Sony LinkBuds: Specific EarBuds For A Specific Crowd

So Sony is well-known for crafting some killer audio products, cameras & of course the PS5. But let’s not forget about the company’s ability to innovate either. Today’s subject is the LinkBuds by Sony. These are a newly designed pair of buds that allow ambient noise through instead of canceling outside noise. All while providing a good sound quality and good mics for calls. All for a retail price of $180.

Now Sony tried an attempt at these kind of earbuds back in 2018 w/ the Xperia Ear Duo which didn’t work out too well. But over the years things have changed – a lot. Sony has done a lot of learning, innovating, & executing in the wireless audio space to become quite the dominating force in multiple price points. And now we have the LinkBuds. Let’s dive into them to see if they actually pulled this off.

Now the 1st thing you do notice on these is the design. They resemble that of smaller earrings (like a hoop connected to stud) in both the look & size. The hoop part is where the actual audio output is and the connected stud part houses everything else like the battery & sensors.

Unique & eco-friendly

It is comprised of recycled plastic materials from car parts w/ a slightly textured feel to them. Sony gave them an IPX4 rating to handle a workout while wearing or light misting. All while weighing in at only 4g each that sits inside of a small pocketable charging case to take with you just about anywhere.

And they also have 3 different-sized silicone supporter arcs to help stay in your ears a bit better. But keep in mind, the LinkBuds won’t fit all ears. They fit my ear w/ no problem but for those of you w/ smaller ears, these won’t fit you. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do w/ the earbuds but the actual size of the LinkBuds themselves. So if you’re interested, don’t throw out your receipt in case you have an issue w/ the fit.

So these little buds have big sound. Sony armed them w/ 12mm drivers w/ Sony’s own Integrated Processor V1 to reproduce audio w/ minimal distortion. The LinkBuds offers SBC + AAC sound profiles, 360 Reality Audio support, and Bluetooth 5.2. Sony gave these support for Google Fast Pair and Alexa/Google Assistant but don’t look for multipoint Bluetooth support here there.

So while you’ll get a good overall sound output just don’t expect big bass w/ these open-style buds. Now I didn’t find it lacking but for what they are, I was satisfied w/ them. I did get a decent amount of bass, good clarity, & overall output. The majority of my testing watching YouTube content but still managed test some Quincy Jones, Pink Sweats, Guordan Banks, & some Pusha T as I was pleased w/ the results.

Think of these as buds w/ transparency mode always-on.

Now you might wonder how do you control these things w/o using the app. Well, we mentioned sensors before on the design of them and this is where they come into play. Interestingly enough, they have a wide area tap which allows you to tap 2x or 3x the area in front of your ear to control payback. Yeah, wild. And despite it not controlling it from the earbuds themselves, this works surprisingly well. You also have the ability to automatically pause when you take them off. As well as speak-to-chat pauses every time you talk to someone w/o having to physically pause them or take them off.

Now believe it or not, the mics on these things are pretty impressive. Definitely wasn’t expecting them to be this good. However w/o any noise-canceling, if you add a decent amount of noise to the mix and its gets harder to be heard on phone calls. But in little to moderate noise, these mics perform stellar.

Now if there is a weak point on these, I would definitely say its the battery. I say weak in comparison to the batteries on other earbuds in the market. Now you can get up to 5.5hour battery life + an extra 12 hours w/ its charging case. My time w/ them aligned w/ their suggested battery usage. You also get can get a 10-minute quick charge gives you 90 mins of juice. But I understand as small as they are, there’s only so much battery that can fit inside.

Despite being impressive, they're only gonna work for a certain crowd.

I think Sony did an amazing job w/ these open-style earbuds. The LinkBuds offer good audio quality & great mics even while letting in background noise. I’m not sure you would have sold me on the description of earbuds w/ transparency mode always on. Hell, even the design itself is quite unorthodox as well.

Now as much praise as I give them, the LinkBuds aren’t for everyone. While they can be ideal for select situations like your mass transit commute or your workout. The fit, the battery life, or the open style won’t work for everyone & their specific needs. So for $180, it’s so easy to recommend these unless you fit within the positive criteria mentioned above. However, I am curious to see if Sony would drop a 2nd-generation version of these next year and kind of improve on some things.