Customer Ratings & Reviews

Right bud kept getting interference, which was painful. Sound was good. Buttons were too touchy.

Too many glitches. Cuts out during calls and keep making high pitched feedback sounds

And make a ring noise in my ears and I can hear the wind

I was hoping these would rival my airpod pros but they are definitely a step down. The noise cancellation was a bit confusing and hard to tell if it was on or off.

Let's start this off with a bit of an aside. I HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE, in-ear headphones that actually go into your ear canal. I have NEVER been able to get a set to properly stay in my ears nor keep a proper seal for more than five minutes. If I do manage to find an eartip size combo that actually goes into my ears, and stays for any length of time, it usually hurts within minutes and is agony shortly thereafter. I was in the Air Force and I gave the life support guys absolute fits trying to find an earplug combination that actually, you know, plugged my ears. Turns out I have 'torturous ear canals' according to the audiologists. They aren't the same size and they have weird turns. Despite that, I was an audiophile in my past life (an expensive of a hobby) and never stopped trying to find the perfect headphones. My absolute favorite in-ears are the ones I had custom made for my ears, had six drivers packed inside, blocked out all external noise, and sounded like pure heaven! Those cost an arm and a leg and guess what? I learned that your ears change shape as you age and now I can't wear my super expensive in-ear monitors any longer! THAT broke me of my audiophile habit (kinda). Enough about me, let's talk about the Sony LinkBuds S. I had given up on trying any more in-ears and have stuck with on/around-ears and earbuds that just go right inside the conceal bowl of your ear (that is the little bowl right outside your earhole - or more properly, your external auditory canal). My around the ear headphones are the outstanding Sony WH-1000XM3s and my day-to-days are a small white earbud made by a fruit company ;^). My problem is that I have a trip coming up that involves a very long flight and so I would really like noise canceling (sorry day-to-days), and has a severe size/weight restriction for luggage (so I can't waste the space/weight on my XM3s). In comes the LinkBuds S. Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)? Check! Small and light? Check! Uh-oh, they have ear tips that I have to shove down into my ears. Ugh. Of course they do, to make ANC work, you kinda have to physically block the outside noise first. Well, let's give them a shot. Here is a transcript of my trying out the Sony LinkBuds S (with a profanity filter because this is a family friendly review): (Opens box) Oh, nice. Hey there are FOUR different types of ear pieces in here (most have three S/M/L). So now I have a choice of XS/S/M/L. Maybe I can make this work. XS for one ear, M for the other (told you I was weird). (Makes weird chewing motions trying to dislodge earbuds, surprised that they don't pop out immediately.) Well, what to you (BLEEEEEEEEEEP) know? Now let's see how they sound. (Plays headphone test playlist. Off-key singing ensues.) The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows It's no stranger to you and me sdoihsdofihwefoihfwJADSodihj;IOIJASFIH - Phil Collins drum solo played out on keyboard I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord... Nice! (End Scene) So here is the breakdown for my review of the Sony LinkBuds S Sound: Very good. I would expect nothing less from Sony. Is it audiophile quality, no. You can't expect that from earbuds, and also ANC can mess with that as well. You can only expect so much from the small drivers in these. Active-Noise Cancelling: Also very good. I can get a decent seal for once and Sony brings their world-class ANC tech to a nice, light, earbud. Is it to the level of their over-ear cans, no, but pretty darn good. Comfort: I can get the LinkBuds to stay in my ears, they don't hurt, and I can wear them for a long time. This is something I have NEVER been able to do with any other in-ears other than my custom made ones. I'm fairly certain it is because of the minuscule weight of the LinkBuds and the fact that they fit so nicely in the bowl of my ear. I don't have the weight of heavier and bulkier earbuds that hang out of my ears pulling on eartips, so I don't have to cram them in as hard with all the associated pain and discomfort. BIG WIN! Software: I tried the LinkBuds S at my dentist visit the other day since I was going to be in the chair for an hour and a half and didn't want to pay attention to anything going on in my mouth. The Speak-to-Chat mode worked just as intended and paused the music when I could tell the dental tech asked something and I replied, 'Say again.' I was then able to hear them, could answer the question and seconds later I was back to my tunes and tuning out. I have an iPhone so I can't use some of the other bells and whistles that the LinkBuds S are supposed to support like Auto Play and 360 Audio, but that is coming in a future software update they say. I don't really care about either. Connection: Easily connected to my iPhone and have maintained a solid connection the whole time I have worn them (probably about 10 hours now), with no drop-outs or anything. Touch Controls: These are easier to use than my day-to-days or even my XM3s. The flat external surface and the solid fit make it easier to start/stop/skip tracks. Battery Life: 10 hours in and I have yet to have to recharge the case since the initial charge. I know that some people will complain about the lack of wireless charging at this price range, but I am not a huge fan of wireless charging (I still think the waste heat will impact battery life). I have chargers with USB-C cables everywhere so that's not an issue. Value: THIS is where most people will have a problem with the LinkBuds S. They are worth it to me since they meet a very specific need that I have for my trip AND they actually fit without pain. Others will have to balance their needs and wants with the $200 price point on these. Overall: I'm super happy with the LinkBuds S. Super light and comfortable deep in-ears that deliver really good sound and ANC? Yes, please!

