Get Them Here: Linkbuds Fit: https://amzn.to/3A10MYy
So these are the Sony LinkBuds Fit, and I think that these are giving us a big preview of whats to come for the future of Sony’s earbuds. The Linkbuds Fit are perhaps the most comfortable earbuds Sony has made to date, and they have a whole lot of new features which I really hope we will see in upcoming Sony earbuds. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a pair of workout earbuds or a pair of casual earbuds, lets see what the Sony Linkbuds Fit are all about.
Regarding pricing, the linkbuds fit have a retail price of $200, a little up there if you ask me, but I do expect these earbuds to go on sale on a regular basis. Nonetheless, if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first theres the case, now sony is constantly coming out with different case designs for all of their different earbuds, and for the linkbuds S we have a Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 or Galaxy Buds 2 Pro inspired case. So this case has a clam shell design to it, the lid opens and closes very easily and its very easy to take your earbuds out and its super easy to just drop them in and put them away. And size wise, this case has a very similar foot print to it as the Galaxy Buds 2 case… but it is a little thicker. So this case is decent for every day carry, but it can be more noticeable when its in your pocket than lets say the AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM5’s, Linkbuds S, or Galaxy Buds 2 or Galaxy Buds 3 cases, but it is going to be smaller than lets say Sennheiser’s cases or especially Bose’s cases. And when it comes to chargning this case, it charges via a USB C port, as it should… but sadly this case doesn’t have wireless charnging, it looks like sony is still saving that feature for the WF-1000XM5’s and I feel that that is a mistake cause wireless charnging is pretty standard for earbuds in this price range.
And when it comes to battery life, battery life on these earbuds is decent, but they dont have the best battery life to case size ratio. Now the Linkbuds Fit have an advertised combined battery life of 21 hours with their ANC turned on. The earbuds themselves can go for 5 and a half hours and the case can supply 3 additional charges. And with their ANC turned off, they have an advertised combined battery life of 32 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 8 hours and the case can supply those 4 additional charges.
So the Linkbuds Fit have really good stamina if you use them their ANC turned off which could be important if you work retail, in a wear house, or as a driver. And with their ANC turned on, they’re decent as well. However there are plenty of other earbuds out there that have a combined battery life of 30 hours or more with their ANC turned on while having a smaller case and with wireless chargning. So I feel that the Linkbuds Fit have decent battery, but their case is a little meh, but at least this isn’t anywhere near as bad as Bose’s cases.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves and im actually very excited cause these are perhaps the most comfortable earbuds that sony has made so far. Now these are in ear earbuds, however, are very shallow fitting and they are very wide. These earbuds dont go in as deep into your ear canals as like lets say the Linkbuds S or WF-1000XM5’s. And I especially like that the linkbuds fit are using silicon ear tips, cause im not the biggest fan of the foam ear tips that you’ll find on the WF-1000XM5’s cause I feel that they get itchy after awhile. These aren’t as itchy as previous earbuds, but they can still get itchy. But also, the sculpt of the earbuds themselves has been improved, so the linkbuds fit do a great job of resting in the bowl of your ear and being very low profile, plus we have these super soft and super flexible ear fins which are going to help with lock down. The only thing to keep in mind here is, these ear fins dont come in different sizes, however you can replace them with different color ear fins… and you can also get matching or different color silicon shells for your case so you can customize your earbuds and make them your own. Now I think its great and all that you can customize the color of your earbuds, but I know that some people are going to wish that these earbuds came with different sized ear fins. Now for me, the stock ear fins work well… but I know some people might want larger ear fins… but if you add the option for a larger ear fin, then you’re going to need a larger case to accommodate the larger ear fins. So I think Sony went with a universal sized ear fin to keep their case size down. Nonetheless for me, these earbuds fit very well and they are super easy to forget that you’re wearing them cause their ear tips are very shallow. Kind of like Bose’s ear buds. And thanks to their ear fins, the Linkbuds fit ofer great lock down for when you’re working out. So I feel that the linkbuds fit are great for either at the gym or just casual use.
