A love letter to bass lovers

When it comes to good headphones, some people like their cans tuned to a flat response. And then some want all that bass. You know who you are—the bass enthusiasts, purveyors of the low-end theory, the music lovers who revel in powerful lows. If that’s you, the Sony Ult Wear Headphones are calling.

The successor to the Sony WH-XB910N Extra Bass headphones, the $200 Ult Wear improves on some of the features of its predecessor, such as adding the V1 integrated processor found in the premium Sony WH-1000XM4 along with improved touch controls and active noise cancellation. You also get some new bells and whistles, including specially designed drivers and a shiny new ULT button, to add even more bass to the mix.

Throw in 30 hours of battery life and spatial audio with head tracking, and you’ve got what could be some of the best mid-tier headphones on the block. However, the very thing that makes the Ult Wear stand out can quickly become a burden, as the bass can become overwhelming in many cases. But for those who can get enough of the lows, the Sony Ult Wear Headphones are some of the best Sony headphones on the block.

Price and availability

The Sony Ult Wear headphones are currently available on Amazon, Best Buy, and Sony’s website and cost $200 in the U.S. and $349 in Canada.

Design and hardware

The Ult Wear aren’t as sleek as their brethren, the WH-1000XM5 going for a more sporty look. Instead of tapering down by the yolk, the black all-plastic arms maintain their thickness to the connectors holding the earcups. The band’s top is made of a stiff frame wrapped in memory foam wrapped in black leatherette. At the end of either arm is a holographic Sony logo that reflects the rainbow in the light. In addition to black, the headphones are also available in Off White and Forest Gray.

The earcups can rotate 180 degrees, allowing the cups to lay flat, making it easier to stow them in a bag or the fabric hard case the cans ship with. You’ll see a circular grille at the top of each earcup for noise-cancelling microphones. Like the top of the headband, the earcups, which are larger than their predecessors, are wrapped in memory foam and supple leatherette. The circumaural cups are oval-shaped and easily encompass my tiny ears, creating a seal for some passive noise isolation.

The left earcup acts as a control center of sorts, with the Power/Pairing button, ANC/Ambient mode button, and the tempting, shiny ULT button. You also have the USB-C and 3.5mm headset ports for use with the bundled charging and audio cables. I’m happy to report that the Ult doesn’t put any undue pressure on your head as you wear it. In fact, I wore them for over four hours in one sitting with no ill effects.

Audio and ANC

Since my main playlist encompasses everything from Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B, Country, Rock, and even a little Metal, I prefer a flat response as it makes for an easier transition between genres. But some extra bass here and there never hurt anybody. In the case of the Ult Wear, however, it’s a constant balancing act between enjoying those dank lows without submerging the highs and mids. One that involves constantly switching between Ult (or bass) modes and tweaking the equalizer.

The Ult Wear supports the following codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3(LE audio) and has 40mm drivers specifically designed to drive that deep bass. I used Tidal for my testing with audio quality set to Max (Up to 24-bit, 192 kHz). When I listened to Breland’s Cross Country without Ult, the track sounded warm and inviting, allowing me to enjoy the twang of the guitar and the singer’s smooth tenor. Introducing Ult 1 mode into the mix gave the bass a noticeable, pleasant boost. But maxing the bass out with Ult 2 mode, the lows overtook the docile guitar with boomy bass.

When I listened to Slow Down, a slow, sensual burner with VanJess and Lucky Daye, without initiating Ult mode, the track sounded cold, but its soundstage was definitely more balanced. Ult 1 was the sweet spot, opening up the soundstage while lending an overall warmth to the vocals and bass, although the horn, synth, and high-hat got pushed into the background. Ult 2 was like a punch in the face, introducing distortion into the mix.

The Ult Wear’s active noise cancelling isn’t as good as the WH-1000XM5’s, but they can definitely quiet down a noisy situation. When no music was playing, the cans effectively shut out an airplane, chirping birds, and the rumble of cars driving down the street. Voices and the loud rumble of an overhead M train were significantly muted. When you need to pay attention to your surroundings, Ambient mode lets the outside world into the soundstage. That way, you can hear oncoming traffic when you’re crossing the street.

As far as taking calls, Sony needs to go back to the lab. I called my brother, and he reported that I sounded extremely muddy. He described it as it sounded like me, but a very muted version. On my end, my brother sounded crystal clear.

Software and features

Like most Sony headphones and earbuds, the Ult Wear works in tandem with the free Sony Headphones app. Here, you can view tutorials, create custom equalizers, adjust spatial audio and head tracking settings, and much more. The app is fairly straightforward. However, make sure your smartphone has head tracking and spatial audio capabilities. If not, you’ll encounter a disappointing error message. Ultimately, I had to switch from my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to my Google Pixel 8 Pro.

In addition to the buttons on the left earcup, a touch panel is embedded in the right earcup that operates via taps and swipes. A quick pair of double taps will pause/play a track, or it will answer/end a call while a swipe forward will go to the next track while a backward swipe will play the previous track. An upward swipe increases volume, while swiping down has the opposite effect.

Press and hold to launch the voice assistant or quickly cover the whole cap to quickly enter Quick Attention mode, which lowers the volume of what you’re listening to until you remove your hand. If you need to engage in conversation and take the cans off, they’ll pause until you put them back on, which is a new, welcome feature.

Battery and charging

Sony has rated the Ult Wear battery life for 30 hours with ANC enabled and 50 hours without. I got nearly five days (38 hours and 27 minutes) of use out of the headphones before I got the low battery warning. This translates into about eight hours of listening per day at approximately 55% volume, streaming Tidal and Spotify, watching videos, and taking phone calls. It helps that the cans are set to automatically shut down after 10 minutes of being idle.

And when the inevitable charge time comes, a 10-minute charge will get you five hours of ANC playtime, up from 4.5 hours. Short on time? Three minutes will give you 1.5 hours of juice.

Competition

If the Ult Wear aren’t your cup of tea, but you still want a bassy pair of headphones, there’s the $229 Skullcrusher ANC 2. If you’re unfamiliar, Crusher’s line of headphones claim to fame is that they serve up bass so deep you can feel it in the form of its Crusher Mode. However, the ANC isn’t as good, and like the Sonys, you’ll need to tweak the EQ a fair amount to tame the bass.

Should you buy it?

Bass is always a good thing, but there is such a thing as too much bass, and the Sony Ult Wear Headphones try to thread the needle. It does an okay job of it for the most part. The onus is on you not to fly too close to the sun with the Ult button. No matter the genre, you’re only a button press away from your favorite track being overrun by artificial lows, which might not be the worst thing in the world if you’re an EDM fan or Hip-Hop fan.

However, if you bypass the Ult button and tweak the equalizers a little, the Ult Wear Headphones can produce good audio and solid noise cancellation. The headphones are also pretty comfortable, which is good since you can squeeze almost 40 hours of battery life out of them with ANC enabled.

They’re a great way to block out the outside world’s distractions without spending an excessive amount of money. All in all, the Sony Ult Wear Headphones are a great choice for bass heads who are on a limited budget.