The Orange Tech-Style Totally Got Me

Okay, okay, I know I said at the start of this year that I wouldn’t replace any of my devices, maybe. Well, I did. First, it was my Apple Watch SE, swapped out with a “dumb” watch. And yesterday, I finally switched out my small JBL Go 2 wireless speaker.

Why switch it out? Easy: it was the last device left with a micro-USB port. I’ve been trying to USB-C all the things for a while now; I knew this was the year to do it.

I had eyed the JBL Flip 6 for a looong time…but never pulled that trigger. I just couldn’t bring myself to fork out even the sale price of $99. Then I came super close to grabbing an Anker Soundcore Motion 100 on sale for $40 — in green. But I was held back by its lack of a dustproof rating. Living on the edge of the windy West Texas dessert, surrounded by farm land, I can really use dust-resistance more than water-resistance.

Sony ULT Field 1 (SRS-ULT10)

Then I saw The One.

A new speaker, comparable to the JBL Flip 6, with USB-C and an IP67 rating. Best of all, it’s made out of pure orange color! The design and style are super-fan worthy. It has Sony style.

Sony ULT Field 1

I know, I know; when talking about a speaker, it’s the sound that counts. But I can’t get over the style of this new Sony bluetooth speaker. It looks so cool.

• I love the concave shape, curving inward where you grip the middle.
• I like the rugged, stiff, rubbery-coated bumpers on the ends.
• I really like the thick doubled rope for hanging, strapping, or grabbing the speaker and how it slides tighter or looser as needed.
• I absolutely love the shade of rich vivid color all over it — it’s exquisitely orange.
• I have nostalgia for the classic Sony logo on its front.
• I like that it can either sit on its side or stand on its end.
• It’s small enough to be portable yet has a big enough soundstage.
• It has USB-C.

OK, the design is To-Buy-For. But how’s the sound? Overall, great. The highs, mids, and lows sound balanced, not muddy. It’s mono, not stereo, which I’m okay with. The bass with the ULT switched on is impressive. For a speaker this size, it’s surprising how much low-frequency oomph pumps out and around it. You can sometimes feel the vibes rumbling. I’ve been leaving ULT turned on, but there’s also a custom EQ in the companion app with low, mid, and high sliders. You can tweak it for any genre of music you like.

USB-C. This is the way.

After pairing with my iPhone 12 mini, Apple Music sounds great. I tested the speaker’s range with its Bluetooth 5.3 and was able to walk farther away than with any other wireless audio device I’ve owned. I left my phone in the bedroom then walked outside on the opposite side of my house past my car before audio started dropping. It was a lot of feet/meters.

I also easily paired and switched to my MacBook and watched part of The Batman. The audio dialog was in perfect sync with the video, no lag whatsoever. And the sound effects mixed well; it’s like a mini soundbar/subwoofer setup. Nice! I’ve not tried a phone call with the speaker and likely won’t use that function.

There’s one small issue. When you press the ULT button to turn on or off bass boost, it plays a sound effect. It’s a cool sound, but it also plays over the audio, which isn’t cool. But if you use the smartphone app to toggle the ULT, then there’s no sound at all; the audio simply gains or looses bass.

Grab-n-go sound-n-style.

This Sony speaker is super good. I’m sure I’d be just as happy with the sound of a JBL Flip 6, but the Sony ULT Field 1 design and orange color blow away the competition. I might buy a second one too, just to have them stereo-pair.

The speaker is rated to have 12-hour battery life, which I’ve not tested, but it’s a big leap from my JBL Go 2’s 5-hour battery. And yeah, I love that it has USB-C, finally. Now every device I own uses that one simple connection, except of course my iPhone 12 mini. Thankfully, the iPhone 15 (not to mention Android phones) or newer can fix that. But will Apple ever make an orange iPhone? Seriously. Please.

More to the point of this post, though, will Apple ever make a bluetooth speaker? I’m surprised it hasn’t. Apple makes wired HomePods and wireless AirPods, so where is its wireless SoundPod? I bet it would be more lucrative than the Vision Pro headset. For real; seems like low-hanging fruit.

If nothing else, I know this: when it comes to orange wireless speakers, nobody beats Sony.