I’ll make this really simple… There is no such thing as the perfect earbud. Actually that is true for anything you can think of, everything has a compromise. It’s like the balance inherent in nature, yin and yang, Newton’s third law, fractal geometry, the girl you took to the prom, the woman you married, the law of thermodynamics, electric cars, etc. I could go on and on, the point is that all things have a compromise attached to them. You take a balloon and push in one side, and the opposite side bulges. Here’s another thought, if you were to make a checklist of all possible characteristics of a set of earbuds and evenly distribute the value so the total score always equals 100. Now start increasing or decreasing the characteristic values, just remember the total score must stay at 100. For example you might increase the ANC value to 5, but by doing so it decreases audio quality proportionally. If you made it through all those analogies, here’s my thoughts on the Sony Linkbuds S. The battery life is average, the case size is fine (a little bigger than the airpods case), the ANC is better than average, the build quality is average, the highs and midrange is good, the bass is below average. Microphone pick-up is average, touch sensitivity is good, pairing is easy, the application is above average, presumed reliability is above average. So… That just sounds like a big bag of average. Well no… There is one feature that stands out with the Linkbuds S that will be enough to sway someone that wants one thing above all. Comfort, and comfort. The Sony’s are the lightest earbuds I’ve ever worn. They fit better than any other earbuds I’ve ever used as well. These earbuds nearly disappear from your conscience once inserted. These are the only earbuds that I could leave in from complete charge to completely drained (6 hours continuous, 20 more hours with the charged case). On the opposite end of the spectrum are my Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds. They are large, bulky, ugly earbuds which I’m continually adjusting back into my ear. They get in the way when I put on or pull off my shirt, they are just big frankenstein bolt-like earbuds. BUT, they sound magnificent and the noise canceling is unrivaled. There you go, compromise. The person I see buying the Sony Linkbuds S is someone that desires comfort, and an aesthetic look over sound quality. They sound good, average for this price point. But that’s not what these are all about. They fit gently in your ear, they weigh next to nothing, they have decent battery life and I’d challenge anyone to shake them out of your head once they’re properly seated. In that regard these are excellent sport earbuds. You won’t have to worry about them falling out. They just won’t sound as good as some other models. It’s a choice you have to make… Or just buy a pair of headphones with each having a particular strength. The Sony’s are hands-down the most comfortable earbuds I’ve ever owned, and they stay put.

