This rugged, punchy-sounding Sony speaker is nearly half price – and a great alternative to the JBL Flip 7

If you've followed What Hi-Fi? for a while now, you might be sick of hearing us recommend JBL's expansive roster of Bluetooth speakers. Whenever a deal rolls around, we're usually pretty quick to point it out, urging you to snap up a fantastic Flip 7 or a charming Charge 6 as a matter of urgency. Hey, it's not our fault they're great speakers.

That doesn't mean we're not keen to give rivals their due. The Sony ULT Field 1 might not have been untouchable at its full price of £119, but now that it's fallen to £69 at Amazon and Sevenoaks in the runup to Christmas, it could be the perfect stocking stuffer for those buyers seeking something just a little different this festive period.

JBL might have the market monopoly, but the ULT Field 1 has enough up its sleeve to make it worthy of an audition, if it matches your particular set of criteria.

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Sony ULT Field 1 : was £119 now £69 at Amazon

While it couldn't quite snaffle the full five stars upon initial testing (it wasn't far off, by the way), a major discount of £50 on the Sony ULT Field 1 changes the paradigm significantly. It's a charming, robustly made speaker with a sound that can be adjusted to suit your tastes, all for a price that really won't leave you feeling like a Dickensian pauper.
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The Sony ULT Field 1 is actually a really interesting beast. It often gets forgotten amidst a wave of five-star JBLs, such as the Flip 6 and the Award-winning Flip 7, but the Field 1 is something of a wildcard that, if it's up your street, can actually represent a very attractive proposition on paper.

There are two ways of listening to Sony's slimline speaker: with the bass-boosting 'Power Sound' profile switched on or off. If you switch it on, you'll get a punchy, powerful sound anchored by a considerably weighty lower-end reproduction which goes beyond what you might expect from a unit of this size.

Switch it off and the ULT Field 1 becomes leaner, tauter and nimbler, making tracks feels sharper, freer and capable of clipping along with a sprightly sense of propulsion and rhythmic drive. Neither profile is perfect, but the Sony is notable for teasing out detail than its JBL Flip 6 rival, and that's not something to be sniffed out.

The Field 1 scores highly in other areas, too. Battery life is a respectable 12 hours if you're reasonable with your listening volume, while an IP67 is more than enough to keep the Sony speaker protected from the sand and the sea. Hands-free calling is also available, while stereo pairing is on hand for getting twin Field 1s firing together.

As an intriguing, super-discounted alternative to the class-leaders, the Sony ULT Field 1 is worth an audition. Check it out at Amazon or Sevenoaks.

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