Sony recently announced new speakers under its ULT FIELD series.
The new portable ULT FIELD 3, which is part of this series, aims to deliver a signature bass-y sound that the ULT series is made for.
At a current price tag of Rs 17,990, does the FIELD 3 really have enough up its sleeves? Let's try and check:
First impressions
The speaker is rectangular in shape and weighs around 1.2kg. It is also quite portable and can be carried around after attaching the strap included in the box to two points near the shoulder of the speaker.
On the top, you have physical control keys for power, Bluetooth (both have a small LED above them), skip, and volume, as well as the big ULT key.
On the front, there's also the Sony branding, while at the back—under a pull-out rubber flap—you have the USB type-C port and a battery care button that tells you the battery percentage left on a short press.
Made of durable plastic and mesh material on top, the speaker seems sturdy and feels nice in the hand to carry around. There are rubber feet at the bottom two ends.
The ULT FIELD 3 supports Bluetooth 5.2 with SBC and AAC audio codecs. You can even pair your smartphone with the speaker, making it double up as a virtual assistant like Google Assistant or Siri.
It is IP67 rated for dust and water resistance and comes in the Forest Grey (which I tried and prefer), Off White, and Black colour options. In fact, it is the only ULT FIELD speaker from the series (other than the FIELD 5) to come in this many colours.
Sound quality
You get one tweeter and one woofer combination here.
The ULT key at the top adds a bass boost for those who like that extra oomph: and it doesn't disappoint.
The speaker delivered clear background playback for low to medium high volume settings with fairly deep bass that a lot of people might like.
With the extra bass disabled, I found that the treble took a little more emphasis—sounding better than when the extra bass was enabled—for multiple instruments.
It's not the loudest Bluetooth speaker available at this price point today, but it is quite clear in terms of vocals, as well as lows. You can use Sony's Sound Connect app to adjust EQ presets (there are quite a few of those this time) or for switching the speaker to party mode or stamina mode.
Battery
You can expect somewhere around 18-20 hours of battery backup from the speaker when in medium to highest volume with the ULT key disabled, and a little lower, if enabled at all times.
Verdict
Summing it up, the new ULT FIELD 3 delivers quite well with its bass and clear sound while maintaining a neat design that works for outdoor usage.