Sony LinkBuds Truly Wireless Earbud Headphones with an Open-Ring Design for Ambient Sounds and Alexa Built-in Bluetooth Ear

===Update, May2025 They are still kicking at nearly 3 years old. This is impressive longevity as far as wireless earbuds go. Sony have done a bit of work on the companion iOS app and its a little better now. I think my review holds up. ===Update, Jan2024: These LinkBuds with the hole in them are still my favorite pair of wireless earbuds. The review remains accurate imo. There was a firmware update that took like an hour which feels really long. The open design doesn’t really work on airplanes since planes are loud and you’re close to other ppl so you can’t just turn up the volume without them hearing your stuff. Been using LinkBuds mostly for videocalling at work. They’re very comfortable to be on calls all day. Wish battery was a bit better. ===Original Review: I love these earbuds but I am a user with specific preferences. Disregarding fit and comfort which will vary by user, Airpods and even competing sony products are probably a better choice for the average user. For me though, I do not like the fit of Airpods (Pro) or silicone tipped earbuds generally. I’m also not a huge fan of the isolation normal earbuds provide. I just like being able to hear the outside world, and don’t mind that ambient noise intrudes. I have closed back headphones I can put on if I really want to closely listen to something. The combination of these personal preferences makes Linkbuds ideal for my use. I’ve owned both Airpods Pro and Pixel Buds to compare. Like I said, I was not satisfied with feel of either. Linkbuds solved that problem. The sound quality is Good. It is naturally going to be worse than more closed/isolated options like Airpods. The sound quality does vary somewhat based on how they sit in your ear, but for videocalls and casual use, this is a non-issue to me. The included wingtips required some trial and error to find the right fit. My ears are apparently different size so I use the large wing on one side and the medium on the other. They stay in pretty well. If you are doing jumping jacks or headbanging, perhaps these are not ideal. The silicone tip on traditional earbuds provides a more secure attachment to the ear that Linkbuds lack by design. Sony’s software is mediocre. The features provided do work, but it feels like a 5-10 year old app. At least the App does exist for iOS unlike Pixel Buds. Pairing is consistent for me. I can easily switch between paired devices. Linkbuds can pair up to like 8 I think before you start needing to re-pair things. Windows/MacOS/iOS/Android all work well for me. The case is small and light. Very light. It is thicker than Airpods, so it doesn’t feel as vanishingly tiny despite smaller other dimensions. I don’t store them in my tight jeans so this is not a big deal to me, but something to consider if you do. Battery life is acceptable. I think Google and Apple have them beat, but I don’t really find its a problem. I’m seeing about 3-5hrs depending on use. Controls are novel. You tap around or on the buds in various combinations to execute commands. This works as well as other solutions I’ve tried. It does occasionally make a mistake and execute a command because I was chewing food and it picked up my jaw moving as a tap. You can adjust the sensitivity in the app to dial it in, and also reassign what various combinations do. I don’t think method is necessarily any worse or better than competitors. If you want volume control this way you need to devote either the entire left or right side to vol controls. Instead I have playback controls on the right and then voice assistant on the left (and if i need to adjust volume handsfree, I can ask siri to do so). Otherwise I use the device volume adjustment. I’m concerned that in the future, a product like this will not exist and I’ll have to adapt again. This is just a downside of preferring a niche product. If you’re looking for something different than traditional designs, I think you should give Linkbuds a try. They are good headphones with a unique design. Read more

I'll keep my review short. These headphones are a niche product, but I really think this design choice deserves more credit. The open back nature of these headphones add a really natural effect to sound. However it does come at the cost of base and treble response since an open back earbud naturally does not create a seal. BUT.... that lack of seal was the exact reason I purchased these. Normal earbuds with rubber plugs are very irritating to my ears. Especially when using the controls, having to constantly seal them back in my ear, or taking them in and out to talk to people. Call quality was amazing as the listener, although the mics I would say are "adequate at best". The added benefit of them not muffling outside noises was a HUGE plus for talking to people, commuting, and just overall being comfortable. These where my favorite earbuds ever until.... These units started failing on me a little over the 1 year mark. The case often flashes orange when charging (indicating a charging issue), the right earbud rarely charges at all anymore and the left one has some kind of issue where the charge level is all over the place when in use and does not last very long. Even new though, the right bud would drain about 3x faster than the left one, but until recently was not an issue problematic enough for me to care about. I am not the type to abuse my tech, these never where exposed to water, I never left them in a hot car, etc. I contacted Sony about this 3 times in the span of the last 2 months. The first time they told me they would exchange it for a new pair but to contact them again in a week when they finished system repairs on their end to process it. The second time, they told me to do some trouble shooting steps first and then they would exchange it if it was still behaving weird. On the third time they told me I was outside of warranty and that they would not be exchanging it. They would not listen to me telling them the other 2 reps said they would exchange it, they did not care when I told them I had the chat transcripts to prove it. Only on the 3rd conversation did they tell me my device was purchased more than a year ago, then attempted to lie about the first 2 not knowing about that (even though that was the first question both of them asked) and then referred me to a repair center to pay it out of pocket myself. Which obviously, would cost more then the buds did themselves. Even explaining how the first 2 techs asked for purchase date as the first question did not phase them. I even had a case number, which I used to file a complaint and they still did not care. For anyone reading this, I am not upset my device was out of warranty. I am upset they doubled down on saying they would exchange it wasting weeks of my time to only at the end deny it like they where giving me the run around. Just stating the first time it was out of warranty would have been fine, and this review would be a lot better. To any Sony Rep thinking about sending the "Sorry you had a bad experience please contact us" copy/paste response to this, I am not interested, you have already shown how you communicate with existing customers and I am not interested in being lied to for a month again. Which is ashame considering how many Sony products I have purchased over the years. Read more