Sony ULT Tower 5 review: an affordable bass-heavy beast

Sony ULT Tower 5 review

The Sony ULT Tower 5 is one of the stand-out audio products I've reviewed in 2026. In many ways, it defies belief. Despite being pretty small for a traditional party speaker, it produces almighty audio, with the sort of bass you’d expect from a model twice its size. And, what’s more, it's pretty affordable.

Sony has made a bunch of changes to its new ULT range, and they appear to have paid off. Perhaps the highest-profile change is the shift towards newly developed rounded woofers, marking a departure from the almost rectangular X-Balanced woofer units seen on previous ULT models. The tech giant told me that this was in an effort to maximize deep bass — something that’s crucial for a party environment. And this, in my view, was a great choice.

As with all of the best Bluetooth speakers in this size-class, the ULT Tower 5 plates up incredibly powerful yet regimented low-end output. When tuning into Everytime by Jesse Maas, the house track’s pumping deep bass was replicated to an excellent standard — it was agile and rhythmic, while also remaining driven and meaty. And this never came at the expense of other sounds in the frequency range, with electronic elements and vocals in the mid-range given plenty of room to breathe, and higher-pitched drums cutting through with precision.

Here, I was using the 'ULT 2' EQ mode, which delivers a powerful yet rounded performance. With ULT 1 mode, deep bass is prioritized, and I found this to be ideal for outdoor environments. For instance, when I tuned into First Summer by H.K., I was mesmerized by the richness and rippling power of the low-end, which was undeterred by wind noise, cars driving past, and other ambient sounds. This mode will also work brilliantly for large open indoor spaces, but is ill-suited to the acoustics of smaller rooms. It’s worth flagging that the ULT Tower 5 has a maximum power output of 300W, so it can also get super loud, no matter where you are.

Other energetic tracks, such as What We Got by Midas Field and Marijn Jansen, also sounded impeccable on the ULT Tower 5. The speaker showed off its impressive handling of dynamics with impactful bass drops, produced textured vocals in the build-up, and even created a wide, expansive soundstage for this speaker's size, with the angled tweeters conjuring up an impressive sense of space. However, the ULT Tower 5 does lack the 360 sound that its larger siblings have due to the lack of rear-facing drivers, and I definitely felt like audio wasn't anywhere near as full-sounding when listening from the side or back of the speaker.

This is a party-first speaker, of course, but there is a Flat EQ mode if you want to listen to more stripped-back tracks, and it works well — especially if you want to enjoy resonant and detailed vocal performances. This does take a lot of weight out from the low-end, though, so it's a bit more situational than the ULT 1 and 2 options. There’s also a Live mode, which is intended to create a more realistic replication of live recordings, or a 10-band custom equalizer if you want to make more granular changes — the ULT Tower 5 is incredibly versatile.

I mainly streamed over Bluetooth when testing, and had Sony’s very own LDAC codec active, which enables higher-res listening if your device supports it — something that a lot of party speakers skip on. However, you can connect to the speaker in so many other ways. There’s a USB-A port if you want to listen to tunes from a USB drive, there’s USB-C, XLR, and even RCA if you want to hook up a DJ controller or turntable. The audio quality and connectivity options available mean that this model is well-suited to casual or even professional use.

There’s also a port that lets you plug in a mic for some karaoke, if that’s your thing. The speaker has built-in effects for karaoke, like a voice changer, echo, and the like. There’s also a party pad for playing sound effects, drum sounds, robotic noises… you name it.

If you have multiple ULT Towers, there’s also the option to link them up with Party Chain. I tried pairing the ULT Tower 5 with the Tower 7, and all it took was a simple button press on each model. It was quick, easy, and produced an even more mighty sound. When I went to a demo for Sony’s new ULT range, I even got to hear ten ULT Towers daisy chained together, which opened up devastatingly powerful sound.

A lot of the functions I’ve described, like EQ tweaking, the party pad, switching connectivity method, and more, are available through the Sony Sound Connect app. While a lot of rival apps have a tendency to be buggy or awkward to navigate, Sony’s control app was phenomenally easy to use, rich in features, and reliable at all times. It also has options like Sound Field Optimization, which automatically detects external noise and adjusts sound accordingly, as well as power conservation and light customization settings.

