Customer Ratings & Reviews

Not the best sound or fit. I returned them. I expected more out of the brand.

I have tried these 4 noise canceling earphones and these are my thoughts: 1: Sony wh-1000xm4: Pro: These have the best sound quality. Warmer sound and punchy bass that no other earbud comes close too. Sound cancellation is 2nd best next to Bose QC. App is easy to use and offers some customization. Sound awareness is the best, 2nd place is Bose. Con: They’re very bulky and may hurt some people’s ear. Not the most comfortable. 2: Bose QC earbuds II Pro: Best noise cancellation, and great sound with good bass. Has the most comfortable fit of the other earbuds, and easiest to use features when wearing the buds. App allows for some customization. Cons: You can only single use the right earbud. Very annoying, that you cant switch between each earbud. It is expected to be fixed with new firmware update but not sure when. 3: Sennheiser momentum 3: Pro: Very balanced and crisp sound. These are by far the best if you like to hear music in its most natural raw state. Best build quality on buds and case. App also allows the best customization. Con: Not the best sound cancellation. Small build can go deep into the ear and be a little uncomfortable. 4: Sony Linkbud S Pro: Similar to Sony XM4’s just way smaller. Offer almost the same features as them. Great sound quality for price and size of them. Con: Worst in sound cancellation and sound quality, but also have the lowest price point.

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

The sound and fit were not good for me. The slipped from my ear several times.

Horrible , the sound quality on phone calls is the worst.

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

The sound quality is pretty good on these things. There’s a little less separation in the mids and highs than let’s say the xm4, but the bass is actually more punchy and cleaner on the linkbuds s. They feel premium and well made. Overall they are a solid pair of earbuds. My only complaint is that for 200 dollars there’s no reason why they couldn’t have included wireless charging. The ambient mode could use a tad bit of improvement too, but I suspect they can improve that with a firmware update. Definitely better sound quality than the airpod pros.

Comfort and sound are amazing and far surpass my airpod pro gen 1 one problem I have is the fact you have to use right earbud to use the left so you cant just uses the left by itself

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.

Honestly I Love my new Sony Linkbuds S. I went from having AirPod pros, to switching over to these based off of a lot of positive reviews I have seen about them. And I sure am glad I did these r just alot better in my opinion. The noise cancelling and 360 reality audio is something I’m really into now and tbh I wish I would have tried these out alot sooner! Battery isint terrible per se, I’ll listen to it while at work but I usually have to charge it on all my breaks. It makes it thru my 10hr shifts though as long as I remember to plug it up on my breaks that is. Would 1000% recommend these to everyone!

Easily one of the best electronic purchases I’ve ever made. I’ve owned for a full year, and they work like I just took them out of the box. The buds battery life seems like they never die, the case is a little quicker to need a recharge, but not inconvenient. I’m in airports a lot and they make my life so much better. They are perfect for long workouts and never budge when I run. Big fan.

Got these on sale for $139. I would honestly have to say that I wish I just got the AirPods Pro instead. Coming from 1st gen AirPods, these Sony earbuds are decent but I have a few complaints about them. The call audio and quality is just not good compared to the AirPods, they have a static distortion which is a bit annoying. The connectivity and volume control functions seem a little quirky at times. I will use these primarily only at the gym. Comfort wise they are okay, but the problem is apparently my ear size is between the small and medium size tips that they provide, so I constantly have to fidget with them.

They were decent until i updated the firmware. Now there's a very obnoxious growl coming from the left earbud while either in side tone on a call or in full ambient mode. Unacceptable from Sony! Immediately returned. The sound is good but coming from liberty 3 pro they don't stand a chance due to only having a single dynamic driver vs lp3 having dual armature and dynamic driver. The bass reaches deep but i can tell it struggles to shine at lower frequencies. I had some trouble getting people to hear me clearly at first but changing tips did help them seat better in my ear which placed the mic better allowing more clarity. Speak to chat is great! Charges fast. Once they fix the growl they will be good and i might give them another try. Also Sony please drop the side tone during calls. If we want to hear ourselves we can manually turn on ambient mode.

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!

Sound quality is fantastic, as is the ANC and ambient sound. The whole “routine based ambient sound control” is an absolute gimmick. I also found the ear scanning and earbud size recommendation to be useless fluff as well. Missing “find my” for apple devices. Has the feature for android but the app doesn’t work on iOS. A bit frustrating but it is what it is. They’re introducing multipoint in a future update, which in my opinion is a negative, since all it will switch devices even when you dint want it to (for example, when on a video call and your phone rings)

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.

Sound quality is great! I purchased these for mainly running and I have not had any issues with them feeling loose or falling out. Very customizable though the Sony Headphones App.

Awesome features and great sound! Wife at first did not like the color but now loves it after actually seeing them in my ear. The only downside is that these don't really fit in my ear that well. I've tried all the different sizes and even though they feel ok they kind of slide out a little bit. Would not get these for exercise as they don't stay in very well with jarring movements such as CrossFit or running. These are fine though if you're just lifting weights.