It's always exciting when Sony has a new product on the way. Rumours of a Sony debut tend to rumble through the walls of tech publication offices like crackling electricity, as there's always anticipation for any new product unveiled from a company that's at the top of its sonic game. Beatles fans must have felt the same way during the late 1960s.
Sony's cryptic announcement that it would be welcoming a new family member (or multiple members) naturally caused such ripples of anticipation within our own soundproofed walls, so when we were invited to Central London to get some hands-on time with these mysterious debutantes, we didn't have to be asked twice.
It was here that Sony unveiled its new "ULT" line, a brand new family of products all bonded by their emphasis on lower-end punch, youth-orientated sound and multiple bass modes to get your tunes pumping. We had hands-on time with every single product, but singled out the new over-ear wireless headphones – the ULT Wear – for a more bespoke deep dive.
Well, as deep as you can get from a few hours of testing within a small club packed full of other journalists keen to get their mitts on the new gear...
Price
We'd speculated that the hypothetical new headphones would be even more premium, and thus costly, than the Sony WH-1000XM5 Award-winners, but the bass-boosted ULT Wear are actually more comfortable sitting in the market's mid-range. Priced at £180 / $200 / AU$440, that puts the ULT well below the RRP of the XM5 (officially £380 / $399 / AU$550) but above the more budget Sony WH-CH720N over ears (£99 / $129 / AU$259).
Rather appropriately, that's around the price of the Sony WH-XB910N, the bass-boosted (hence X-B, "extra bass") over-ears that came out a few years ago and to which, according to Sony, the ULT act as the spiritual successor.
Build & design
Build quality and comfort are the sorts of key factors that you can get an immediate feel for when you're trying out new products, especially when such aspects seem to leap out at you from your first point of contact. When first wearing and holding them, everything about the ULT Wear cans felt as reliable, durable and pleasant to behold as the rest of Sony's excellent headphone range.
Visually, they inevitably put us in mind of the more expensive WH-1000XM5 thanks to their smooth, slightly cut-off earcups and plush, adjustable band. That's no bad thing, and if you placed a pair of XM5 side by side with their newer, more affordable counterparts, we'd certainly have to double-take before realising which was which.
There are few visual clues, of course. The new units sport a large button on the left ear cup which conveniently lets you toggle your preferred bass profile (more on that later), while the Sony logo on the upper corner of the headband shimmers with a shiny lenticular font that will appeal to some and cause misgivings in others. It's in keeping with the cans' youth-orientated purpose, though, so we're happy to put our reservations down to mere fuddy-duddiness.
To actually touch and hold, though, they're lovely things. That headband is plush and adorned with plenty of pleasing padding, as are the earpads, leading to an on-head experience that, during our short testing time, felt snug, secure and comfortable, although that might prove a different story over the long term. In terms of further functionality, the headband extends easily and without fuss or excessive resistance, with the smoothly swivelling hinge at the top of the earcup again reminding us of the XM5. Never a bad thing.
Features
Sony's new cans aren't quite on the level of the premium WH-1000XM5, but they do boast several key features that go beyond their heavy focus on buckets of bass for the youthful masses. They share the same V1 processor as the XM5 for handling sound quality and noise cancelling, the latter of which we had a chance to test against a suitably boisterous backdrop within the walls of our chosen venue. Slipping the cans over your ears immediately surrounds you in a dampened cocoon of sonic isolation; even as journalists, PRs and engineers chatted away, drinks glasses clanked and feet clumped up and down a nearby staircase, the ULT Wear softened the mini cacophony with a reliable, soothing ease.
Those battery life figures are outstanding, too. Naturally, we can't yet verify them, but it goes without saying that 50 hours of life from a pair of headphones at this level is undeniably impressive, and while those figures drop to around 30 hours with ANC turned on, that's hardly what you'd call disgraceful for cans at this level.
The ULT Wear headphone's big USP, naturally, is that bold, shiny button on the left ear cup which lets you toggle between the cans' three audio modes: a standard, non-boosted profile, "attack bass" for more bass attack, and finally "deep bass" for greater resonance from those essential lower frequencies.
That aforementioned bass button is obviously one of the key features of the new cans, allowing you to toggle between the provided bass presets more easily. You also get Sony app access, and while our "use" of the platform was essentially done vicariously through our kindly demo team, adjusting noise cancelling and EQ settings seemed simple enough when viewed from afar.
Bluetooth Multipoint is also on board for switching between devices on the fly, while fast pair lets you hook up to your source quickly and efficiently if you're using an Android or Google device. Sony's own LDAC Bluetooth codec – which allows you to stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbp – is supported.
Sound
It's taken for granted that we'll preface this by saying that we need more time with the ULT Wear, but what should indicate our general disposition toward the new cans is how much we want more time with them. Our listening experience was eminently enjoyable and, while very short, left us hungry for more.
We pulled out a Tidal recording of alt-J's In Cold Blood (that seems to be one of our test tracks du jour) and immediately that familiar Sony sense of cohesion and well-roundedness revealed itself, like returning to a heated home after six months on an Arctic expedition. That natural yet engaging musical balance is one of the company's real strengths right now, and it doesn't seem as though the bass-happy ULT Wear cans stray too far from that sonic path in their pursuit of a punchier lower end.
That said, Sony's new boys are all about that bass, and while we resisted the urge to pull out some Meghan Trainor from our musical locker, we did try to find a few quick tunes that could showcase the cans' different bass modes. Wu-Tang's Gravel Pit felt well served by the over-ears' robust, enthusiastic nature, pulling the track together with weight, solidity and plenty of propulsive energy.
Flipping through those bass modes naturally added to the heft of the lower-end, with the more punchy "attack bass" setting adding a greater sense of snap and impact when compared with the "deep bass" mode's emphasis on fullness, breadth and, of course, depth. It's a trick we saw repeated across Sony's range of ULT products, and while the effect was most in evidence when comparing no bass mode at all with either of the selectable options, we certainly detected a distinct change in sonic character when flicking between "deep" and "attack" profiles.
Verdict
We'll get our usual hands-on verdict qualifier out of the way now: these judgements and impressions were formed from just a couple of hours of listening in circumstances that vary from the in-depth processes we usually give to our full review samples. More time inevitably will be needed to truly get to grips with the ULT Wear and everything they can do.
On a more superficial and immediate level, we enjoyed the time spent in the company of all of Sony's new products, especially the brand's latest pair of over-ears. Everything about their build, fit and tactility suggested that this was yet another product made to Sony's exacting and rigorous standards, while the sound they emitted seemed to hint at the sort of quality that served the company so well in recent months and years. Here's hoping those impressions prove more than illusory.
MORE:
Read our Sony WH-1000XM5 review
Sony ULT Wear vs Sony WH-1000XM5: what are the differences between the two headphones?
Here are the best over-ear headphones on the market
Try out our 29 of the best tracks for testing bass in anticipation
Sony's run of Award-winning headphones is remarkable, so what makes them so special?