The LinkBuds S are a fascinating product. Lightweight, compact, and yet packed to the gills with features and party tricks. And after spending a few days with them, I think they might have earned a spot as my new daily drivers. As far as I can tell, the design goals here were to create a set of earbuds you simply never need to take out. You’ve got active noise cancellation, passive noise blocking, and audio pass through at your disposal, which is fairly standard at this point. What makes these particular stand out is the fact that they are designed to try and make the process of switching between these options completely automatic. If it detects you talking to someone it immediately pauses your audio and switches to voice amplified passthrough. If it detects you’re currently driving it switches back to full audio cancellation. If you’re going for a run it’ll switch to full passthrough, and so on. I haven’t decided yet if this is a brilliant idea or not, as so far at least it seems to be a little hit or miss in regards to its decision making, but it’s certainly an approach that I haven’t seen before and I can see the appeal. The smarts don’t end there, however. There’s also tools to help you select the correct ear cushion size for your ear canals, a monitor to determine if you’re listening to content that could damage your hearing in the long term, and even a tool to scan the shape of your ears to optimize 3D audio performance (though it doesn’t seem to be particularly useful for earbuds. Overall it comes across as an almost excessive attention to detail which really does make this feel like a premium experience. The only issue I have is the system to remap the touch controls on the earbuds. Most apps will let you map specific actions to each gesture the system supports. With these, however, you have to pick between a short list of available presets which often aren’t making full use of the commands available. To give an example, out of the box there are no volume controls at all. The right earbud has media controls, and the left controls noise cancellation. I would like to be able to replace the two empty “quick action” slots (which seems excessive since there’s currently only one thing I can map to them, and it’s something I never use) with volume controls, but it won’t let me. Switching the left earbud to volume control will remove the mapping for noise cancellation control, which I use much more often. It’s very puzzling to me how Sony hasn’t figured out that this is a bad design when practically everyone else in the industry has fully programmable controls, and I hope that they can eventually address it with a future software update. Which brings us to one of the more important aspects: how do the actual earbuds perform? Overall, I’d say very well. The default equalizer setting offers a good mix of highs and lows, audio is crisp, and mic performance for calls is great. It’s got a bit less bass than I’m accustomed to from Sony stuff, but given that I often find their low end response to be excessive I’m fine with it. Battery life is very good, though not exceptional, with the earbuds on their own being able to last through most of the day and the case having a generous power reserve that claims to be able to stretch total endurance to 20 hours. They grip in the ear very well, and are so lightweight that they tend to stay where you put them without causing any discomfort. Touch detection can, admittedly, be a little hit or miss. There’s no clear indicator for where you should tap the casing to trigger a command, and sensitivity varies depending on where you hit. Aiming for dead center seems to elicit the best response, but it’s very easy to accidentally hit one of the edges when you’re wearing them. It’s a minor thing, ultimately, but some kind of nub or shift in texture to give some tactile response would be nice. And the active noise cancellation is better than anything I’ve previously tried from Sony, with very little discomfort from prolonged use and excellent performance. Overall, these earbuds aren’t perfect. They do have a bit of a prototype feel to them, with a lot of the features feeling like early implementations. But it also feels like you’re looking at the first crack at where earbud design is ultimately going, and I think that future firmware and software updates will probably improve a lot of the current shortcomings. As such I’d recommend them for anyone looking for earbuds that can do it all without losing the ability to be discrete.

There are so many options one the market when it comes to choosing good Bluetooth earbuds. When it comes to noise cancelling there are less options but it can still be a tough choice. These earbuds are great noise canceling earbuds but they do have a few drawbacks which might not matter to some people. First is the design. They come in a complete recycle paper box and packaging. I believe the earbuds themselves might also be made out of recycled materials. They have a very rugged feel to them which is great if you are someone who would like to use them outdoors. One issue I have with some in ear headphones is that they do not fit well. This is NOT the case with these headphones. They fit extremely well and can be a little confusing at first to get in your ear. Once you figure that out, they fit great and have a good seal which I believe helps with the overall noise canceling. They come with different size tips so that they can fit a variety of different ear sizes. They do not stick far out of your ears either. The charging case is compact and light weight which means that you can easily carry them in your pocket. One of the most important things with any headphones is sound quality. I believe that is one thing that sets these apart from other headphones is that they sound quality is great. Sony is known to have really high-quality sounding headphones. I believe the noise canceling helps because it drowns out any exterior sounds and you can listen to the crisp and clear audio quality. One downside to these is that the microphone quality when on a phone call is less than ideal. It will work if you are in a pinch but I would not recommend using them for phone calls all the time as the quality is not that great. The noise cancelling on these is pretty good. I believe one of the reasons is because of the design and they really seal off your ears. They do have the ability to tap one side and you can hear the noise from your surroundings. This feature works but it also is not as good as some other headphones. I have used some headphones that it is hard to even tell you have headphones in which is not the case with these. Overall, there are a lot of things these headphones do great. I think if you are looking for a budget friendly pair of noise cancelling earbuds these could be the ones for you. For someone who is active and wants to use them for running as an example I believe these headphones would be great since they also have water/sweat resistance.

