose Soundlink Max have a retail price of $400, which is a lot, now think the JBL Xtreme 5 manages to justify its $400 price tag, where as the Bose, not so much. Where as the Sony ULT field 5 has a retail price of $350… but it likes to go on sale a lot. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these 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 watch some of the related videos in the description down below and you can also hit the subscribe button.
So first there’s the design of these speakers, now all of these speakers are very durable so you can take them on the go with you and they are all water resistant, which is great. However with both the JBL Xtreme 5 and Sony ULT field 5, they come included with a shoulder strap, so its very easy to take these speakers on the go with you cause you can just throw them over your shoulder. And both of these these shoulder straps feel very premium, which is a nice touch cause there are other speakers out there that also come with shoulder straps, but they don’t feel as premium. But one think thing the JBL Xtreme 5 does have over the Sony here is that this shoulder strap also has a built in bottle opener, which can come in clutch. And then there’s the Bose, now this speaker can be used with a shoulder strap, but that’s sold separately, which I don’t think is cool. Now I know that we’re putting a lot of attention here on a shoulder strap, but I just want to highlight that with bose, you’re always paying a Bose premium.
But something that I do want to point out is the size of these speakers, the JBL Xtreme 5 is really big, like its larger and heavier than the Sony ULT field 5 and its noticeably larger than JBL’s past Xtreme speakers, and the Bose soundlink Max is tiny here when compared to all of these other speakers. But when it comes to the durability aspects of these speakers, the Sony ULT field 5 is the only speaker here that has a rubber grommet on the back that protects its ports. And this is a big deal if you plan on getting these speakers wet. Cause with both the JBL and Bose, since their USB C ports are exposed… you have to wait for these speakers to be dry before you can charge them… or you do run the risk of corrosion. So personally, I feel that if youre planning on using your speaker by the pool or by the beach a lot… you’ll might want to go with the Sony for added security.
Now another new feature on the JBL Xtreme 5 is that this speaker now has a built in light feature… and through JBL’s you can choose from a few different lighting modes. But I feel that this light feature is pointless cause its not all that impressive or dynamic. Where as with the Sony ULT Field 5, this speaker also has a light feature, but its a lot more impressive cause its more dynamic, the color changes a lot more and it has a larger flooding affect than the JBL Xtreme 5. Now obviously, you shouldn’t make a speaker purchase decision soul on a light feature, but if you are going to add a light feature, I think you should at least put some effort into it.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Bose Soundlink Max has an advertised battery life of 20 hours, Xtreme 5 has an advertised battery life of 24 hours where as the ULT Field 5 has an advertised battery life of 25 hours… however this advertised battery life of 25 hours on the Sony is with the light feature turned off, which I do feel is fair. But real world use with all of these speakers playing at 80% volume, and thats with the ULT field 5 playing with its light feature turned off and with ULT 2, the Sony is good for about 12 hours and the Xtreme 4 is good for about 14 hours and the Bose is good for about 10 hours.
But what really makes the Xtreme 5 stand out here is, you can actually remove the battery on this speaker. So if you want you can get multiple batteries and keep the party going, or if you get to the point where your speaker can no longer hold a charge, instead of buying a new speaker, you just need to get a new battery.
However, removing the battery on the Xtreme 5 isn’t as easy as removing the battery on a Partybox that has a spring door. With the Xtreme 5 you’re going to need Alan keys, and the Xtreme 5 has this set up so that it can keep its IP68 rating. So swapping out the battery on the Xtreme 5 is doable, but its not super convenient. But it can be done.
But when it comes to actually charging these speakers, like I mentioned earlier all of these speakers charge via a USB C port, which is great. However both the Bose and JBL come included with complete charging cables, where as with the Sony, its comes with a USB C cable, but you are going to have to use your own wall adaptor. But more importantly, with both the JBL and Sony, if you use them while they are plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of them, they are going to get louder and they are going to have more bass, where as with the Bose, you dont.
