ULT is a new audio brand by Sony, encompassing portable speakers and Over Ear headphones. The emphasis with ULT, besides a name more receptive than Sony typically offers its products, is the focus on bass. Sony aims to appeal to hip-hop enthusiasts and beyond, offering some of the capabilities and hardware specs of its flagship headphones - WH-1000XM5 (for the full review), but at a lower price point, NIS 680 compared to NIS 1,250.
Design and Control: ULT Wear - Foldable, Lightweight, with Touch SurfaceThe ULT Wear closely resembles Sony's 2020 flagship headphones, the WH-1000XM4 model. This means, instead of the complete rounded structure, there's a dismantled structure here (not in a negative sense, but aesthetically). They still look like quality headphones in a distinctive charcoal color, with versions available in white and black. They're lightweight, weighing 255 grams, foldable (which wasn't possible with the 1000XM5), and consequently, the accompanying hard case takes up less space in the bag, a feature I found inconvenient with the flagship model for travel.
On the right ear cup, there's a touch surface allowing operation: double tap for play/pause, swipe right to skip forward, swipe left to skip backward. Swiping up and down controls volume. On the left side, there's a physical button to switch between active noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient mode, as well as a dedicated button named ULT for bass control (more on that later). The headphones include a sensor that automatically detects wearing/removal for play/pause of music, and multipoint - dual connection to two devices (e.g., smartphone and laptop) with simple pairing through Fast Pair for Android smartphones and Swift Pair for Windows 10 computers.
Sound and Calls: ULT Wear - Dedicated Bass ButtonSony employs the processor from the 1000XM5, the V1 model, Bluetooth 5.2, 40mm drivers, and basic codecs like SBC, AAC, and also a much higher-quality codec, LDAC, for high-fidelity audio. Unsurprisingly, these headphones provide successful sound, as expected from Sony. Generally, I didn't feel lacking bass in regular listening mode, but using the bass boost via the button (single press) added depth to the music experience and emphasized the low tones successfully.
Another press, described by Sony as Attack Bass, delivers even more energy. Personally, this additional bass felt excessive and detracted from the experience and sound quality. What bothered me further was that each press of the ULT button produced a sound somewhat like an electronic pop; initially, it was okay, but later, it disrupted continuous listening.
Sony is renowned for its excellent ANC technology, and here, it doesn't disappoint, with noise cancellation that allows disconnecting from the surroundings and reducing background noise.
In its flagship headphones, Sony detects when you start talking and pauses the music automatically, so you can converse without removing the headphones. Here, you can touch the right ear cup, and the headphones automatically switch to ambient mode until you remove your hand.
This option is very convenient when you want to listen to something in the nearby environment or want to say a short sentence to someone. Generally, the transparency mode worked well, and I felt I could converse with people without removing the headphones.
Regarding calls, the ULT Wear comes with microphones using Beam Forming technology and Sony's Precise Voice Pickup technology, which isolates the speaker's voice and blocks surrounding noise. In my tests, I was heard clearly, with background noise separation when speaking on a busy street (although I still heard voices of people nearby, but not in a way that disrupted the conversation).
Battery: ULT Wear - More Than a Day of MusicThe headphones' batteries provide 30 hours of music playback along with ANC, and they also feature fast charging - 3 minutes of charging allow an hour and a half of use.
Price: NIS 680 (official importer YesPlanet)
In conclusion, Sony tries to achieve two things with the ULT Wear, one to appeal to the hip-hop audience thanks to the bass button. Although I don't listen to hip-hop much, the bass boost is still a very positive addition. The second thing is to provide a cheaper and modern alternative to its current flagship model. Therefore, in the end, the ULT Wear headphones offer successful sound quality, with added bass and a variety of features found in the company's flagship headphones, available here as well.