These Sony LinkBuds S are my first pair of Sony earbuds. I've had a couple other brands of earbuds to use as a frame of reference, and I can say that these are very comparable. These earbuds are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They also have very good sound output and quality, much like the other 2 pairs I have, but for a bit more to much more money. I think what sets these earbuds apart from the others is the app and functionality. Upon pairing the earbuds to my Pixel 6, I was prompted to download and install the companion app. I did have a bit of an issue getting past the screen where you have to check the box to accept the terms and conditions. For some reason, the check box was grayed-out and I couldn't check it. I had to close out the app and go back in again. This time I was able to check the box and move through to the next step. Not sure why it got hung up there. There are some really cool features and controls within the app that set these earbuds apart. The adaptive sound control, when activated, can detect your current actions (sitting, walking, driving, etc) and adjusts on how to process ambient sounds, or switches to noise cancelling mode. There are also equalizer settings to play around with. The default "Off" didn't sound too bad. Then I put on some Cold Play and changed the equalizer settings to Excited, then Bass Boost. Wow! What an improvement. It gave the music a very rich sound. Another interesting feature is the Speak-to-Chat. When toggled on, this setting will automatically pause the music when you start speaking. When you stop speaking, the music will automatically resume playing in about 18 seconds. After playing around with this setting, I started doing some chores around the house while listening to music. I started singing along with a song and it immediately stopped playing. It surprised me and took me a second to remember that I still had Speak-to-Chat turned on. Honestly, I'm not sure how much I'll use this feature, but it's cool that it's available. Overall, these are great earbuds. They sound great and the fit is very comfortable. They hold a charge as well as the other 2 pair of earbuds I've had in the past. I'm just not quite sure they are priced appropriately and seem a bit too expensive.

For me, the standout feature of the LinkBuds S is the design. The buds are compact, lightweight, and comfortable to wear for an extended period of time. The tips go a bit further down the ear canal than some others, which provides a good acoustic seal (also I haven’t had any issues with them falling out, which is a common problem for me). Tip depth, of course, will be a matter of personal presence. Feature-wise, the LinkBuds S offer good ANC performance as well as ambient mode, which lets external sounds in. Paired with the app, you can adjust the sound mode (equalizer) as well as automatic ANC / ambient noise switching, which is based on movement and/or location. Sony also emphasizes their 360 audio feature, but this was a bit finicky to set up, and it’s limited to some specific services. Sound quality is good, although discerning listeners will recognize that Sony had to make some compromises to fit the small design. As with other Sony headphones, there is excellent clarity especially in the mids/mid-highs. The compromise is in the lows, where the bass doesn’t sound as rich or deep as it should be. For some intentionally bass heavy tracks, I had to max the bass boost (+7) to get them to sound as they would on another set of headphones. Still, the LinkBuds S succeed as an all day, everyday pair of ANC headphones in an increasingly crowded market.

I'll get straight to it... I love these earbuds! This is my 4th pair of "expensive" earbuds. I've tried several other top brands, and they just don't satisfy. I was about to give up on getting a solid experience from buds when these came along. I decided to try one last time, and boy am I glad I did. The sound quality is incredible for buds. I am able to get crisp clear audio across the spectrum. I love that I can actually hear a running bassline for a change. They sound great right out of the box, but if you install the software to go with them, you will unlock a whole range of customization options. There are several built in EQ presets. This is the first time I've seen presets that actually make sense for what they are names and truly change the experience. You can, of course, set up your own custom EQ. In fact, you can save two different custom setups so that you can easily switch for music vs movies. I love it. The software is pretty advanced in my opinion. You can take pictures of your ears, send them to Sony, and they will adjust the sound automatically to match the shape of your ear canals. You can also run seal tests. The software will tell you if you have the right tips on the buds to get a good seal in your ear. Beyond that, you have an adaptive mode you can turn on if you want the software to learn how you use them in certain locations. It will then automatically switch to what it has learned when you do to a known location or do a known activity. I'm still fiddling with it. Perhaps it's a bit gimmicky, but still kind of fun to play with. You have all of the assistant options you'd expect now days for voice assist as well. The fit feel really good. They have a pretty slim profile, so they don't stick out of your ears much. I haven't had any trouble with them slipping out during activity like mowing or walking around. I haven't tried them in the gym yet, but I don't expect that to be an issue. They are quite comfortable. They have the best noise cancelling capabilities I've found in buds. It actually works very well. You can turn it off entirely, cancel out noise, or let ambient noise through so you can hear people talk. There is also a software feature that will automatically pause what's playing if it hears you speak. That allows you to talk to someone without having to fiddle with things. It starts to play again after 15 seconds of quiet. Kind of a cool feature. The case is pretty similar to others I've owned. it's well designed. On the smaller side, which I like, and the lid stays shut. Like all bud cases, it is also a battery that will charge then buds while in the case. I haven't had any issues with battery life. The software will tell you they charge level of each bud as the case when you fire it up. These support 360 audio. I don't really have access to much 360 audio, but when I find some, it really does sound spectacular. I'm looking forward to find more in the future. The software will recommend some streaming services that have 360 catalogues, but the fancy music isn't free. Overall, these are simply the best earbuds I've ever tried. I love them. Assuming they are durable and hold up over time, I think these are about the best you are going to find short of over the ear headphones.

