Streaming features: AirPlay 2, Bluetooth 5.1, Google Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon Music, internet radio, DLNA
Inputs: Line-level stereo RCA, digital optical
Max file resolution: 24-bit/192kHz
Dimensions (hwd): 42 x 140 x 140mm
Weight: 400g
It might have a name like a caffeine tablet, but the Pro Plus delivers a rush of excitement unmatched by any food supplement. It's remarkably well-specced for the price, and delivers a sound unmatched by any at this budget level. A deserved Award winner.
For
- Detailed, expressive and organised sound for the price
- Great control app
- Excellent streaming features
- Simple to set up and operate
Against
- Plasticky build
- Could conceivably sound more muscular
- Ultra offers greater detail, clarity and dynamism
Streaming features: Bluetooth 5.3, Google Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon Music, internet radio, DLNA
Inputs: Line level RCA, Phono MM, HDMI ARC, optical, USB A
Max file resolution: 24-bit/192kHz PCM
Dimensions (hwd): 7.2 x 20 x 21.1cm
Weight: 1.42kg
It's pricier and lacks Apple's AirPlay wireless tech, but the Ultra more than lives up to its name. It has far more connections and delivers a more spacious, dynamic and detailed sound, and that 3.5-inch touchscreen is a joy to use. Well worth the extra investment.
For
- Crisp, clear sound
- Balanced tone across all genres
- Lively, agile presentation
- HDMI and phono inputs
- Touchscreen design is sleek and responsive
Against
- No AirPlay
- Pricier than Pro Plus
WiiM has been making waves in the world of music streamers lately. The WiiM Pro Plus has picked up a What Hi-Fi? Award two years in a row for the best budget music streamer and the top-of-the-range model, the WiiM Ultra, has just picked up five stars in our review.
Wondering what all the fuss is about? Want to know which one of these two streamers would be right for you? Let's run a comparison and see what the differences are between these two WiiM models.
WiiM Ultra vs WiiM Pro Plus: price
The Pro Plus is the middle child of WiiM's streaming line-up, sitting below the Ultra but above the Pro. It costs £219 / $219 / AU$339, which is quite a bit cheaper than the Ultra's £349 / $329 / AU$599. That's especially true when the Pro Plus goes on sale, which isn't all that often, but we have seen it reduced by £50 before.
Both are still very much on the affordable side when it comes to the wider music streamers market, and the Ultra does plenty to justify its higher price. But if you're after the most affordable way to get streaming in your system, the Pro Plus will do the job nicely.
** Winner: WiiM Pro Plus **
WiiM Ultra vs WiiM Pro Plus: design
As a more wallet-friendly device, the WiiM Pro Plus is distinctly lacking in design bells and whistles. It looks rather like an Apple TV, in that it's a black box bearing a logo and not much else. It comes with an equally functional remote control, but you can also use the WiiM Home mobile app that's much slicker and more feature-packed. It's compact enough to tuck away into most shelves and corners.
Design-wise, the WiiM Ultra is cut from a different cloth – a much nicer cloth, velvet to the Pro Plus' pleather. While bigger than the Pro Plus, it is still fairly compact but has a much sleeker and high quality build, and features a gorgeous 3.5-inch touchscreen display that curves around the edges of the body. This full colour display shows album artwork and icons, as well as menus you can navigate for selecting sources and presets, and it's almost as responsive as the screen on a smartphone.
Of course, you can use the same WiiM Home mobile app as the Pro Plus, and it comes with the same remote control that lets you voice control either device via Amazon Alexa.
** Winner: WiiM Ultra **
WiiM Ultra vs WiiM Pro Plus: features & connections
For such an affordable device, the WiiM Pro Plus is surprisingly feature-heavy, sporting pretty much all the popular streaming platforms and casting methods you'd expect and need. It has dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.1 (supporting both SBC and AAC codecs), Google Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2, and support for Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon Music, internet radio and others via the mobile app. The app can also access any music stored on a common network thanks to DLNA compatibility.
