Sony ULT WEAR Review: bass-heavy ANC cans for people who just want to vibe

I’ve been using the Sony ULT WEAR for a while now as my main "do everything" headphones – commuting, work calls, Netflix, and a few long flights. I’m coming from older Sony WH-1000X models and some Skullcandy Crushers, so I’m pretty used to both the Sony sound and the bass-head style. I grabbed the off-white version because I was a bit tired of the usual black, and I wanted to see if these were actually worth it or just another hyped release.

The short version: these are clearly tuned for people who like strong bass and want solid noise canceling without paying the full price of Sony’s 1000X flagships. They borrow a lot of features from the high-end line (ANC, app, touch controls, multipoint, wear detection), but you can feel they’re positioned more as a fun, everyday pair than an audiophile tool. I used them mostly with an iPhone and a Windows laptop, plus occasionally wired into a DAC.

Over the first few days, what stood out most was how punchy the low end is with the ULT button, and how comfortable they are for long stretches. On the flip side, the plastic build and some Bluetooth quirks reminded me this isn’t a premium tank like the XM5. Noise canceling is good enough for office, train, and flights, but not magic. The app is useful, but the EQ isn’t as powerful as I’d like if you really want to fine-tune the sound.

If you’re expecting reference-grade sound, you’ll be disappointed. If you want headphones that hit hard on hip-hop, EDM, and movies, last a long time on a charge, and are easy to throw in a bag, they do the job pretty well. They’re not perfect, but for the right type of listener they make sense, especially when they’re on sale rather than at full price.

In terms of value, these sit in a slightly awkward spot. At full price, they’re close to more established ANC models like Sony’s own older 1000X generations or discounted Bose and Sennheiser options. At full MSRP, I find them a bit pricey for what they are, mainly because the build is clearly plastic and the sound is tuned more for fun bass than for all-round balance. One Amazon reviewer said they’re not worth it at full price and to wait for a 50% off, and honestly, I agree with the idea of waiting for a decent discount.

Where they make sense is when they drop in price during sales. For a mid-range price, you’re getting: strong bass, solid ANC, long battery, multipoint, and a good app. That’s a lot of features. If your priorities are: “I want loud, bassy headphones that isolate well and last long on a charge,” the value is pretty solid. If your priorities are: “I want neutral, accurate sound and premium build,” then you’ll feel like you’re paying mostly for features you don’t care about.

Compared to Skullcandy Crushers, you lose a bit of that insane, head-rattling bass, but you gain more clarity, better ANC, and better everyday usability (app, wear detection, more stable comfort). Compared to older budget ANC sets like Cowin, it’s simply in another league for sound and ANC, but you’re paying several times more, so that’s expected. The question is whether you personally care enough about the extras.

So, value depends heavily on your use case. If you’re a bass fan who travels, watches a lot of content, and wants one pair for everything, they’re a good buy when discounted. If you mostly listen at home and care about sound quality more than features, you might be better off with wired headphones or a more neutral wireless pair around the same budget.

The design follows Sony’s recent style: smooth curves, minimal branding, and a pretty clean look. The off-white color is nice in person – more of a light beige than a bright white, so it doesn’t scream for attention. It looks fine in an office and doesn’t feel too “gamer-ish”. The earcups swivel flat and also fold inward, which makes them easy to throw in the case or even in a hoodie pocket for short walks if you’re not too picky.

But yeah, it’s mostly plastic, and you can feel it. The good part: they’re light (around 255 g), so they don’t weigh your head down. The bad part: the headband and hinges don’t feel super premium. Nothing creaked badly on mine, but when you twist them a bit you can tell this is not at the level of the XM4/XM5 in terms of robustness. One Amazon reviewer mentioned their plastic binding failing after two years on a different Sony set; I can see how that might happen if you’re rough or constantly tossing these into bags without the case.

The controls are split between touch gestures and physical buttons. Volume, play/pause, and track skipping are handled by swipes and taps on the right earcup. On the left, you have physical buttons for power/Bluetooth and ANC/ambient, plus the dedicated ULT bass button. I actually like this combo: touch for quick media control, buttons for features you don’t want to trigger by accident. It took me a day to get used to the gestures, but once you get the muscle memory, it’s easy.