The LinkBuds S are feature rich, high-end, ear-buds with excellent sound! Design I love the look, the size, and the fit of these earbuds. While I don't think the design jumps out in anyway they fit nice and snug in my ears. I found them to be very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. Each has one capacitive button, so while there is no tactical feedback, it's a large easy to touch surface and I found that it works well for controlling. Sound quality The sound quality is excellent. I thought it was good at first then I changed it in the app to prioritize sound quality and it got much better. They sound incredible, probably some of the best I've heard. It also has a quick sample of Sony 360 Reality Audio that it plays and that sounds amazing with excellent positional audio The sound has a lot of depth to it. All sound is full an rich with deep bass and crisp highs. When talking with people the sound is clear, very easy to hear. Noise Cancellation I love this! It works very well and was helpful for me today. I was working in a noisy room where others were gathered and talking. I was on a phone call having a technical conversation. I turned on the noise cancellation and it made it effortless to hear the person who I was talking with on the other end and, while I could still tell people were talking in the room, it was so much quieter that it was not a problem at all. I'm very impressed and how the noise cancellation works and love the way that it's easy to turn on and off. One tap of the left ear bud turns it on or off. It even has a feature to hear people talking while canceling other background noise and it can also be set to stop canceling out the sound of people talking automatically when you start talking so you can have a conversation without changing settings. While the noise cancelling is what I would call excellent it's not as good as what I've heard on noise cancelling, over the ear, headphones. I don't know that you could get better than this with earbuds. I was really impressed. Features I've already talked about a number of different features but really, you just need to install the Sony Headphones app and check it out. Besides some of the features I mentioned above, you can customize the controls. By default, the left is for turning the noise cancellation on and off and the right is for play/pause/next track/previous track. You can set custom apps to load on the left earbud too. You can configure volume controls instead of the other options I mentioned - it is a little weird that they group settings so while you can customize in groups you can't have volume control, playback control, and noise cancellation at the same time because they are in three different groups. So far that hasn't been an issue for me. I actually like the default settings. I also like the way they auto-pause media playback when you take out the earbuds and play when you put them back in. Very cool! You can also turn that off in the app if you want. I didn't even mention how the app can take pictures of you ears to customize 360 Reality Audio for your ears (yes, no joke, but that 360 RA audio seems to only be available from pay services). You can also use the app to check if you have a good fit. It plays some test music and will suggest adjusting how you have them inserted in your ears or changing to a different size earbud tip. Battery life The battery life seems very good. I haven't had issues with it yet and find that the buds charge pretty quickly when you put them back in the case. I haven't noticed that they drain much faster when you're using noise cancellation but I'd imagine they join a little fast. I've been using the noise cancelling a lot and have been very happy with the battery life. I also really love the way that when paired it shows the battery of the case and both ear buds. It actually shows small photos of each item too along with the battery level in a notification. It's the best power display I've seen. Ease of Use I have found the controls to be easy to use. One thing that I thought was odd was I couldn't find directions for Bluetooth pairing until I looked in the on-line only manual. This was no problem at first since when you get it and take them out of the case for the first time they are automatically in pairing mode. The really cool thing to me was I actually got a notification on my phone from them without me doing anything asking me if I wanted to pair them. I did and that was it! I installed the app then to setup everything but it was the easiest pairing I've done. I'll save you from checking the manual to pair with additional devices. To pair with additional devices you just need to put them back in the case, close the case, and hold down the button on the back of the case for at least 5 seconds. Once the light on the front of the case starts flashing blue you can pull the earbuds out and pair them with an additional device. Packaging This may sound crazy but I have to mention the packaging. The packaging is both minimal and brilliant. They come in a very small box. You open that and can take out the case & ear buds, then you lift out the inner part of the box and you have a box that has three sliding drawers on the one side. One drawer has required paperwork, one has different sizes of earbud tips, and the third has a short but sufficient USB-C cable to plug the case in and charge it. Again, just a very well designed package without a lot of waste that I thought was worth mentioning. Summary I would love to see a little more control customization so you could mix items from different groups in the controls, like I'd love volume up/down along with noise cancellation on/off. Also, unless I missed it I feel like they should also include info in the box for pairing additional devices. It's easy enough to get the manual from a QR code in the box, but still, I think that could be improved. Those are minor issues for me though and these are incredible earbuds with sound quality that I love and features that are practical.