Let’s talk about the lights, actually, because they’re a big part of this model’s aesthetic. They look fantastic in my opinion — sure, they’re RGB, not the classy stage-style lights of a model like the Marshall Bromley 750 — but they’re still tasteful and flashy. You can customize the pattern and color of the lights in the Sound Connect app or via physical controls, and these can even synchronize to the rhythm of your tunes for a truly immersive experience.

More generally, the build quality of the ULT Tower 5 is strong. Yes, it’s pretty hefty, and doesn’t have a pull-out handle for traveling over longer distances, but it’s nowhere near as cumbersome as its larger sibling, the ULT Tower 7. Its plastic exterior looks surprisingly premium, its rounded appearance is sleek, and even the ULT icon has some appeal — it can be twisted to adjust volume, or pressed to switch EQ mode.

As the speaker is designed for both indoor and outdoor use, it’s also equipped with IPX4 waterproofing. This means that it can survive multi-directional water splashes without issue. Sure, this is fairly standard for a party speaker like this and by no means ground-breaking, but it should be enough to keep the speaker alive if you spill some water on it or if there’s some light rain.

How about battery life? Well, the Sony ULT Tower 5 provides up to 20 hours of playback with its lights turned off, which is good for a model of this size and power. It’s more than a rival like the JBL PartyBox 130 too, which can deliver up to 16 hours. If you need to squeeze a bit more life out of the ULT Tower 5, there’s also a Stamina mode, which gives you extended battery life at the expense of lighting and ULT Power Sound. Still, if you want the full experience, you can still use the ULT Tower 5 while it's connected to the mains, and juicing it back up doesn’t take all too long — you can get about 100 minutes of playback from just a 10 minute charge.

The big question, then, is the Sony ULT Tower 5 worth the money? My answer: absolutely. This model comes in at $449.99 / £349 / AU$549, and for a speaker of this size and power, with so many features and an eye-catching design, I think you’re getting plenty of bang for your buck. When you consider that a far smaller Bluetooth speaker like the JBL Xtreme 5 is just $50 / £20 less than that, the value on offer here is striking.

I’ve tested party speakers that can rival the ULT Tower 5, like the Marshall Bromley 450 for instance. And while that model sounds spectacular and looks even better than the ULT Tower 5, it does come in at about $350 / £200 / AU$500 more. So, if you want a party speaker with great sound and features at an enticing price, then the Sony ULT Tower 5 gets a full recommendation from me.

Sony ULT Tower 5 review: price & release date

• Priced at $449.99 / £349 / AU$549
• Released in September 2026

The Sony ULT Tower 5 was released in September 2026 alongside two sibling models, the larger Sony ULT Tower 7, and the gigantic Sony ULT Max. It’s priced at $449.99 / £349 / AU$549, which is a seriously tempting price for a speaker with so much power and such advanced features.

For reference, that’s only about $50 / £20 more than the JBL Xtreme 5 would cost you, which is a far smaller, less meaty model. It’s also in a very similar ballpark to a rival like the JBL PartBox 130, and considerably cheaper than premium alternatives like the Marshall Bromley 450.

Sony ULT Tower 5 review: specs

Should I buy the Sony ULT Tower 5?

Buy it if…

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Sony ULT Tower 5 review: also consider

How I tested the Sony ULT Tower 5

• Tested in our music testing space at Future Labs and outdoors
• Mainly streamed tunes over Tidal
• Tried Party Chain functionality alongside ULT Tower 7

I spent countless hours listening to music on the Sony ULT Tower 5, which I tested indoors at our music testing room at Future Labs, as well as outdoors in the office parking lot. This enabled me to test the fidelity of audio in a quiet and controlled space as well as a busy, noisy environment.

For the most part, I connected to the ULT Tower 5 over Bluetooth and played tracks via Tidal on my Xiaomi 17 phone, which supports LDAC. To begin with, I sifted through the TechRadar reference playlist, but I also listened to hours worth of tunes from my personal library, including a lot of bass-heavy bangers. On top of this, I tried pairing the ULT Tower with the Sony ULT Tower 7 to test out the Party Chain function.

More generally, I’ve spent years testing audio gear here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed everything from premium wireless headphones like the Sony 1000X The Collexion to Dolby Atmos soundbars, like the JBL Bar 1300MK2. Of course, I’ve also tested a huge array of Bluetooth speakers as well, including party-ready models like the LG xboom Stage 301 and the Marshall Bromley 750.

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• First reviewed: October 2026