Sony LinkBuds Clip Review: Excellent Sound, Battery, and All-Day Comfort—But Average Mics
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The LinkBuds Clips sound excellent, are comfy enough to wear all day, and are armed with a long-lasting battery to match. However, its mics leave much to be desired, and there are more affordable open-earbud options on the market that are comparable in sound and feature set.
Technology has come a long way from large wired headphones being plugged into a record player for personal audio. Thanks to years of innovation, we’ve gone from wired headphones and earphones and evolved to wireless headphones and earbuds. Over the past few years, a third audio category has entered the chat: open-style wireless earbuds. This category is different due to the earbuds not sitting in your ear canal, and can reduce the risk of long-term hearing damage if the volume isn’t too loud.
With Sony being one of the early adopters of this category with its original LinkBuds in 2022 (behind companies such as Bose and Shokz), it’s only right that the company craft a newer product with the popular C- or U-shaped design that many of its competitors have been using since 2024, like Anker, Bose, EarFun, SoundPeats, and others. Enter Sony’s $230 LinkBuds Clips: the company’s newest earbuds, which have an open-ear, clip-on design, fused with Sony’s stellar audio in a small-ish package. So after a few weeks of putting them through our paces, we’ll see if they live up to their marketing claims and price point.
The LinkBuds Clips have a similar C- or U-shaped design that mirrors the look of many open-style earbuds on the market. Sony utilizes plastic for the Clips’ entire construction, save for the internals and charging pins. The actual audio-producing bud and battery portion is covered in glossy plastic and connected by a matte-covered silicone band. Sony’s design language continues to its charging case, which is on the larger side compared to the actual buds. The case’s top section is made of glossy plastic, and the bottom portion has a matte finish.
Despite their larger design and profile, the Clips are still on the lighter side at 6.3 grams per bud and 42 grams with the charging case. As a reference, the Pixel Buds 2a weigh 4.7 grams per bud, and Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 weigh in at 5.5 grams per bud. The buds themselves have an IPX4 coating, which helps them withstand splashes from rain or sweat. But being open earbuds, neither their case nor they are made to survive being completely submerged in water or any other liquid.
The LinkBuds Clips were comfortable enough to wear for longer periods and did not suffer from the typical earbud fatigue, despite their size.
The LinkBuds Clips’ open design doesn’t require entering your ear canal and offers a more versatile fit for a variety of ear shapes and sizes since they clip to the bottom of your outer ear. The audio portion of the buds rests near your ear canal, while the battery portion rests behind your outer ear. There is a bit of a learning curve, clipping them onto your ears the first time or two, but it becomes more natural by the third or fourth time. My ears are on the larger side, as most default tips and earbuds fit me fresh out of the box. My wife, who occasionally helps me test products and has smaller ears, usually needs to adjust buds or swap them out for smaller tips. The Clips fit us both perfectly and were comfortable for all-day wear—just as advertised.
Sony is known for its sound quality across its many audio products, and the company maintains the sentiment. Sony armed its newest LinkBuds with 10mm drivers to handle audio output, and it does a wonderful job. I spent the majority of my time listening to interviews and trailers on YouTube, various playlists on YouTube Music, and taking a few phone calls. The results were a strong bass performance (for their being open buds), great mids, and balanced highs—and this was on the default EQ setting. Sony’s app opens up access to its customizable 10-band EQ, in addition to three sound modes (Standard, Voice, and Sound Leakage), DSEE wireless sound, multi-point connection, and 360 Reality Audio.
The stellar sound you’d expect from Sony, but the mics could be better.
However, the open-ear design means there’s zero noise cancellation available. So whatever you’re listening to or on the phone with will have trouble competing against loud, noisy environments. And this is no matter how good the mics are. Sony does utilize a combination of a dual-mic system and a bone-conduction sensor, but I had trouble being heard on calls while at a not-so-crowded ShopRite, talking to the wife, and while picking up takeout, talking with my dad (they were not on the same night, I swear). However, taking calls with the Clips at home with just the TV in the background turned out just fine.
Now, back to more positives about Sony’s LinkBuds Clips, more specifically, their battery life. Sony quotes them as offering 9 hours on a single charge and up to 37 hours in total with their charging case. The Clips effortlessly lived up to the advertised battery life; I seldom had to charge them during my three-week testing period and used them almost daily. While I wish the Clips offered wireless charging support, Sony did provide fast charging, which delivers an hour of juice in three minutes.
The LinkBuds Clips provide a great open-ear audio experience that Sony is known for, are comfortable enough to set and forget, and have a battery life that can outlast an 8-hour shift at work. These can be a great option for people who prefer a level of situational awareness while listening to music, those who prioritize their long-term hearing and overall ear health, and runners and other outdoor sports enthusiasts.
So, as great as these are, I wouldn’t buy them if you’re constantly taking calls while out and about, since the mics are easily Clips’s Achilles’ heel for phone calls. Sony also has to deal with several open-ear competitors, such as the $70 SoundPeats Clip, which offers somewhat comparable sound quality for less and nearly the same battery life for a fraction of Sony’s $230. But if spending more isn’t an issue, the LinkBuds Clips are the superior product.
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