Portable Bluetooth speakers offer the most affordable way to spread music across a room or at a pool party, which many of us will be a part of in the coming weeks. When it comes to party speakers, it’s all about big sounds and Sony ULT Field 7 delivers just that. The best part about the speaker is the level of clarity it offers even though there is plenty of bass.

Designed for parties

Sony ULT Field 7 is a medium-sized Bluetooth speaker that can be used as a party speaker because it has been designed to deliver big sounds, big bass and a party vibe, thanks to the built-in RGB lighting effects.

It has a cylindrical design and weighs around 6.3kg. There are rubberised end caps that have built-in handles to allow the speaker to be easily moved around and the device can be kept either vertically or horizontally. If you do happen to listen to it horizontally, there are some rubberised feet to keep the speaker from sliding around.

Pump up the volume during pool parties this summer

On either side of the speaker, there are passive radiators that add to the overall lower frequency. There are dedicated control buttons on top for power, pairing, track control, volume control and, of course, ULT mode. Sony has added a nice touch by giving the ULT mode button backlighting that matches the lighting on the passive radiators. There is only one quibble with the volume buttons: You have to press it a few times to enjoy small changes in volume. Perhaps this can be fixed with a future firmware update.

The mesh-fabric finish that goes around the entire speaker looks good even though music is projected only in one direction.

At the back of the speaker, there is a well-designed compartment. Take off the cover to be greeted by a number of controls — battery percentage, USB input for connecting audio sources (as well as charging external devices) and an input for connecting a guitar or microphone. Once you connect a guitar/microphone, the gain control becomes active. Also present is an echo button to add a reverb effect. One cool feature is ‘key control system’ with flattening or sharpening option to change the key of the music you are listening to while maintaining the original tempo of the song.

The extra controls on the Sony ULT Field 7

In case you are wondering, there is IP67 rating, so you can definitely take this system to a pool party.

Big sounds

No matter where you use the speaker, there is sound field optimisation, which allows the speaker to literally listen to itself and make adjustments to its sound settings on the fly, meaning the speaker will offer peak performance no matter the environment you are in.

A quick word about the light show: There is the option to choose between several different light shows from the Sony companion app. The speaker is also compatible with the Sony Fiestable app that offers some DJ controls. It’s not the best of options but when the party crowd has had a few drinks, nobody cares.

You obviously want the speaker to live up to the expectations of partygoers. It uses Sony’s X-balanced speaker design. It offers a good deal of fullness and richness to the sound. More importantly, it fills the room where you are using the speaker. In terms of codec, there is support for SBC, AAC and LDAC. And there is multi-point connectivity.

There is RGB lighting on the passive radiators.

The magic button on the speaker is ULT or ultimate bass. There are two different ULT levels — ULT 1 offers a bass-focused audio experience while ULT 2 offers a power-focused experience. There is also the option of playing around with EQ presets through the Sony companion app.

Both the ULT modes put out a lot of sub-bass and there is a nice balance of sound. Look, this is a party speaker and we want booming sounds. This is not the speaker to play Chopin; it’s more about Daft Punk and Haddaway.

The speaker can get loud. If you listen to music at louder volumes you will start to notice a little bit of compression taking place. The trick is to keep it at 70-85 per cent.

I am not sure what one can achieve by connecting a guitar to a party speaker but a microphone? Yes, sure. It’s fantastic when it comes to karaoke. Remember, you can’t connect a guitar and a microphone at the same time because there is only one input jack.

You can listen to music while keeping the speaker either horizontally or vertically.

There is also the option of pairing many such speakers and use the Party Connect feature to get all the sound cans working, like 100 such speakers.

Should you buy it?

You will get around 30 hours of audio playback with lights turned on, ULT mode on but volume needs to be kept under check. If you max out the volume, battery life takes a hit. A realistic figure will be 10-12 hours with volume at 50 per cent, lights on and ULT mode on. A quick 10 hours of recharge can give around three hours of listening time.

With monsoon parties coming up, it’s time to smash the ULT button. Keep the party going with booming sounds on the Sony ULT Field 7.

At a glance

Device: Sony ULT Field 7

Price: ₹39,990

High notes

• Booming sounds without compromising quality

• RGB lighting doesn’t go all over the place

• Good battery life

Muffled note

• The volume button needs to be mashed several times to pump up the volume