Sony ULT Field 3 - The Best Travel Speaker In 2025?
When it comes to buying a new portable speaker, you don't want to rush and buy something only to find out later that it's average. And, a word of advice is if you're looking for a travel speaker, don't waste your money on a good one that ends up taking up half of your luggage space. And this is the most important: don't get caught by buying the flashiest speaker on the shelf because you might later find out that it just doesn't have the bass and power you need.
So get the message. Wise men say only fools rush in. Anyway… Enter this new compact offering from Sony. The ULT Field 3 is designed to deliver Power Sound! If you're after power, you should watch this because it has unique tricks and thoughtful design aspects. Stick around, and I'll show you what I mean…but first, let's get some key need-to-know details out of the way.
Key Details
The price point at launch is £179 in the UK, 199 USD. The ULT 3 model is a bigger brother to the even more compact £89 ULT Field 1 and sits just below the £259 ULT Field 5, which is considerably larger and has RGB and bigger drivers and a bigger battery, but probably won't fit in a bag. Colour options here on the ULT Field 3 are Black / Forest Grey / And Off-white. For me, the forest Grey is the nicest colour. Battery life on the Field 3 is said to be up to 24 HR with ULT power Sound mode on and volume level set to 22, the max volume level is 50.
When the battery runs flat, a Quick 10-minute recharge can get 2 hours of additional playback again with the volume set to 22. Now, if you were to play music continuously at max volume ( level 50 ) with ULT power mode on, the battery life drops to 5 hours. What I'm wondering & I'm sure you are too, is volume level 22 loud enough? And how loud is it when maxed out? We shall see. And I'll give you my honest opinions on that. But before we do that, let me show you what's in the box and give you a quick tour of ULT Field 3's design.
Unboxing
In the box you get the paperwork, the very nice branded shoulder strap with metal buckles, and a USB C to C charging cable. And, of course, the ULT Field 3 itself. If you use an Android phone, power it up as soon as you power it up for the first time. It should pop up on your phone thanks to Google's fast pair.
Design
My initial impressions of the design are… I really like how they've done the logo and colours on the ULT button. It's very eye-catching. What caught me off guard was that this speaker was more compact than I had expected. The width across the front is 25.6cm, 11cm tall and 8cm deep. These are nice dimensions if you're looking for a travel speaker, as it won't take up too much space in your carry-on luggage, it will take up 1.2 kg of your luggage allowance.
One of the standout design aspects is that you have these two hidden buckles for the shoulder strap to hook onto up top. It's rare to see a speaker this size with a shoulder strap. This is great because when moving around, you don't even have to throw it in a bag; you can just throw it over your shoulder. If you struggle to find a place to put it down, you could use the strap to hang it up somewhere instead of leaving it on the ground.
Also, if you wrap the shoulder strap around something and then hook it back up. It won't be easy if someone tries to grab it and run off with it. You have to watch out for tea leaves; they're everywhere nowadays. I like the tight weave material it's wrapped in. This is standard stuff for these types of speakers these days. I prefer this to metal mesh as it's much less likely to get sand particles wedged into it.
The rubberised sides and feet will help reduce unwanted vibrations & will also help protect it if it takes any hard knocks, and on that topic, It is Waterproof, dustproof & shockproof, and rustproof. What's more, the ULT Field 3 has two separate ingress protection ratings. IP66 and IP67. IP66 means that it can withstand dust and water jets. The IP67 means it survives dust and submersion in 1 meter of water for 30 mins. Two separate tests, two separate badges of approval.
And this is also quite interesting. They test the dust resistance by throwing it in a mechanical mixing device with a lot of 75um dust particles and then they stir it for 8 hours to see if any dust can get in. It doesn't. So it's fair to say the ULT Field 3 is built to survive travel environments like the beach or next to a pool…or even a park in England on a rainy day. Round the back is a water-tight cover for the USB C charging port; because it's water-tight, this means you don't need to dry the port before recharging, and this same USB C port can also be used for recharging other devices.
There's also an interesting battery/battery care button here. A quick click will let you know how much battery is left. A push and hold activates or deactivates the battery care mode. Limiting the battery to 90% will help it live longer in the long run. The buttons across the top are rubberised with raised icons, and some LED light indicators. Then there's this one, the ULT Power Sound button, which has this colour-shifting icon under this clear surface & it's backlit.
Sound Quality
Before we get into the sound test, here are my opinions on the sound quality and the unique features I mentioned. There are a couple of things you need to know first regarding how this speaker delivers Sony's Ultimate Power Sound. The Field 3 had two active drivers: a large mid-bass woofer and a 20mm tweeter. Of course, two large passive radiators on both sides radiate the bass further.
The Field 3 can be placed horizontally or vertically. I prefer how it sounds when horizontal. However, it depends on the surface on which you place this on. If you stand it vertically on an ideal surface, the bass can be piqued even more.
Sound Test
Ok, let's do a quick sound test. Throw your headphones on to get a better idea of how it sounds. For the sound test, please watch the video.
20Hz to 20kHz - BT 5.2 AAC and SBC - 44.1kHz sampling
So, with the Field 3 volume level set to 22 and the ULT mode on. The levels are perfect for distances up to around 3 meters. And you could easily converse with the person next to you without turning the volume down. It's a very comfortable volume level. Full volume at 10 meters away sounds as good as if you were right up close to its volume level 22. It's really quite impressive. In terms of the sound signature with the ULT mode off, the clarity and detail are good, with vocal ranges sounding particularly crisp and clear.
You do get some good bass, but this mode is what I'd recommend using for easy listening or for background music while you're getting some work done. And, of course, when it's time to turn it up. That's when you'd use the nuclear option ULT button. The ULT button thickens up mids and boosts the bass massively. But surprisingly, the clarity stays consistent in the vocal range, which is impressive. And it's nice to have that versatility at the touch of a button. This is really this speaker and all of the ULT speaker's superpowers. But, of course, Sony has some secret weapons and unique features you need to know about.
Unique Features
I am also referring to the software features within Sony's Sound Connect App. So this is Sony's all-in-one app for headphones and speakers. The Field 3 supports multipoint pairing via BT 5.2. This means you could pair your computer and your phone simultaneously. You can also take phone calls via the built-in mic, and some Ai Echo AI-cancelling algorithms are in play here for voice calls. Interestingly, the mic is also used for Sony's unique sound field optimisation. With this feature enabled, Field 3 can detect environmental noise levels and adjust the sound dynamically.
If you have a good ear for sound, you can jump into the 7 Band EQ and dial in your own; this will only kick in when the ULT mode is off. Another nice feature is that even though this is an excellent stand-alone speaker. It can make up a stereo pair if you connect it to another ULT field 3. That's what the connect button is for. In fact, if you really want to, you can connect up to 100 ULT speakers and have them all in sync. And, listen, you might like this. If you want to add something to the music, you can open up the DJ Controls and add a few of your own effects. I wish Sony would allow us to record our sound bites and load them up, because that would be hilarious.
