WiiM Ultra review

The WiiM Pro Plus took us – and the audio world – by storm, with its hugely likeable combination of features, ease of use and performance bringing hi-res music streaming to an unprecedented affordable and mainstream level. Now it’s the turn of the much-anticipated step-up model, the WiiM Ultra, to come under scrutiny. Can the Ultra possibly live up to such expectations, and deliver yet another winning combination? Spoiler: it’s good news.

Price

The WiiM Ultra costs £349 / $329 / AU$599 and is now the brand’s flagship streamer, and a step up from the £219 / $219 / AU$339 Pro Plus.

The Ultra’s price point is so competitive that it falls in entry-level territory for most rival music streamers from established hi-fi brands. Our reigning champ in this category, the Cambridge Audio MXN10, launched at £449 / $499 / AU$899, but is now available for £349 in the UK and as low as $399 / AU$749 in USA and Australia respectively. The four-star Bluesound Node Nano is yours for £299 / $299 / AU$499, but it’s the Cambridge that WiiM has to beat in our eyes.

Build & design

We’ll get straight to it: 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 that puts us in mind of a Mac Mini to the very inviting touchscreen display.

It’s a smartly built unit, and we particularly 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 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. Our review sample is an Apple-invoking space grey finish, but a lighter silver model is also available.

The front of the unit is dominated by the 3.5-inch full colour touchscreen display, which shows off album artwork and icons for selecting inputs, changing EQ settings, accessing presets (a great feature for quickly playing your favourite playlists and radio stations) 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 – even more so when we find out just how responsive the Ultra is in use.

The touchscreen is nearly as slick as using a smartphone screen, with taps and swipes responding smoothly at our fingertips, to the point we prefer using the display more than the control app on our smartphone for basic playback commands and firing up saved playlists. This of course depends on where your music system is set up in relation to where you’re sitting, but if the Ultra is within reach, tapping that screen becomes second nature.

Next to the WiiM Ultra, even our Award-winning Cambridge MXN10 (which doesn’t have a display) starts to look a little dated and plain. The WiiM Ultra also offers a more tactile, sleeker user experience, with the WiiM Home app running smoothly, with everything laid out logically – from setting it up to accessing all your music sources and even customising the clock face and wallpaper backgrounds on the screen. It all feels accessible, too – this isn’t a niche audiophile product that needs a level of technical knowledge to operate; anyone can use it right from the start.

Features & connections

For the price, it’s quite impressive just how many physical connections the WiiM Ultra has been able to fit in. You get your usual RCA stereo line level inputs and outputs, along with digital optical in/out and a coaxial output. But this WiiM lives up to its ‘Ultra’ name by also including an HDMI ARC input and a moving magnet phono stage. Already that’s a huge step up from the Pro Plus, as you can more easily integrate it with your TV system and add on sources like a CD transport in need of a DAC; you can even plug a turntable into the Ultra.

A subwoofer output, a USB-A input for playing files from a media drive and an ethernet port round out the busy back panel. You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack at the front for plugging in your wired cans for late-night listening. That’s about double the connections you get on the WiiM Pro Plus, and even the Cambridge MXN10 doesn’t offer HDMI or MM phono inputs.

On the all-important streaming side, you get pretty much the same extensive features as the Pro Plus, with one surprising exception. The Ultra plays nice with any DLNA-compatible network storage to access and stream hi-res audio files over a network. Inside the Ultra is a 32-bit/384kHz ES9038 Q2M SABRE DAC, but like the Pro Plus, it can natively play up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM files – which is more than enough for most streaming and digital libraries.

It supports Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer and Qobuz, along with internet radio and BBC radio. Bluetooth 5.3 and Google Chromecast are on board for streaming from devices, but the notable exception here is AirPlay. Those who are dedicated iOS users and Apple Music subscribers will decry this omission, but the WiiM’s latest products (WiiM Ultra and WiiM Amp Pro) are not equipped with AirPlay 2. The cheaper Pro Plus still supports AirPlay if that’s a big priority for you. It’s worth noting that the Bluesound Node Nano rival doesn’t support Chromecast but does support AirPlay, while the Cambridge Audio MXN10 supports both.

Other features – multi-room, voice control, room correction, extensive EQ tweaking for each input – are presented with easy-to-follow steps. One thing we really like about the Ultra is that all the required cables – optical, RCA interconnect, HDMI cable – are included in the box. It means you can plug the Ultra straight into your system no matter what input or source you’re using, and you don’t have to wait to buy or find the right cable. The included remote control is also nicely made and easy to use, and if you’re wondering how on earth you connect your turntable’s ground wire to the Ultra, there is an accessory included that you simply plug into the back (marked ‘ground’) that makes it possible.

