Sony - LinkBuds Clip Truly Wireless Open Earbuds - Black

These ear buds are great if you find the in-ear style to be uncomfortable. They’re light and unobtrusive while still having great sound quality. The one issue I have with them is the control configurations in the Sony app. You are only given a couple of set control options for each ear and a lot of the configurations overlap. I would be much happier if I had the freedom to change each button individually.

I am a person that suffers from pain, discomfort whatever you want to call it from my ears. Other earbuds that are placed in my ear usually have to take them out after an 30 minutes because my ear can’t take the placement of other earbuds but these?! They are the best thing I bought for myself. They stay where you put them, you can adjust where you want them on your ear and they sound great! You can adjust the volume, the sound from the earbuds that can be heard from others (leakage) and the commands of the headphones. I would buy again and recommend. Also the price was very decent for the quality and performance of the headphones!!

The sound is great, especially in multitasking situations. They dont hurt at all. The fit is good aswell. There are better bluetooths out there for this price, but these are solid if you like the style.

After testing these earbuds out for a few days and using them daily, I can definitely say I am not disappointed with them. But I also have some gripes that could be deal breakers for some. For me, the negatives are just a nuisance but I still like the headphones overall. THE GOOD: Right off the bat I have to mention the unique design. These aren’t exactly “standard” wear (for the time being at least). Putting them on was a little challenging the first few times, something I never thought I would say about headphones, but once I got used to how they fit and feel, I could put them on pretty easily. The unique design allows your ears to still hear your surroundings and talk/chew without hearing yourself in your head like ear plugging headphones can do. I have a similar style of headphones from a different brand I won’t name but would not be shoking if you guessed it. They go with the larger ear clip design, sort of like the end of a pair of glasses, and I think both styles are comfortable but oddly these Sonys actually seem to stay put better, despite having less material. I think the clip design helps hold the headphones tighter in place, but at the cost of a little more pain in long term wear. At first, these headphones did not cause me any pain and I would wear them around the house and forget I had them on. Especially if the music was off. But after a few continuous days of wear, I did notice a slight soreness on my ear lobes. It was like fatigue from the weight and or pinch. It’s not ideal, but also came with a LOT of wear as I was testing them out. So I think there’s a happy medium. I also found there are different ways to wear these buds that result in better or worse audio quality as well as comfort. With a slight twist, I can get a better sound but it does pinch my ear lobe more. So again, perhaps the comfort is situational. The bottom line is I can wear them for a few hours no problem. Something I cannot do with my in ear noise canceling headphones from 4 other brands and Sony too. With these linkbuds, I could run and they would not fall off or even feel loose, but I could still hear the street noise and traffic. The audio quality is actually pretty good for the design. I actually wasn’t expecting such a clear and full sound. There’s still a noticeable bass and vocals come through clear. Again, I was able to move them around a bit and actually get a better sound by angling the speaker more directly into my ear, but this would sacrifice comfort and the ability to hear around me a little. But for sources like phone calls or podcasts, audiobooks, etc, the quality is plenty good. I also wanted to mention the case real quick. It’s not always the center piece but it’s worth noting this case is nice and small, although a little boxy. It still fits in a pocket fine, but may be a little tight in small pockets. But I love that it has a pair button so I don’t have to try to