The Sony LinkBuds S are comfortable. Really, really comfortable. You can actually forget you're wearing them. If you, or someone you know, hates earbuds because they hurt their ears, you've got to try these on. Sony is about to win over a whole generation of earbud haters. Unfortunately, instead of simple directions, you are forced to download an app to even understand how the LinkBuds work. They are slightly intuitive, but no written directions at all is disappointing. Like every other app, you are required to "agree or allow" multiple times just to get started. On android, tapping the three dots on the top right of the screen will bring up a menu where you can find the elusive tutorial. Of the many automatic prompts thrown at you with this app, why is the tutorial not one of them? Once you get set up, and you're listening to music, the sound is crystal clear. If you like really heavy bass, you won't find that here, but you will find music that sounds like it was intended. The ANC is quite good, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for air travel. Phone calls were also nice and clear. Like most earbuds in this category, they come with a charging case. Alas, it's not wireless, but instead uses a USB-C connection. With many devices using USB -C these days, it's nice to have the same wires for my phone, laptop and earbuds. Overall, the LinkBuds S are solid performers with many of the features you would expect at this price point, but what really makes them stand out in this crowded market is how insanely comfortable they are.

Sony did an AMAZING job with these earbuds. I’ve had plenty of wireless earbuds over the years, but these are definitely top 2 for me. Straight out of the box I had no difficulties pairing these to my iPhone, and there is of course an app that you can download from the App Store in order to modify the sound, and settings something audiophiles will appreciate. From EQ, to ambient settings and 360. Once setup I noticed how genuinely comfortable they are inside of my ear. The design is sleek, and really just makes sense. It fits so well with the inside of your ear, instead of having stems stick out like the one I used on a daily basis prior to getting these. Hats off to the design team for sure. You hardly feel them. These are really and genuinely noise canceling. I mean with no second thought, better than the leading brand of noise canceling earbuds on the market. The sound quality is great. No connection issues, no lagging, just quality sound. They take a VERY, and I do mean very long time to charge which was a negative for me personally at about 12-14 hours. That is something I wasn’t used to, and the reason for the star taken off.

First off I will say that I love the look and feel of the Sony LinkBuds S True Wireless ANC Earbuds. The case has a very nice textured feel, it is easy to get the earbuds in and out of without dropping them. It is very nice when you are in the gym and your hands are a little sweaty! The earbuds fit in my ears perfectly, and they stay in place much better than other competitors. The battery life is very good, they have lasted me all week for my gym trips and walks. On to the sound quality, wow! These sound so much better than anything this small. For such a small package the sound stage is amazing. Full and rich bass that doesn't bottom out when you crank it up, clear mid range audio, and perfect highs that don't distort at high volumes. The only down side on these would be the Active Noise Cancellation for me. It works, but it is really not that great. They could have improved the ANC on these and knocked everything totally out of the park but missed that one mark. If you don't need a lot of noise to be cancelled out though these are a great choice!

