Sony’s LinkBuds S are the company’s latest headphones to fit into the range, which includes the flagship WF-1000XM4s, the very unique LinkBuds and the entry-level WF-C500s. Although they share a name with LinkBuds in the open, the S-Class headphones have a much more conventional design that is sealed in the ear with silicone tips. This allows them to include active noise reduction, which is lacking in ordinary LinkBuds, and Sony has also added support for its better LDAC Bluetooth codec.
At $ 199.99, they cost only $ 20 more than LinkBuds. But the two products have very different goals and different target customers. Standard LinkBuds are fully open, which means you’ll hear outside, ambient noise at all times. This may appeal to people who do not like traditional earplugs and prefer to maintain full awareness of their surroundings. LinkBuds is also one of the most efficient handsets I’ve ever tested for voice calls.
LinkBuds S tries to cross the line between LinkBuds and 1000XM4s and delivers the best of both worlds: they’re more comfortable to listen to than more expensive headsets – thanks in large part to a smaller and lighter design. And while nothing is better than an open design for natural sound from the environment, Sony’s transparency mode is better than ever. Sound quality and noise reduction are not entirely on par with the $ 279.99 1000XM4s, but they can be classified as good enough for many people in exchange for the exceptional comfort these headphones provide.
Good things
- The most comfortable Sony headphones so far
- Good quality voice calls
- LDAC support
Bad things
- $ 200 and no wireless charging?
- The new software features are mixed
- ANC and sound quality are a step below 1000XM4
I tested the black LinkBuds S, which have a textured finish that is almost rough – especially in this case. Reminiscent of the sandstone texture of early OnePlus phones. I really liked the feel of the hand and also makes the case and headphones impenetrable to fingerprints. Sony has also provided a set of white LinkBuds S, and although the hardware has a smoother feel, I think they both look equally sharp.
But comfort and fit are more important than style, and Sony advertises the lightweight, small design of the LinkBuds S. Each handset weighs just 4.8 grams, making them feel really airy when you take them out of the case. By comparison, the WF-1000XM4 buds each weigh 7.3 grams and the AirPods Pro 5.4 grams. With them, you almost look like you’re holding an empty headphone shell. Looking at LinkBuds S side by side with 1000XM4s, the reduction in size is very noticeable and significant. Sony includes four pairs (XS, S, M, L) of silicone earbuds in the box. Surprisingly, the middle tips provided me with a great seal by default, although I usually reach for the big tips right away. It just shows that all headphones are different and the contours and structure of the headphone hardware can make a difference.
LinkBuds S are delightfully comfortable and I had no problem wearing them for hours at a time. They remained planted in my ears as I spoke, eating, and running on the treadmill. I just wish Sony had built-in vents or some other way to relieve the pressure in the ears and the feeling of being “clogged”. Because even with how light they are, you can still experience this with them. The charging case is a nice size and easy to put in your pocket, but only top up via USB-C; no wireless charging. That’s hard to accept for $ 200.
Sony headphone family: WF-C500, LinkBuds, LinkBuds S and WF-1000XM4.
LinkBuds S’s active noise reduction is not comparable to 1000XM4s, but it is certainly competent and did a job of suppressing distractions when I worked from the local café. Sony continues to improve its transparency mode and it sounds more and more natural. It is not yet the level of AirPods, but it is far from the digitalized, over-processed ambient sound modes that were the norm a few years ago. You control LinkBuds S by touching the headphones: the left button switches between ANC and ambient mode, and the right button switches to track controls. (Tap once to play / pause, twice to skip songs, three times to go back, etc. Many standard things.) You can also optionally add a shortcut to instantly start music from Spotify on your phone. But before that, you need to open the Spotify app on your phone for it to work, otherwise you will hear an error message.
If there’s one reality check for LinkBuds S, it’s sound performance. Sony had to use 5mm drivers to achieve the desired weight and compact size. Just like I said in my review of the WH-1000XM5 headphones, driver size is not everything: the fantastic 1000XM4 headphones use 6mm drivers and Sony has found ways to cheat the physics and push impressive bass out of them even when some competitors are using significantly more -large drivers. But the same cannot be said for LinkBuds S. Both in the high class and at lower frequencies, their audio sounds are slightly delayed.
There is a network covering the external microphones. LinkBuds S have ear detection sensors for automatic pause.
By no means do they sound bad. The clarity is excellent, especially when it comes to mids and vocals. HAIM’s “Lost Track” and Angel Olsen’s “All The Good Times” demonstrate how well these headphones can demonstrate vocals and multi-layered songs. There’s nothing wrong or confusing about them, and all of Molly Tuttle’s She’ll Change acoustic instruments come with a pleasant warmth and jingle. But I could use a lower beat behind Orville Peck’s Daytona Sand.
More often than not, I was pleased with LinkBuds S and they blew the usual LinkBuds in this department. But they didn’t live up to my expectations for $ 200 headphones every time. Their sound scene is on the narrower side and everything sounds in the middle of your head – while real wireless headphones with richer audio (like 1000XM4s) are more immersive and enveloping. LDAC can help bring out more details if you have an Android phone, and Sony says LinkBuds S will support Bluetooth LE Audio after a firmware update in the coming months.
Sony’s LinkBuds and LinkBuds S have completely different designs.
If you were wondering, S in LinkBuds S must represent their intelligence. One of Sony’s slogans for these headphones is “never turn off” and the company plans to wear them all day long, with the headphones automatically responding to various activities, changes in location, etc. Sony headphones have long been able to apply custom noise reduction and transparency settings to places you visit or detect motion (such as walking or running).
LinkBuds S is trying to enhance this with new features such as “gaming wears”, where the headphones will start playing music as soon as you put them on. With the “after call” option, you can make them automatically launch a Spotify Playlist after you finish a teleconference call. Both tricks are exclusive to Android. But they are also inconvenient to use, require the installation of multiple applications, and only support audio from Spotify and Endel, a service aimed at sound landscapes, and other audio that helps with concentration.
Sony’s tried and tested features such as adaptive volume control, equalizer customization and even Speak to Chat continue to work well, but the new extras are astounding and look like half-baked throws. It seems that Sony is starting to reach the ceiling for what it can achieve in terms of bonus functionality when there is no control over an entire product ecosystem like Apple, Samsung or Google. There is no answer to tricks such as surround head audio tracking or automatic device switching. And LinkBuds S continues to work without multipoint Bluetooth. Adding this would really help the convenience factor and allow for better multitasking – hopefully it will appear in the next generation of Sony headphones.
Sony’s LinkBuds S are incredibly light and comfortable. They are significantly smaller than 1000XM4s.
LinkBuds S’s voice calling performance is very good, even if it can’t completely duplicate the wow factor of the open style model. They still did well in splitting my voice into a noisy environment, and the mesh coating on the external microphones helped avoid wind distortion. The battery life of LinkBuds S is estimated at about 6 hours with ANC activated and a total of 20 hours with recharging the box. So far, while reviewing the headphones, these numbers look on par and I don’t think you could expect much more given their size and weight. As with the rest of Sony’s line, they are IPX4 rated for water resistance, making them suitable for exercise.
LinkBuds S are maybe …
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