WiiM Ultra

For not a lot of money, the Ultra is a versatile crowd-pleaser

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The WiiM Ultra’s price point is so competitive that it falls into entry-level territory for most rival music streamers from established hi-fi brands. Our reigning champ here, the Cambridge Audio MXN10 is now available for ₹63,000.

The WiiM Ultra is a joy to use thanks to an appealing, user-friendly design. It has such a fresh, modern feel about it - from the sleek, compact design to the very inviting touchscreen display.

It's a smartly built unit, and we like the way the screen curves around the edges of the aluminium-encased body - it's a nice detail and elevates its perception of quality. It's a fair bit taller, wider and deeper than the dinky step-down WiiM Pro Plus (almost twice the size), but we think it would look at home on your desktop, under the TV or next to your games console, as well as in a traditional hi-fi rack.

The front of the unit is dominated by the 3.5in full colour touchscreen display, which shows album artwork and icons for input selection, changing EQ settings, accessing presets and more. Next to it, a large control dial lets you adjust volume and pause/play tracks. It's a minimal, unfussy design that is both informative and appealing, and nicely responsive in use.

TECH SPECS

• Sources Bluetooth 5.3, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon Music, internet radio, DLNA

• Inputs Line level RCA, HDMI ARC, optical, MM phono, USB A

• Outputs Line level RCA, optical, coaxial, subwoofer

• Max file resolution 24-bit/192kHz

• Dimensions (hwd) 7.2 x 20 x 21.1cm