In terms of looks in real life: they sit a bit chunky on the head. Not ridiculous, but they’re not super slim either. If you care a lot about minimal profile, they might feel a bit bulky. I personally didn’t care, but when I saw myself in a window reflection, I could see they’re more “big cushions on your head” than sleek studio gear. Overall, design is functional and decent, just don’t expect them to feel like a luxury item when you hold them.

Battery life is one of those areas where these headphones do really well. Sony advertises up to 30 hours with ANC on, and in real use I was getting around 25–28 hours depending on volume and how often I messed with ANC/ambient mode. That’s with mostly Spotify and YouTube at about 60–70% volume. For me, that translated to charging roughly once every week and a half with daily use of 2–3 hours.

One thing I liked a lot is the quick charging. Sony claims 3 minutes of charging gives you around 90 minutes of music. I didn’t measure it with a stopwatch, but in practice, plugging them in while making coffee was enough to get through a long commute or a full work meeting. If you’re the type who always forgets to charge, this is actually useful, not just a marketing line. Full charge from almost empty takes roughly a couple of hours on a normal USB-A charger.

There is a clear difference in battery drain depending on whether ANC is on or off. With ANC off, they last longer and still block a fair amount of noise passively thanks to the earcups. One reviewer mentioned they barely use ANC because passive isolation is already decent, and I can confirm: for quiet rooms, I usually turned ANC off to stretch the battery even more. On flights or trains, I kept ANC on and accepted the shorter life.

In day-to-day life, I basically stopped worrying about battery. Even on a 12+ hour travel day (airports + flights + waiting around), they held up fine. You’d have to really abuse them to kill them in one shot. So yeah, battery life is a strong selling point here. Not much to complain about unless you’re expecting some crazy 60+ hour runtime, which these aren’t trying to do.

Comfort is actually one of the strong points here. The ear pads use this “thermo-foaming” type cushion that’s soft and molds around your ears pretty nicely. On my head, I could wear them for 3–4 hours straight while working without feeling like my ears were being crushed. Clamp force is moderate: tight enough that they don’t move when you turn your head, but not so strong that you want to rip them off after an hour.

The headband padding is okay, not crazy plush but enough that I didn’t get a hotspot on top of my head, even during a 5-hour flight. Where I did notice something is heat: like most over-ears with decent isolation, your ears will get warm after a while, especially if you have ANC on and you’re in a warm room. It’s not worse than other ANC headphones I’ve tried, but don’t expect cool ears in summer.

I also tried them with glasses, and that’s usually where some headphones fail. With these, the cushions are soft enough that the arms of my glasses didn’t dig painfully into my skull. After about two hours I felt a bit of pressure, but nothing dramatic. If you wear thick-framed glasses, you might feel it more, but compared to a lot of cheaper headsets, these are pretty gentle on the sides of the head.

One little annoyance: the wear detection sensor is a bit sensitive. Sometimes when I adjusted the headphones or pulled one earcup slightly off to hear someone, the music would pause and then resume in a slightly weird way. It’s not a big deal, but it happened enough that I noticed. You can tweak or disable this in the app, so it’s manageable. Overall, for everyday use, commuting, and long sessions at a desk, I’d put comfort solidly in the “good” category.

Durability-wise, these feel like mid-range Sony plastic, which is not bad but not bulletproof. The headband flexes a bit when you stretch it, and while it doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap immediately, I wouldn’t push my luck. I always used the case when throwing them in a backpack, and I think that’s important with this model. The hinges and swivel joints are the weak points on most foldable headphones, and these don’t feel like an exception.

After repeated folding/unfolding and daily use, I didn’t notice any cracks or serious wear, but I can easily imagine that after a couple of years of rough handling, the plastic might show its limits. One reviewer mentioned their Sony set breaking after two years at the plastic binding – different model, but it lines up with the general feel here. So: treat them reasonably well, use the case, don’t sit on them, and they should be fine. Abuse them, and I wouldn’t trust them to survive.

