Short answer: the Bose SoundLink Plus. It ranks #25 of 120 large portable speakers against the Sony ULT Field 5 at #59, and the two cost almost the same at $179 and $348. With a price gap this small, the sound-quality gap should decide it.
The Bose is the better sounding speaker by a wide margin. Its notes describe vibrant sound with booming bass and clean mids, plus a premium tactile grille and smooth silicone housing. The ULT Field 5’s own notes call its sound quality “just okay,” with bass that falls short of others in its category, which lines up with the gap in rank.
The Sony trades sound for size, battery, and connectivity. At 7.3 lbs (3.3 kg) it is more than double the Bose’s 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg), which buys a 25 hour battery against the Bose’s 20, an aux input the Bose lacks, a built-in microphone for calls, and support for AAC and LDAC codecs on top of SBC (the Bose is SBC only). It also has an app based 10-band EQ, something the Bose does not offer at all.
Everything else matches: both are IP67 rated for dust and water, both charge over USB-C and double as a power bank, both support stereo pairing and TWS, and both include a built-in party mode for linking multiple speakers.
Buy the Bose SoundLink Plus if you want the better sounding, more compact speaker and don’t need an aux input or onboard EQ.
Buy the Sony ULT Field 5 if you want a bigger sound stage on paper, more battery life, an aux jack, or the flexibility of app EQ, and can live with sound quality that reviewers call merely okay.
Want more options? Browse the full Portable Bluetooth rankings.
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Specifications Side By Side
| Bose SoundLink Plus | Sony ULT Field 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $179.00 | $348.00 |
| Ranked | #25 of 120 in Large Size Portable Bluetooth Speakers | #59 of 120 in Large Size Portable Bluetooth Speakers |
| App | Yes | Yes |
| Aux Input | No | Yes |
| Battery Life | 20 hours (Manufacturer specified) | 25 hours (Manufacturer specified) |
| Built-in Microphone | No | Yes |
| IP Rating | IP67 | IP67 |
| Party Mode | Yes (Bose Party mode) | Yes (Party Connect up to 100 speakers) |
| Power Bank | Yes (USB-C) | Yes (USB-C) |
| Power Input | USB-C | USB-C |
| TWS | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg) | 7.3 lbs (3.3 kg) |
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Codecs | SBC | SBC, AAC, LDAC |
| EQ | No | Yes (App + ULT button) |
| Stereo | Yes | Yes |
| Omnidirectional | No | No |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Dimensions | 9.1” x 3.9” x 3.4” (231 x 99 x 86 mm) | 12.6” x 5.7” x 4.9” (320 x 144 x 125 mm) |
| Drivers | 1x 2.5” (63.5mm) woofer + 1x ~0.78” (20mm) tweeter + 4x passive radiators | 2x 46mm tweeters + 1x 79mm x 107mm woofer |
| Digital Aux Input | No | No |
| Strap | Yes (built-in loop) | Yes (detachable shoulder strap) |
| Amplifier Power | - | 27W |
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