Sony Ult Field 7 review: 14 pounds of party

When I first got my hands on the Sony Ult Field 7, I have to admit, I didn’t know who it was for. It’s a huge Bluetooth speaker without many bells or whistles — no Wi-Fi connectivity, built-in smart assistants, or spatial audio. Its most unique features are RGB lighting and a 1/4-inch microphone or guitar input. Also, it costs $500.

After using it for a couple of weeks, though, I get it. The Ult Field 7 is loud, bassy, and ostentatious — it’s a party speaker. It’s absolutely overkill for casual listening at home, but the Sony Ult Field 7 is a fantastic boombox for big gatherings, indoors or out.

Price, availability, and specifications

The Sony Ult Field 7 costs a whopping $500, landing it well into premium Bluetooth speaker territory. You can grab it directly from Sony or all the online retailers you’d expect: Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and B&H, among others.

What’s good about the Sony Ult Field 7?

Large and in charge

This thing is large. That might sound like a bad thing, considering it’s meant to be portable, but the Field 7 — nearly two feet long and weighing in just under 14 pounds — isn’t the kind of Bluetooth speaker you’d pack for a leisurely day at the park (that’s smaller Sony Ult Field 1’s speed). The Field 7 is more suited to providing a soundtrack to larger, louder gatherings, and it excels at that.

Under the Field 7’s mesh fabric grille are four speakers: two 114-millimeter woofers paired with two 46-millimeter tweeters. It gets loud — with the volume maxed in my living room, music was perfectly audible throughout my 1,200-square-foot house. Trying to carry on a conversation a few feet from the speaker, I had to shout to be heard over the music.

That kind of volume is impractical in such a small setting, but it’s great outside or in larger indoor event spaces. Like the larger Sony Ult Tower 10, the Field 7 has input for a wired microphone or guitar. That’ll come in handy for karaoke, but it’s also another point in the speaker’s favor as an event accessory. This thing could easily be the entire PA system for a pretty well-attended wedding reception, even outdoors. (The Field 7 is BYO microphone, though, unlike the Tower 10.)

It sounds great, too, especially when you want a healthy helping of bass. With a single press, the ULT button on the speaker’s top side emphasizes the speaker’s low-end response, producing deeper bass and subbass, which really helps genres like pop, hip hop, and EDM shine. Sony says two presses make the bass more “powerful” — so, louder. The latter option is nice outdoors, where bass doesn’t have walls or a ceiling to bounce off; it helps low tones carry farther so music sounds more natural across a larger area. If you want more granular control over the sound, there’s a seven-band equalizer in the Sony Music Center companion app.

There are LED lights surrounding the radiators at either end of the speaker. The Music Center app offers a few different modes for the lights; there are colorful RGB setups that react to the bass in your music, plus a few subtler options. You can also shut the lights off using the app or a physical button under the silicone door. I wasn’t sold on the lighting to begin with, but considering this thing is meant for parties, I’ve come around — it’s fun.

The Field 7 is IP67 certified, so it’s safe to use outdoors, even in the rain — though the bits under the door on the speaker’s backside will be vulnerable when they’re exposed. With convenient carrying handles and battery life Sony rates at up to 30 hours per charge, the Ult Field 7 is a great pick for anyone who tends to host especially noisy outdoor gatherings.

What’s bad about the Sony Ult Field 7?

A few shortcomings

There’s not much to criticize about the Sony Ult Field 7, but I do want to pick on its port selection. The speaker’s charging connection is a figure-eight plug, and the charging cable it comes with is only a couple feet long. I really would’ve preferred USB-C charging here, especially considering the Field 7 only draws 45 watts.

There’s also a USB-A port for charging external devices, maxing out at a piddly 7.5 watts. It’s 2024, and this thing costs half a grand — if it’s going to offer external device charging, high-wattage USB-C output doesn’t sound like too much to ask.

That price point is a serious consideration here, too. As good as the Sony Ult Field 7 is, it’s still a Bluetooth speaker, and it’ll run you 500 bucks. I think anyone shopping for Bluetooth speakers in this price range will probably have a good idea of what they’re getting into, though.

Should you buy it?

The Sony Ult Field 7 is an excellent option for anyone in the market for a Bluetooth speaker that costs a car payment (or two). It sounds great and gets really loud, but it’s still plenty portable. Thanks to its IP67 rating, it’s also safe to use outdoors.

If you’re still on the fence, the Field 7 is likely overkill for you; a much smaller, much less expensive speaker is plenty for my backyard, and I have to think that’s true for most people. But if you regularly host large gatherings where you want loud, bassy music away from electrical outlets, the Sony Ult Field 7 will be worth the investment.