Sony LinkBuds Review – Truly Unique Open Earbuds

The Sony LinkBuds costs Rs. 12,900 in India. The earbuds are available in two colour options: White and Grey.

You can buy the Sony LinkBuds directly from Sony Center or other platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Croma and more.

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The Sony LinkBuds pack the following items inside the box: 

• Pair of Earbuds
• Additional Ring Supporters in Various Sizes
• Charging Case
• USB Type-C Cable

Before we talk more about the Sony LinkBuds, let’s see what on-paper specs look like:

• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
• Supported OS: Android, iOS
• Weight: 8.2 gm

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The Sony LinkBuds are really some unique pair of earbuds, something which I have never seen before. The earbuds come with an open design which makes them stand out from the crowd. I have the white colour option with me for the review, which looks premium and elegant. There’s also a black colour option available.

The fit of the earbuds was nice and sturdy. I tried them on while jogging and they didn’t fall anywhere or wobble in my ears. However, you need to place the rings under your ear cartilage for the perfect fit. And for that, Sony offers additional ring supporters in various sizes to fit your ears.

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The buds are pretty lightweight, weighing just about 4.1 grams each and comfortable to wear for long durations. I could wear them the whole day and still I felt no pain in my ears. Good job Sony.

Coming over to the charging case, its made from recycled plastic and is quite light and compact. I could easily carry it in my jeans packet. There’s a small button on the front which flips the lid when pressed. On the back, you will see a pairing button along with the Type-C charging port.

The earbuds come with an IPX4 rating which will protect them from water splashes and sweat. This means you can wear them while doing a workout without worrying about sweat.

Talking about the audio quality, Sony has never really disappointed us in this department and the same goes with the LinkBuds. I was wondering if these earbuds with a large hole in the centre of the speakers produce good sound. Well, yes they can. Moreover, I was surprised by their sound quality.

They offer rich, clear and well-balanced audio with plenty of details. The 12mm drivers have a decent amount of power, and Sony’s Integrated Processor V1 makes sure that you hear authentic sound with minimal distortion.

Even though the sound is good for an average user but if you like hip-hop or EDM music, this won’t satisfy your ears. The reason behind this is the lack of good bass.

I played my Spotify album while travelling, and my experience was decent. I’m saying decent since there is no ANC and the sound from the surroundings creeps in. Things get a lot better when you are using it in a quiet place or inside your home.

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But there’s also the sense and convenience of being able to hear everything around you. This also means that you can enjoy music, listen to a podcast, or take calls while still being aware of your surroundings, like traffic, metro announcements and more.

You also get Sony 360 Reality Audio support, which gives the impression that music is coming from all directions toward your ears. Something similar to Apple’s Spatial Audio.

The call quality was excellent. I could hear my friend on the other end clearly and so could he. The mic quality was also good but it does pick up wind noise if you are walking outdoors.

The Sony LinkBuds can deliver a battery life of 5.5 hours from the earbuds and further 12 hours from the charging case. That’s a total battery life of 17.5 hours. But does the company claim stands in real-life usage as well?

I got about 4-5 hours of playback time with the earbuds on a single charge. And the case offered me additional 10-11 hours of battery. I know that’s not much considering what the competitors offer.

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The good thing is that you can quick charge the earbuds for about 10 minutes and get 90 minutes of playback using the Type-C cable. One thing I felt missing here is the support for wireless charging.

For someone who is paying a premium to get these buds, I would be pretty disappointed with the battery life and the lack of wireless charging.

The Sony LinkBuds comes with Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity option. You can use these earbuds with both Android and iOS devices. However, only Android users will be able to take advantage of the Fast Pair technology.

You simply have to install the Sony Headphones Connect App on your smartphone to access various features. The app was pretty simple and straightforward to use. You can change the touch controls, tweak equaliser settings, enable/disable features and much more.

I was pretty disappointed at the fact that there is no multipoint pairing to quickly switch between your devices, considering the premium price tag. Putting that aside, the overall paring and connectivity experience was easy and stable, respectively.

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The controls on the Sony LinkBuds are pretty basic like any other TWS in the market. You can tap on the earbuds to perform different functions; however, the buds are so small that you might tap at the wrong spot. To eliminate this problem, Sony has implemented Wide Area Tap technology, which can detect if you tap on the front side of your ears. Pretty cool right?

To be honest, it worked better than I expected. A tap above my jaw and music pauses. They also have in-ear detection functionality so that the music automatically pauses if you take them out of your ears.

Moreover, they come with a Speak-to-Chat feature which detects if you are talking to someone and pauses the music for the time being. The music will auto-play after it doesn’t detect your voice for 15 seconds. I feel like it’s a handy feature to have if you are in the office where your colleagues would come every now and then.