If you do have more than one WiiM device connected in the app (we had both Ultra and Pro Plus in use during our testing) there is a slight quirk in that a music streaming service you’re signed into on one WiiM unit doesn’t automatically transfer over to other WiiM device added, so you have to re-sign in and reassign presets for each product. It doesn’t take too long to get everything set up, though.

Sound

We tested the WiiM Ultra plugged into our reference system of Naim XS 3 integrated amplifier and Epos ES7N speakers, but more price-compatible partnering equipment include the Rotel A8 and Rega io amps, and the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 and B&W 607 S3 speakers. You don’t need to plug the Ultra into a traditional hi-fi separates system either; pairing it directly with powered or active speakers such as Elac’s Debut ConneX would make an ultra-compact and modern system.

WiiM says it has used “audiophile grade” components in the Ultra streamer alongside the newer advanced DAC over the Pro Plus, and the step up in sound quality is clear from the moment we start playing. We play Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal album over Tidal and her fierce yet playful tone comes through with crispness and clarity through the Ultra. There’s agility and decent snap behind the driving rhythm, while her distinct, crystal clear vocals come through with ample attitude and detail on Denial Is A River. Play Billie Eilish’s Blue, and we find the Ultra treads a fine balancing act, with neither end of the frequency sticking out unduly or sounding smoothed off. There’s enough space and bite at the top end without getting too shrill or splashy; while basslines on Massive Attack’s Paradise Circus have a decent amount of punch and solidity.

The presentation is fairly open and an easy-going listen from the start, too. Next to the Pro Plus, the WiiM Ultra is a clear step ahead when it comes to detail, clarity and space. The UItra offers a more full-bodied and expansive sound, with greater muscle and dynamism than the Pro Plus. The smaller sibling still knits music together quite cohesively for its budget price, but the Ultra’s more mature and capable sound reveals more about the music being played, whether you’re using Bluetooth or streaming CD-ripped WAV files from a NAS drive.

In absolute terms, we’d like a touch more texture unearthed in piano notes and string instruments and a more propulsive sense of rhythm wouldn’t go amiss. The price rival Cambridge Audio MXN10 shows off its hi-fi pedigree by delivering an extra level of textural depth and subtlety to detail, with greater dynamic scope and rhythmic precision than the Ultra. The piano notes in Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No.1 and in Taylor Swift/Bon Iver’s Exile have richer tones and sound more authentic, while Doechii’s humour and personality come across with more nuance through the Cambridge.

That said, we never feel shortchanged by the WiiM Ultra’s performance when listening to it. It’s a likeable, tidy performance that keeps us wanting to play more songs from our various music libraries. We like the way in which the Ultra doesn’t try to overtly grab your attention; its clean, balanced and nimble sound packs enough punch and pizazz to keep you interested.

You can employ the many EQ presets or tweak frequencies yourself to fine-tune the Ultra’s sound to your tastes; we found the Acoustic option offered an extra dose of spark and zest when we felt certain songs (like Yard Act’s sardonic Dream Job) needed it, but note that this does upset the Ultra’s nicely judged balance by pushing the mids too forward. We opted to keep the EQ on Flat or turned off during most of our listening.

The Ultra’s sound remains pretty consistent across the various streaming sources and analogue and digital inputs. We plug our reference Cyrus CDi into the optical input and find the same balance and character when spinning Jamiroquai and The Unthanks discs, with a touch more stability and solidity compared with streaming. The headphone stage offers more of the same, but with even a touch more richness, while the moving magnet phono stage is fine but not the Ultra’s strength here. We connect the Rega Planar 3 RS Edition and it sounds more cloudy than clear, the dynamics are squashed, and the treble is shaved off in favour of a mid-forward balance. It’s nice to have the option, but you’ll likely get a better-quality phono stage performance from the one in your amp or an external one.

Verdict

If sound quality is your ultimate priority, then Cambridge's MXN10 remains our top recommendation for an affordable network audio player. But the WiiM streamer puts in a mature and engaging performance, while its lethal combination of features, connectivity and terrific user experience for the price is unparalleled.

While we tend to hold sound quality to be the ultimate arbiter in our reviews, there’s no escaping the fact that we find the WiiM Ultra utterly charming in use. Its modern, user-friendly design has broad appeal, and this is as important as its performance – which is a clear step above the Award-winning Pro Plus. The Ultra has many talents for its price level, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

First reviewed: February 2025

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Cambridge Audio MXN10

Also consider the WiiM Pro Plus

Best music streamers: top network audio players tested by our experts