But also, with all of these speakers you can also use their USB C port to charge your own devices, which is super conviente especially if you plan on taking these speakers to the beach. And also with the Xtreme 5 5 you can use its USB C port as a wired connection. But with both the Bose and Sony, these two speakers still have an audio jack which will might be more important if you have older devices that you want to use with a wired connection.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, all of these speakers can be connected to any two Bluetooth devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. and latency is not an issue for any of these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker set ups, all of these speakers are different from your more standard speakers. With the bose Soundlink max this speaker has a single frontward firing tweeter, with dual frontward firing woofers that are angled out a little bit and it has dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. Where as with both the Bose and JBL, both of these speakers have a single frontward firing woofer with dual frontward firing tweeters and dual passive radiators that shoot out the sides. And well, with the JBL Xtreme 5, I am surprised that JBL went this route cause I expected them to go with a minute JBL Boombox 4 set up where they keep the dual frontward firing woofers and just add a passive radiator that shoots out the back. But more importantly, with all of these speakers you can go into their apps and adjust their sound to your liking. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test. All of these speakers are playing at 75% volume while unplugged.
So first off, I do have to point out that the Bose Soundlink Max sounds and performs much better than when it first came out. When it first came out, this speaker sounded very hollow cause the mids just weren’t there. But now this speaker sounds a lot better, however the Bose Soundlink max still like to lean towards a warmer sound signature. And from a max volume performance stand point, this speaker doesn’t get as loud as these other two speakers. So with the Bose Soundlink Max, I feel that this speaker sounds a lot better than when it first came out… but I feel that both the JBL Xtreme 5 and Sony ULT Field 5 give you better sound performance at a more affordable price.
But then there’s the JBL Xtreme 5, and I feel that this is a very violent speaker. The JBL Xtreme 5 gets much louder than the Bose Soundlink max and its gets noticeably louder than the Sony ULT field 5… and the JBL Xtreme 5 has noticeably more kick in its bass than these other two speakers. And I swear, the JBL Xtreme 5 is such a violent speaker, sometimes to can see the front grill vibrating. But my problem with the JBL Xtreme 5 is that this speaker sounds similar to the JBL Xtreme 4, it has the same instrument separation and it likes to lean towards a bright sound signature. And sometimes the highs on this speaker can get a little harsh cause it like to leans towards that brighter sound signature. Where as with the Sony ULT Field 5, this speaker sounds more balanced cause the highs aren’t over emphasized, and it also sounds more open than the JBL Xtreme 5. So overall, I actually think the Sony ULT field 5 is the best sounding speaker here cause it sounds the most balanced and open. Cause with the Bose this speaker just doesn’t get as loud as you’d expect it to for the price and it leans towards a warmer sound signature. And with the JBL Xtreme 5, this speaker gets the loudest here and it has the most amount of bass here, but it doesn’t sound as open and it leans towards a brighter sound signature.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with all 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 for your left channel and another for your right channel.
But with the Bose Soundlink max, you can only have a total of 2 speakers playing together and you can only pair their speaker up to another Bose Soundlink max or to a bose Soundlink Flex 2 or Bose plus or bose micro 2. So if you plan on growing your collection of speakers, then the Bose is very limited.
But then theres the Sony ULT field 5, which is 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…
And then theres the JBL Xtreme 5 which is using Aura Cast, and you can pair it up to other JBL speakers that are also using aura cast like either a Boombox 4, an Xtreme 4, Charge 6, Flip 7, a grip, clip 5, Go 5 or Go 4… and you can also pair it up to JBL’s larger party boxes that are also using aura cast like either a partybox encore 2, a partybox 120, 320, 520, 720 or to an ultimate. But unfortunately, you can not connect your JBL Xtreme 5 up to ant of JBL’s older speakers that are using party boost. Only the JBL Xtreme 4 has that backwards compatibly. Nonetheless, if you are planning on growing your collection of speakers, then either the Sony or JBL are good options here.
But with all of that being said, if you’re trying to choose between the JBL Xtreme 5, Bose Soundlink Max and Sony ULT Field 5, I still feel that the Bose Soundlink Max is hard to justify over these other two speakers. Yes, the Bose soundlink max sounds better than it did when it first came out, but the Bose Soundlink max, it doesn’t get as loud as you’d expect it to for the price, it has the shortest battery life here, its shoulder strap is sold separately, and its pairing options are very limited.
The real decision here is trying to choose between the JBL Xtreme 5 and Sony ULT field 5. Now with the Xtreme 5 this speaker gets louder and it has more bass. And it also has that removable battery, which is great for the life of your investment. But I feel that the Sony ULT field 5 sounds better than the JBL cause it sound more balanced and open. Its also a little smaller and lighter and it has a better looking light feature. Plus its more affordable than the JBL Xtreme 5.