The Ultra has all these same streaming technologies apart from AirPlay 2. It's not alone in this – WiiM's Amp Pro also lacks it. It won't be a dealbreaker for most people, but it's tough to overlook the fact that you're paying more for a product that lacks a feature of its cheaper stablemate.
The two have different DACs, too. The Pro Plus has the AKM 4493SEQ, while the Ultra uses the more advanced ES9038 Q2M SABRE. They can both handle hi-res audio files up to a native 24-bit/192kHz, too.
In terms of physical connections, the Pro Plus offers a digital optical input and output, a digital coaxial output and stereo RCA line-level in and out. The USB-C port is for mains power.
This is where the Ultra has the upper hand. Because while it has the same RCA stereo line level inputs and outputs, digital optical in/out and a coaxial output, you also get an HDMI ARC input and a moving magnet phono stage. That means you can integrate it into your TV set-up more easily, connect it to a CD transport that lacks a DAC, and even hook up a turntable. It also has a subwoofer output and USB-A input for playing files from a media drive, and offers a 3.5mm headphone port where the Pro Plus doesn't. Win.
Both devices feature an Ethernet port for wired internet connection and support multi-room too – even if you connect an analogue source, it can be beamed to other WiiM products around the home. In general, the WiiM app is beginner-friendly and neatly laid out, with all features easily accessible and smooth in use. You can delve further into the app to access EQ settings and tweak more audio options, too.
The two products are very similar in terms of streaming features, but the amount of connections and additional features (such as presets via the display) available on the Ultra makes it the more versatile unit for the price. The lack of AirPlay will likely dissuade many users from considering the Ultra, but the Pro Plus is still a great option if you don't need the HDMI and phono inputs.
** Winner: WiiM Ultra **
WiiM Ultra vs WiiM Pro Plus: sound
The Pro Plus is a current What Hi-Fi? Award winner, so as you would imagine, it sounds pretty great for its super affordable price.
With hi-res files, the audio is entertaining, with an expansive but well-defined soundstage playing host to a great amount of detail for its price. "Despite the generous dimensions of the stage, there's no sense of estrangement or remoteness – every part of the recording relates to the others in a neat and confident manner," we wrote in our review.
Its low end isn't the most imposing, but it is very forthright, with plenty of detail and variation in the textures, and it always remains nicely controlled. It's very forgiving of lesser-quality sources too. Even compressed files sound clear and detailed through the Pro Plus, which is a real achievement.
Use it as a preamplifier or a pass-along device to other WiiM products, and it stays well out of the way. The vinyl audio quality remains untarnished when a record deck is played into the Pro Plus' analogue inputs via a phono stage and then out to a power amplifier. In this scenario, the Pro Plus controls the volume and nothing else, and like a great supporting actor, it plays its role to a tee.
But the WiiM Ultra is also a five-star product, and offers a clear step up in terms of sound quality. You can certainly hear the difference between it and the Pro Plus – as well as the better DAC, WiiM has used "audiophile grade" components in the Ultra, and it shows.
It just packs more detail, clarity and spaciousness than the Pro Plus – it's fuller of body and way more expansive. "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," we wrote in our review.
The Ultra's sound is plenty crisp and clear, nimble without overly stressing either end of the frequency range. It's a lively, dynamic sound, and its level of clarity and control is quite impressive even for its step-up price.
If we're being picky, it could use a bit more texture, and a greater sense of drive, especially when compared to rivals like the Award-winning Cambridge Audio MXN10. But it's still a very fine, entertaining performance indeed.
** Winner: WiiM Ultra **
WiiM Ultra vs WiiM Pro Plus: verdict
Two great streamers, one difficult decision. The WiiM Ultra has the edge in almost every department, even if it lacks the Pro Plus's AirPlay feature. If you're a hardcore Apple user (especially an Apple Music subscriber), that could be a major fly in the ointment, and it's difficult to overlook the sheer value that the Pro Plus offers.
However, the Ultra offers greater functionality, greater connectivity and pushes the sonic performance a step above, and is overall a more elegant device to behold and use. If you can stretch your budget further than the Pro Plus, the Ultra is the one worth considering.
MORE:
Read our full WiiM Ultra review
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