Sony ULT Wear Review – Bass-heavy Convenience

Unboxing the Sony ULT Wear

Kicking off the Sony ULT Wear review with the unboxing, the packaging is black in color and comes with a whole lot of text around it. The model name itself is written in colorful text and you get quite a bit of product details just by looking around it. The box may differ with each unit depending on the color you chose as the one I got is Offwhite. Inside the box, we found the following items:

• USB-C cable
• Documentations
• Protective carrying case
• The Sony ULT Wear headphones itself

Specifications (WH-ULT900N)

Colors		Offwhite, Forest Gray, Black
Price		RM 899.00
Box Content		Connection Cable Reference Guide USB Cable Warranty Card
Size & Weight
WEIGHT		Approx. 255 g
General Features
HEADPHONE TYPE		Closed Dynamic
DRIVER UNIT		40mm (Dome Type)
MAGNET		Neodymium
IMPEDANCE (OHM)		314 ohms (1 kHz) (when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned on) , 32 ohms (1 kHz) (when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned off)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE		5 Hz – 20 000 Hz (JEITA)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE (ACTIVE OPERATION)		5 Hz – 20 000 Hz (JEITA)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE(BLUETOOTH® COMMUNICATION)		20 Hz – 20 000 Hz (Sampling frequency 44.1 kHz)
SENSITIVITIES (DB/MW)		110 dB / mW (when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned on) , 100 dB / mW (when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned off)
CORD TYPE		Single-sided (detachable)
CORD LENGTH		Approx. 1.2 m
PLUG		Gold-plated L-shaped stereo mini plug
INPUT(S)		Stereo Mini Jack
WEARING STYLE		Over-Ear
DSEE		Yes
PASSIVE OPERATION		Yes
AMBIENT SOUND MODE		Yes
ULT BUTTON		Yes
UNIT OF MICROPHONE		Electret Condenser Microphone
DIRECTION OF MICROPHONE		All Direction
Battery
BATTERY CHARGE TIME		Approx. 3.5 hrs
BATTERY CHARGE METHOD		USB
BATTERY LIFE(CONTINUOUS MUSIC PLAYBACK TIME)		Max. 30 hrs (NC ON) , Max. 50 hrs (NC OFF)
BATTERY LIFE(CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION TIME)		Max. 30 hrs (NC ON) , Max. 40 hrs (NC OFF)
Bluetooth® Specification
BLUETOOTH® VERSION		Bluetooth 5.2
EFFECTIVE RANGE		Approx. 10 m
FREQUENCY RANGE		2.4 GHz band (2.400 0 GHz – 2.483 5 GHz)
PROFILE		A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP
SUPPORTED AUDIO FORMAT(S)		SBC, AAC, LDAC
SUPPORTED CONTENT PROTECTION		SCMS-T
Noise Cancelling
AMBIENT SOUND MODE		Yes

The Good

There are a number of good reasons to consider getting the Sony ULT Wear headphones. For starters, you get a pretty good, full-bodied sound quality. It generally produces high quality, pleasing audio that doesn’t feel like it’s missing on anything, which is great. However, you will need to tinker around a bit with customizations to get it sounding right for yourself but it’s not too difficult to do so with Sony’s Headphones Connect app.

Further adding to the enjoyment is its active noise-cancelling (ANC) feature. It does a good job in cancelling a lot of ambient sound so you can have peace of mind wherever you go. In fact, I was using it on the flight back home from Taiwan and it completely killed the sound of the flying plane and a bunch of other external sounds, which made it easier to rest. I’d say it’s on par with their flagship WH-1000X series in this regard. For convenience, there are buttons for ANC / Ambient sound and bass control with three levels: Off, ULT 1, and ULT 2.

The Sony ULT Wear headphones support Bluetooth 5.2 and Sony’s LDAC codec, allowing for high-quality streaming up to 990kbps 32-bit/96kHz. They feature a Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) to restore compressed audio to its original quality. The headphones use 40mm dome-type drivers and include touch controls for playback, track navigation, and volume adjustments, and the touch controls work consistently well. Sony’s 360 Reality Audio feature, which analyzes ear shape for immersive sound, adds noticeable depth to the audio. The ULT Wear also supports Dolby Atmos when paired with select Bravia XR TVs using the Sony WLA-NS7 transmitter, although this feature was not tested.

The ULT Wear is compatible with the Sony Headphones app, offering EQ customization, app optimization for streaming services, and ambient sound control. The app is user-friendly and responsive. The smart sensitivity feature automatically plays or pauses tracks based on whether the headphones are worn, though it occasionally continued playing when around the neck.

Speaking of around the next, the Sony ULT Wear headphones are designed pretty well. The swiveling / folding mechanism allows it be stored with ease and taking up a whole lot less space, and it also lets it rest on your neck more comfortably than standard headphones. There’s ample cushioning here to make it comfortable to wear for long hours. Despite it being a midrange pair, it’s good that Sony included a protective carrying case with it, making it even more convenient to store it away.

Lastly, the battery life is impressive, offering 30 hours with ANC on and 50 hours with ANC off. This means that even with ANC on, you get a completely full day’s worth of use with ease and if that’s not enough, a full charge takes 3.5 hours, and a quick charge provides 90 minutes of playtime from a 3-minute charge. Sure, the full charge could be a little faster but it’s certainly enough for most consumers, that’s for sure.

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The Bad

While it seems like the Sony ULT Wear headphone could match up with their flagship WH-1000XM5, there are a number of drawbacks that will make you feel otherwise. For starters, this headphone is quite bass-heavy and it can be overwhelming for some users. It could go even end up overpowering the mids and the highs, leading to a lack of nuance in sound. It’s essentially a spiritual successor to the old EXTRA BASS headphones so if this isn’t your style, best to avoid it and find something else.

While I did mention earlier that it can be comfortable to wear for long hours, there is one thing that would stop you from doing so, and that is that the cushioning is not breathable. The faux leather cushions trap heat quite a bit, and it might not feel much in an air conditioned room but when outdoors during a sunny day, you will find yourself taking it off every now and then.

Call quality is generally good, with decent voice reception and minimal outside interference (within phone call standards and not studio podcasts of course). However, I noticed that it can get rather inconsistent as at times, it could go for hearing voices clearly to having sudden noises appearing in the call. It’s like when you put in a noise gate feature and because certain sounds exceed the gate, you can suddenly hear it. Definitely not something you’d want to use in a crowded train, bus, or a noisy environment in general for calls.

Lastly, you can’t get audio through USB. You do have listening options via both wireless and wired but the only wired option you have is with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which Sony has thankfully included a cable for in the carrying case. The USB port is purely for charging and nothing more. Would be a nice touch if you can charge and use it for audio at the same time with a single cable but that is not possible in this headphone.

Sony ULT Wear Verdict

The Sony ULT Wear headphones is an excellent pair of midrange headphones, but it being very bass-centric might not make it appeal to everyone. In some ways, it could match up with the pricier WH-1000XM5 but the latter is a better fit for most consumers. It ultimately boils down to the type of sound profile you enjoy as this is a solid pair to own, packed with features and convenience, especially with its retail price of RM899.

At the end of our Sony ULT Wear review, I award this pair of headphones with our Silver Pokdeward.