After trying over a dozen sets of this style (totally in ear) earbuds from $100 to $300, including the Sony WF-1000XM5 and Technics EAH-AZ80 (both of which sound INCREDIBLE) but since my first requirement is a good and comfortable fit, I choose these as my favorite, daily-drivers. They are so small and comfortable I don't have to constantly adjust them or have a fear of them falling out. My second requirement is very good or great sound. My third requirement is good ANC and finally very good, clear phone calls. These buds meet all my requirements and since I bought them on sale for $150 I consider them to be a bargain. LDAC codec for lossless bitrate streaming music. One of the coolest features (that my wife loves) is the ability to vary the amount of ambient sound that you hear, and most importantly, has a setting that specifically allows voices to be heard without having to turn down the volume, remove the buds, or stop the music. After deciding these were the best for me, I bought a spare pair just in case misplace them or leave them at the office.

My original Galaxy Buds are on their last legs- and I have had a really challenging time finding earbuds that fit smaller ears, and don't hurt after 10 minutes of use. So far, so good with these! Sound quality is nice- there is some light static/ambient noise in the background when using the noise cancelling feature (to drown out other sound) My only call out for these is that the material is scratchy to the touch on the outside, as well as the case. It is not a smooth texture - which I found odd. That being said, this does not effect the portion that your ear touches. For those with smaller ears- I recommend the SS or S size ear pieces that come with the model. (The M size is on them when initially purchased - but they come with 3 other sizes.)

Sony’s latest offering in the truly wireless earbud market brings us the Linkbuds S. Unlike the previous Linkbuds, these do not have a hole in the middle to allow you to hear ambient sounds, but that doesn’t mean that Sony has abandoned the idea of being able to be aware of your surroundings. More on that in a bit. The Linkbuds S fall right in the middle of Sony’s earbud lineup at $199. They feature active noise cancellation (ANC), but Sony says it’s not quite as good as that found on their M4s. I do not have the M4s, but I found the ANC on the Linkbuds S to be quite good. I’m not sure it’s quite as good as that on my Jabra Elite 85Ts, but it does a very good job, and these are considerably cheaper than the 85Ts. Sound quality for the Linkbuds S is excellent. I used mine with an iPhone, so it utilizes the AAC codec, while also supporting Sony’s new LDAC audio format, which I think is only available on Android. Nonetheless, I was very pleased with the sound quality of these buds. I also have Sony’s WP-SP800N, and the Linkbuds S improve on these in a number of ways. Sound quality on the Linkbuds S is on par with the 800’s, but the Linkbuds S come in a much smaller, sleeker package, and that makes for a much more comfortable pair of earbuds, which can be the difference between a pair that you use only occasionally and ones that you grab all the time. Speaking of comfort, the Linkbuds S are extremely lightweight, coming in at only 1.23 ounces, allowing you to almost forget you’re wearing them. They have a much better shape that conforms to the ear. Sony wants you to put these in and leave them in all day, and while I’ll probably never do that, I do think these are some of the most comfortable earbuds available. I do have some criticism in this area, however. The stock ear tips are good, on par with those found on most earbuds. However, using these for sports activities wasn’t the most pleasant experience with the silicone tips. On the one hand, you want a good seal for the best possible sound, especially the bass, but that same seal becomes a liability when you start to run and sweat. Unpleasant acoustic vibrations plagued me when I tried to run, but thankfully I was able to overcome this by switching to comply foam ear tips. I know that Sony can’t afford to include every possible tip size and shape, but a more expansive selection of tips would really make this a better value. At $199, these compete against most of the mid to upper range earbuds, so they shouldn’t skimp on things like the ear tips. Once I put on the comply foam tips, the fit, seal and sound were all improved. Plus, they stayed absolutely put during activity. For both of my pairs of Sony earbuds I’ve had to replace the tips to make them work for me. JLab includes a wealth of tips with their models, at a fraction of the price. Don’t get me wrong, JLab isn’t in the same league with Sony, but if they can find a way to do this at a much lower price point, then I think Sony could do it. The Linkbuds S check the boxes on sound quality and comfort, which are my top 2 criteria for evaluating earbuds. But there are other good-sounding comfortable earbuds available, so what sets these apart? Sony is pushing these as “always on”, meaning you can leave them in all day and only take them out to charge. How would that work, practically? Sony has added the ability for the buds to have “location awareness” and change based on what you’re doing or where you are. You can set them to play certain kinds of music automatically when you arrive at a particular location, such as home or work. You can also set the buds to change the level of ambient sound allowed based on what you’re doing. For me, I set it to full ANC when I’m sitting still, allow 75% ambient sound when walking, and 100% ambient sound when running. There is also a “speak to chat” feature which automatically pauses the music and switches to full ambient sound when you begin to speak. This allows you to speak to someone passing you on the street without having to take the earbuds out of your ears. This is a genius feature for when you’re out for a walk but people want to chat. I find it annoying to be constantly taking the earbuds out and putting them back in, so this feature alone makes them my go-to buds for the neighborhood walk. I was impressed with the ability of the buds to switch the level of ambient sound based on whether I was sitting, walking or running. If I did want to just leave them in all day, this feature would certainly make that possible. By the way, I think that Sony has done the best job of any earbud I’ve used of creating a realistic ambient sound mode that doesn’t sound like over-amplified random sounds. The Linkbuds S feature touch controls, and Sony did a very good job of implementing these. They’re sensitive without being too sensitive. There is also the fairly standard feature of playback stopping automatically when one or both earbuds is removed. It’s easy to customize the behavior of the buttons, and they’re easy to find and tap. Perhaps it’s because of the shape of the buds, but I think Sony’s implementation of touch controls is excellent, much better even than their own implementation on the SP800’s. Call quality is excellent. Call audio is plenty loud and clear. We’re not quite to the point where earbuds sound just as good as phone microphones, but we’re getting there. One of my main uses for wireless earbuds is for listening while walking in my neighborhood. Oddly enough, that’s where I can test for connection issues. I wouldn’t think that the distance from my pocket to my ear would be a problem for a Bluetooth connection, but the Linkbuds S repeatedly lost the connection in one or both earbuds for a split-second. At the $200 level, this is simply unacceptable and really diminishes what is otherwise an excellent offering. I really hope that Sony can address this in a subsequent firmware update. It’s just annoying to lose the audio, even if it comes right back. If these were bargain-basement buds I might not be surprised, but at $199 I expect to have no connection problems whatsoever. If you’re intrigued by the new lifestyle options that Sony is introducing here, then you might want to move the Linkbuds S up on your list. Great sound, comfortable fit, responsive controls in a smaller package make these a good competitor for top sellers like the Air Pods Pro, at a lower price. For me, these are great, but I expect better connectivity and more ear tip options out of the box at this price point. In my opinion, that makes them a 3.5 star offering, but if Sony corrects the connection issues, they’re easily 4 stars.

