Simon Barbier

Compared To Other Speakers The Sony ULT FIELD 5 is the successor to the Sony SRS-XG300. Besides cosmetic differences and the extra heft on the ULT FIELD 5, the biggest changes are to the tuning, and it's a bit louder than the predecessor. The ULT FIELD 5 has a brighter top-end and a broadly more excited sound, but with that said, the SRS-XG300 has EQ too. The last generation speaker also has some voice assistant features, albeit limited.

The control scheme is good. The rubberized buttons are raised from the surface of the speaker, and they're clicky and responsive. There's also a decent amount of audiovisual feedback with these controls. The speaker beeps when you hit max volume and chimes when you enter Bluetooth pairing mode. A small light under the power button flashes red when the battery is low and blue when entering Bluetooth pairing mode. That said, there's no other feedback given for volume changes or minimum volume.

The Hisense HS214 has a middling stereo frequency response. Like most standalone bars, it really struggles to bring the deep thump and rumble in the low bass. The mid-to-high bass range is also underemphasized, resulting in a lack of warmth in the mix. Still, thanks to its balanced mids, voices and other instruments are reproduced with clarity and accuracy. Subjectively, the Music and Movie EQ presets perform about the same.