Connectivity is mostly good, but not perfect. Multipoint between my phone and laptop worked, but I did get occasional random disconnects maybe once every few days, where I had to turn the headphones off and on again to get the connection back. It’s not constant, but it’s annoying when it happens in the middle of a call. Another small nuisance: they don’t play nice with every TV. Some users reported problems connecting to certain Samsung TVs via Bluetooth, and I also had mixed results with a smart TV – sometimes it paired, sometimes it just refused. For serious TV watching, I’d probably use a wired connection or a proper transmitter.

On the positive side, the buttons and touch areas still worked fine after a lot of use, and the ear pads didn’t start peeling or deforming quickly. They might get a bit smoother and shinier over time, but that’s normal. I’d say durability is acceptable for the price bracket, but if you want something to throw around carelessly for years, I’d look for a more rugged, less foldable design.

Let’s talk sound first. Out of the box, the tuning is bass-forward even without the ULT button. You get a strong low end that works really well for hip-hop, EDM, pop, and movies. With the ULT button active, the bass gets a clear boost – you feel more thump and rumble, especially on tracks with deep sub-bass. It doesn’t turn into a complete muddy mess, but if you’re used to a neutral sound, you’ll probably find it too boomy. For bass-heads, it’s fun. For people who want accurate sound, it’s not it.

Mids and highs are decent but not special. Vocals come through well enough, but they can feel slightly recessed when the bass is really going. Highs are clear without being sharp, which I liked – no ear-piercing sibilance. One reviewer was spot on saying it’s clearer than Skullcandy Crusher ANC: you still get big bass, but it’s more controlled and less muddy than those. The EQ in the app lets you tame the bass and bump the mids a bit, but the changes aren’t dramatic. It helps, but it doesn’t completely change the personality of the headphones.

On the noise canceling side, these are solid. Not at the level of the top-end Sony 1000X models, but close enough for normal use. On trains and planes, low-frequency engine noise is strongly reduced, and with music playing at a normal level, I barely noticed it. Higher-pitched sounds (people talking nearby, clinking dishes, keyboard typing) are reduced but not erased. For office use and commuting, I’d say they’re more than good enough. Wind noise is handled better than some older models, thanks to the mesh around the mic, but if you walk in strong wind you’ll still hear some whooshing.

Call quality is good but not flawless. Indoors, people heard me clearly. Outdoors or with fans running, sometimes my voice sounded a bit distant or processed, but still understandable. Beamforming mics help pick up your voice, but it’s not like having a dedicated boom mic. For work calls and casual chats, it’s fine; for serious content creation, I’d use something else. Overall, performance is strong for bass lovers and travelers, average for critical listeners.

Out of the box, the package is pretty straightforward. You get the headphones, a compact hard case, a short USB-A to USB-C cable for charging, and an analog 3.5 mm cable if you want to go wired. No extra fancy stuff, but everything you actually need is there. The case is decent: not huge, not super slim either, but it fits easily in a backpack and protects the headphones well enough. The swivel-fold design makes them pack down nicely, so they’re practical for travel.

Feature-wise, Sony crammed in a lot: ANC, ambient mode, touch controls on the right earcup, multipoint (two devices at once), wear detection (auto-pause when you take them off), beamforming mics for calls, and the ULT bass button. Through the Sony Headphones app, you get an EQ, ANC controls, ambient sound levels, and some personalization options. It’s basically the same app experience as other mid/high Sony headphones, so if you’ve used a 1000X model before, you’ll feel right at home.

In daily use, I mostly ran them over Bluetooth 5.2, switching between my phone and laptop with multipoint. The switch is not instant but it’s smooth enough: music pauses on one device, plays on the other. The Bluetooth range is fairly standard; I could walk one room away (around 8–10 meters with a wall) before it started to cut out. It’s not mind-blowing, but it’s fine for working at a desk and walking around a small apartment.

Overall, the presentation is practical and focused on features rather than luxury. You feel like you’re paying for tech and sound, not for a fancy unboxing moment. If you’re the kind of person who just tosses the box and moves on, this will suit you. If you wanted something that feels premium from the second you open it, this is more “gets the job done” than anything memorable.