I am thoroughly impressed with these headphones and they live up to the Sony name. The packaging is minimalistic and eco friendly which seems to be a growing trend. The headphones need the Sony headphone app to work well but they connect flawlessly and easily to my iPhone. When paired with the app you can adjust noise cancellation, bass, etc. It is a very easy app to use and manipulates the headphones perfectly. When listening to music or podcasts I am incredibly impressed with the sound quality. I am also thoroughly impressed with the 360 audio which reminds me of the spatial audio with apple AirPods. The 360 audio sounds fantastic and is a preferred way for me to use the headphones. I have to say these headphones are also extremely comfortable to wear for a long time and they come with extra silicone tips to fit your ear perfectly. They did not fall out of my ear when running or cycling. In the past I have used beats, AirPods and the Microsoft surface headphones. I firmly believe these headphones are better then all of them. It’s actually quite noticeable, as to how much better they are. Highly recommend.

Linkbuds S didn't last a year before I started having issues with battery life. In the beginning, they were okay. Sound was clear with good separation, lacking a bit on the low end no matter how it was E.Q.d, but pleasant enough. Transparency was excellent. App was busy with a bunch of unnecessary artistic choices as well as trying to push additional fluff. I started having issues with moderately uneven battery drain at about 8 months and over the next 3 months, noticed run time getting shorter and shorter. Right before I trashed them, I would get maybe 2 hours of run time. I expect at least 2 years before I start having battery issues. Sony won't be getting my business again, considering there are options like the Galaxy Buds FE that deliver great sound and features for half the cost. Do better, Sony.