I am no audiophile, but I tried Sony’s new ULT Wear headphones

Sony ULT Wear: Look and feel 

I wore them all day during work, travel, and while taking evening walks. They feel extremely comfortable, and although the ULT Wear uses a plastic case with a decent amount of padding around the earcups and the top band, the headphones never felt uncomfortable in Delhi’s scorching heat. They are big enough to cover my ears, and one can adjust the height of the headphones by pulling the earcups down to balance the weight. I barely feel them. The oval shape of the earcups helps with this in a massive way. After a while, my ears did feel warm, as expected with over-ear cans, but it was never too annoying.

They not only come in the usual black or white options but also in an interesting dark green called Forest Gray. There is a ULT button on the left earcup (hence the name of the headphones) which pumps up the bass (more on that later). You will also find power and ANC/Ambient Mode buttons on the left earcup. Additionally, you can charge them via USB-C or listen corded via the 3.5mm audio jack on the left side. However, there is no way to listen to music via USB-C audio, as you can only transmit audio via the USB-C charging port. I would like Sony to add USB-C audio support to its headphones. The controls for playback and volume are competently hidden on the right earcup, and by swiping up or down, you can adjust the volume or skip tracks. The good thing is, thanks to built-in sensors, the headphones automatically pause music when you take them off. Sony also bundles a case with the headphones. If I were to travel with them, I wouldn’t need to think twice as the cloth-covered case is sturdy and well-designed. 

These headphones are comfortable for all day use. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Sony promises up to 30 hours of battery life with noise cancellation on or ambient mode on and 50 hours with those switched off. Battery life is impressive. Sony is also offering quick charges here — 10 minutes provides about five hours of playback.

Sony ULT Wear: Sound quality 

I am neither an audiophile nor an audio purist who has very high standards when picking headphones. I think I fall into the bracket of most average users who don’t get too much into clarity and accuracy. However, I also don’t want to settle for “ordinary” sound quality. 

I listen to a wide range of music from pop, hip-hop, and classical to dance, and the ULT Wear handles all nicely. The sound is very good, and I can clearly hear the difference when I listen to the same music on the ULT Wear and the Sony WH-CH720N, which is in the entry mid-range segment. However, as I found in my testing, the ULT Wear works best for pop, dance, and EDM tracks. The ULT Wear has new 40mm drivers that Sony says deliver even deeper bass while the V1 chip improves noise-canceling performance and enables ear-detection sensors that pause your audio when you take the headphones off your head and resume playback when you put them back on. 

Sony Ult Wear can be customized to user preferences using the ‘Headphones’ app. (Express Photo)

They sound full, rich, and generally well-balanced. However, the ULT Wear does lean towards a bass-rich sound. Yes, they are bass-heavy headphones, and Sony is clearly marketing them as such. As I mentioned earlier, a dedicated “ULT” button on the left earcup, when pressed, enables a lower-frequency boost, and a second press further increases the bass. Listening to “Sweet Goodbye” by Robin Schulz is a joy. Maybe a dedicated bass booster button is a nice gimmick after all. I particularly enjoyed listening to “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” by David Guetta, Anne-Marie, and Coi Leray, which features deep bass throughout the track while keeping the other beats and vocals intact. 

I listen to a lot of podcasts when I’m out walking, and for podcast listening, the ULT Wear is wonderful. I paired the ULT Wear with my iPhone 13 mini, iPad Air M2, and MacBook M3. All said and done, the ULT Wear sounds impressive, and I was not disappointed.

The headphones work with the Sony Headphones Connect app, which enables a lot of its smart features. There are many customisation options available; the app can be configured to switch between noise canceling and ambient sound, change the equalizer and tweak the audio quality as per liking, and enable DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), Sony’s proprietary upscaling technology to enhance compressed low-quality audio files, among other features. 

The headphones have a new ULT button to toggle between bass modes. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Sony ULT Wear: Active Noise Cancellation 

The ULT Wear does a great job of sealing out the outside world, especially when you are listening to music. I’ve been on calls with colleagues and friends while wearing the headphones, and they tell me there’s no distortion and everything comes in crystal clear. These headphones, however, are a step below Sony’s flagship 1000X series in filtering out outside noise. Still, the noise cancellation on these is probably the best I’ve ever experienced on mid-range over-ear headphones. ANC may not be a necessary feature for many, but for me, as someone who takes a lot of calls in a day, attends briefings, and conducts interviews, it’s nice to listen to voices with no external distractions.

Sony Ult Wear has wear detection. (Image Credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

So why would you buy the Sony ULT Wear?

To justify spending Rs 17,000 on headphones, you have to love them. And…I did like the Sony ULT Wear. They sound amazing. I can use them for work and travel; their foldable design and large earcups make them a more compelling choice. My ears don’t get warm, and my temples don’t hurt after a while. I hope Sony spends a little more time fine-tuning the app.