On Tuesday, Sony announced its latest set of fully wireless headphones, the Sony LinkBuds.
The LinkBuds cost $180 and are available to order starting today, with shipping starting February 17th. Headphones have been at my fingertips for several days now; here are some impressions from my testing.
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If you’ve been using a new pair of noise canceling headphones in recent years, there’s a good chance they have some kind of “ambient sound”or “transparency”mode. This is a setting that uses the headphones’ built-in microphones to record ambient noise and then play it back for you in real time.
The idea is to allow users to stay aware of their surroundings without completely giving up on music or podcasts. For example, it can be frustrating to physically remove your headphones every time you need to hear a quick announcement on the bus or talk to a colleague for five seconds. If you’re going for a run, it’s nice to hear the cars go by. If your headphones have good ambient sound mode,
In many headphones, transparency mode is just one of the many settings you can toggle. With the LinkBuds, Sony has created headphones based entirely on this surround sound experience. But instead of using microphones to record and play back ambient noise — a technique that can sound close to reality in the best implementations (like the Apple AirPods Pro) but is still somewhat distorted in many cases — LinkBuds naturally let ambient sound through. through donut holes design.
In other words, LinkBuds are a different take on “open”headphones. The resulting effect is not too different from “leaky”options, such as Apple’s first and third generation AirPods, which sit outside the ear canal and thus let in outside noise. But the fact that their 12mm drivers are ring-shaped makes the LinkBuds more explicit in their goal of letting ambient sound through.
Donut holes aside, the first thing to note about the LinkBuds is that they are impressively tiny. Their body is one of the smallest among true wireless headphones, and the headphones themselves are just as compact. From afar, it will be difficult for other people to notice that you are wearing them.
The unusual design also calls for a different fit. Nothing goes into your ear canal, but the LinkBuds still sit completely in your ears, with no AirPod-style protruding “shank”. The driver ring sits along the bottom of your outer ear (hidden behind the anti-tragus if you want technical info), while a soft silicone “support”runs under your upper ear “flap”(or anti-helix) to keep the earpiece inside. place.
LinkBuds definitely don’t slip on as quickly as traditional earbuds, and a good fit here is essential for decent sound quality given the weird design. They won’t be as safe for exercise as a pair of winged exercise headphones.. But it didn’t take me more than a second or two to get into place after the first two sessions, and they didn’t push or wobble while I was on the move.
There’s no foam padding, but the plastic casing of the LinkBuds is soft, smooth, and exceptionally light at just 4.1 grams. The fit puts little pressure on the ear, so the headphones are comfortable to wear for hours. A small bulge connected to the ring driver provides a natural gripping area when you need to also remove or insert each earbud so you never have to pinch it in your ear. It’s just important to find the right fit. Sony puts five different sized stands in the box to help with this.