remember what magic pattern or LED light combos mean just to pair it. The case also gives you more charges like most wireless headphones these days, and I found the battery life to be very good out of the box. When listening at low volumes, I had no issues going a full work day with these on. The app is familiar to me as I’ve used many Sony headphones, but I think it’s pretty straightforward and has never really had major bugs over the years. Honestly, I don’t use it much unless I need to pair or adjust EQ. THE BAD: Like I said, there are a few negatives to come along with these, and it’s up to you to decide if you can deal with them or not for the price. Which is one negative. I know headphones are getting more and more expensive and I think these are worth the cost, but it’s still asking a lot for no noise cancelling (obviously by design), a unique target audience, and limited features. I can say, the much cheaper headphones that target the same needs are much worse quality too. I think that makes the price understandable, but I still wish it was under 200 at least. (230 at time of review) I already mentioned the comfort issues I had earlier, but to recap, I mostly think they are comfortable, but I have noticed more irritation over multiple day use. I also have ears that get sore from wearing a tight fitting winter hat too long, so if most people are saying these cause no pain, I would bet that’s more the average. Now, AFTER I wore these for a few days and was going back to the packaging to read over the paperwork included, I only then found the comfort tips hidden in the box. I was excited! “This should help!” I thought. But I quickly realized I was wrong. They’re useless. I’m just going to say it, most people will probably accidentally throw them away, some will not bother and the rest will actually like them but lose them because they slip off SO easy. I took one bud out and didn’t realize the rubber pad fell off and was on the floor. I stepped on it later. So yeah, not sure what the idea was there, but it’s not working for me. Not a big deal since I’m not having comfort issues in that area anyway. So one last negative that got to me. The tap settings. Like SO MANY headphones these days, there are commands for tapping the ear bud. One tap two tap three tap four, I feel like I’m on sesame street. None of the brands follow the same rules and it’s always a nightmare trying to remember what does what on which headphones. I wish they would just give us a list of commands available and let us decide which tap on which ear does what. Sony got halfway there with these buds, you can sort of decide how you want the taps to work. The app allows you to change from sets of commands. It’s a start I guess. But I’m still annoyed. I can key my video game controller to any command but headphones can’t. Like I said in the intro, these negatives are noticeable but not bad enough for me to say I don’t like these or I won’t use these headphones. I have yet to find a pair of headphones that can do everything, much like my closet full of clothes, I have headphones for different occasions and needs. Which seems like something that would blow my mind if I told 5 year old me that. OVERALL: I think the best way to describe these headphones is that they are not going to be your end all be all go to pair of headphones. They are designed for a very specific need, and when you’re in that need, these are the best headphones you can grab. They won’t make you happy if you’re trying to drown out plane noise, or crowds, or dudes grunting at the gym; but if you wish you could have a quiet soundtrack playing throughout your day while still being able to talk and interact with others around you, or you want to listen to podcasts while still being able to hear your kids scream from the other room that the internet is still slow, these are perfect. You can wear them all day comfortably, the battery lasts just as long, and you can still hear everything going on around you. I loved being able to put a playlist on at very low volumes and still be able to have conversations with others around me. For those looking to add audio to their life without subtracting noise around them, grab the Sony Linkbuds!

The LinkBuds Clip combines a great fit with a rich sound from earbuds that just don't fall out!!! Design I like the sleek easy to work with design of the case. The case is very easy to open and close. I've had earbud cases where sometimes it was hard for me to tell which direction it opened. The Sony logo on top, while sort of small and subtle, makes it easy for me to see which way to open it. The top half of the case is ultra-glossy. The bottom half is a smooth, matte, finish. There is a USB-C port on the back to charge it and a button on the back for pairing. The way the earbuds fit in the case makes it very easy to put them in and take them out. They fit in magnetically, going into position easily. The battery life is great, I'll talk more about that later. The earbuds clip over my ears very well. The part that goes behind the hear and the thin piece that attaches the two parts together are both touch sensitive. So both of those make one "button" on each ear piece. Everything is very rounded, the part in the ear, outside the ear, and the piece that connects them. They are all very smooth and rounded all over. They can be paired to two devices at a time. The app will show which devices they're paired to and which is active. It seems to switch gracefully between the two. I've included two pictures showing the earbuds and the case with a quarter next to them, to give you an idea of the look and size. One picture has the case open and one has the case closed. Fit and Comfort I'm loving the clip-around-the-ear design! I'm still getting used to putting them on, not because it's hard, it's just different. But they're not hard to put on and they stay on very well. I was even able to wear them for shoveling snow! I've never had earbuds that stayed in this well. These feel like they would never fall off, but they're also extremely comfortable. Once in a while they shift into a position that is not comfortable, but that doesn't happen often and then I can move them back into place easily, and even so, they've never been close to coming out. I think they would be excellent for sports, though I haven't been able to do much recently other than shovel. Controls The controls work as you would expect any capacitive touch controls to, like a phone screen. No swiping on these though, just tapping. It takes at least two taps for an action, which I think is good because it makes it harder to do things by accident, if you're just trying to put them in or out for example. To give you an idea of the controls, to Pause or Play you tap the right earbud twice, Next Song is three taps on the right, and Volume Up is four or more taps on the right. Two taps on the left side changes the Sound Mode. It's a three way toggle between "Standard", "Voice Boost", and "Sound Leakage Reduction". I'll talk about those more later. Three taps on the left side does nothing by default, for some reason. Four or more taps on the left is "Volume Down". You can use the app to customize the controls a little but it's kind of rigid. For instance I can't keep the default settings but set three taps on the left for "Previous Song". It also has a "Quick Access" option that sounds cool at first because it's configurable, but you can only set it to Amazon Music Play Now, Endel Quick Access, or Spotify Tap. To get Previous Song on three taps I have to select an option that also replaces the sound mode double tap with Next Song. Anyway, I do like the way the controls work and it's rare that I need to use "Previous Song". So while I would like to see some changes to the app, the controls work very well and I really like the defaults, I just wish it had "Previous Song" as a default for three taps on the left where it does nothing. Sound Being a new type of earbud, at least for me, with the way it clips around the ear, I was interested to see how good they would sound. I've been very impressed! I think the sound is excellent! I think that conventional in-ear buds can do slightly deeper bass, but these have still have very good bass and everything else is excellent! I think the biggest downside is also a design function. Because you're able to hear what's going on around you very well, since it isn't down in your ear, it's just not possible for them to do noise cancelation. So there is no option for that. But, it's great that I don't need to take them out/off to talk with people and I can hear well while driving with them in. So just some things to keep in mind. But yes, the sound is great. I've used them for listening to audio dramas (theatrical production of a book), podcasts, and different styles of music. Sounds are reproduced in a very full and rich way. There is a "360 Reality Audio" setup that in the app that has some test samples of surround audio. It sounds incredible! You can really hear the positional audio moving around you. And actually, one thing I noticed with these earbuds as opposed to some others, is the audio really sounds more like it's room filling. That may sound odd but I'm not sure how to describe it. It feels like there's extra depth to it. Anyway, it sounds great. There are EQs in the App and you can customize them. I noticed a little difference with them but not a lot. Everything still sounds great though. It will also take you through some steps to create a custom EQ for you. I wasn't very impressed by that, but I don't really care because the sound is excellent anyway. There is also a DSEE mode that I turned on (actually set to Auto) which is designed to improve the quality of compressed audio, which is what most people listen to most of the time. I also have them set to use a wireless connection that prioritizes sound quality over the connection stability. Both that and the DSEE can impact battery life but it's still been great. I do want to mention that they worked very well for voice calls also. The person I was talking with could hear me well and I could hear them loud and clearly. Also, the three sound modes are very noticeably different. "Standard" works great and, as you would guess is for general use. "Voice Boost" does just that, boosting the volume of vocals very significantly. If you're on a phone call in a noisy room, this could make a huge difference in you hearing the person talking to you. "Sound Leakage Reduction" sort of muffles the sound, you can still hear clearly, though that doesn't really make sense, but it's the best way I can describe it. It's designed so that people near you can't hear as much of what you're listening to. Battery Life The battery life has been excellent. I charged it (the case with the earbuds in it) one time, after unboxing. Since then I haven't had to charge it. The case is at 50% and the earbuds are at 100%. I don't know how long I've used them but I've used them a lot for phone calls as well as listening to various types of audio. They advertise 9 hours of battery life for the earbuds and an additional 28 hours by recharging in the case. That seems very possible to me. I was disappointed that the case doesn't support wireless charging, but as great as the battery life is and as easy as it is to find a USB C charger, I don't think I care. Summary To me, this was a new type of form factor. On one hand, I don't think there is one design that's best because different designs can allow for maybe a little better bass or add noise canceling, for instance. But if I could only pick one design, it would probably be this clip on design. The sound is excellent, they're so comfortable, and they just don't fall out! Sony has done a great job of with the LinkBuds Clip! If you're in the market, give them a try!