Now when it comes to connectivity, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone, so if you just want to use one earbud at a time, you can use either one, it doesn’t matter. Latency is not an issue for these earbuds, so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone, and when it comes to audio codecs, these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC… but they also have support for LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio code. However if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC, and if you do decide to use LDAC then that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds, the Linkbuds Fit sound very good with great instrument separation and they have great detail in the mids and highs. The bass on these earbuds also has a really good resonance to them… however, the bass on these earbuds doesn’t hit as hard as lets say either the AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2… and the bass on the Sony WF-1000XM5 is a little more dynamic. But regardless, these are a pair of very well rounded earbuds which are going to be able to please a lot of people. If you like a bass heavy sound signature you can always go into their app and either select their bass heavy EQ or you can make their own. And the bass on these earbuds should be able to satiate most people thanks to their resonance. Or if you like a brighter or vocals focused EQ, you can also do that. And if you were to go into their app and increase the mids and highs, the vocals and instrumentals on these earbuds are really going to come out. Overall, just like with Sony’s other earbuds and headphones, the linkbuds fit are very well balanced and they should be able to please most people. If you like a lot of bass, they can do that or if you like vocals, they can also do that.
But then there are the media controls on these earbuds, now these are using a haptic touch sensor, similar to the original AirPods. So when you tap on these earbuds, they’re registering the force of your tap. And I love this cause it really reduces the amount of false inputs when you’re just adjusting these ears buds. But what I also really like about these earbuds is that they have the wide tap area feature. So you dont actually have to tap on the earbuds themselves, you can actually just tap the side of your face. And I like this cause it feels very natural, especially when you’re working out. However, I will admit that there can be some false inputs from time to time, but its accurate nonetheless. But another feature that these earbuds have are their own voice commands. So you can be like Hey Headphones, play my music or pause my music, and they’ll do that. And you can also talk to your phone’s voice assistant, either if you’re on iPhone or android by saying “ Assistant, do such and such thing” and it will work. However, saying Assistant, doesn’t roll off your tongue like either Siri, or Google… but at least you have the option. But regardless, I like that these earbuds have the wide tap area feature, and I hope that we see it on other sony earbuds in the future.
But then theres the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now the ANC on the Sony WF-1000XM5’s and Linkbuds S is really good… but the ANC on the Linkbuds Fit isn’t as impressive as id want them to be.
Now when it comes to my 2024 ANC earbuds ranking list, in first place we have the Sennhesier momentum 4 which block out a ton of noise, but they also go in super deep into your ear canals. right below them are the AirPods Pro 2 which are a lot more comfortable. Below them are the Sony WF-1000XM5’s which aren’t as comfy cause of their foam ear tips, right below them are the Bose QC earbuds, below them are the AirPods 4 and below them are the Bose QC Ultra earbuds.
Then right below them are the Sony Linkbuds S, below them are the Pixel Buds 2 pro, below them are the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, followed by the Galaxy Buds 2 pro, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3, below them are the Sony Linkbuds Fit, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3 and below them are the Beats Studio Buds Plus.
So obviously, these aren’t all of the ANC earbuds on the market cause there are a lot, but I think that these are some of the most important ones for late 2024. But more importantly, the ANC on the LinkBuds Fit isn’t as effective as id want it to be, it blocks out low frequency sounds without any issues, but it does let in a lot of higher frequency sounds like people’s voices and the typing of your keyboard. Overall, if ANC is super important to you, id get something else.
But then theres the ambient mode on these earbuds, and this is perhaps the most natural sounding ambient mode sony has made so far as well. Now this ambient mode doesn’t sound as natural as AirPods, but its super close. It almost sounds like you’re not even wearing earbuds. But more importantly, the microphone array on these earbuds does a great job of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors, and peoples voice still sound very clear while walking out doors.
But another feature that these earbuds have is speak to chat, so basically when you start talking, these earbuds will automatically lower the volume of your music and let in all of the ambient sound around you in so that you can talk to someone without even having to remove the earbuds themselves. Now this feature works well, but I can be easy to accidentally activate it. So peronsally I dont use speak to chat on these earbuds cause I feel that taking your earbuds out when someone is talking to you works best cause by removing your earbud, it shows the other person that you can hear them and you’re liesnting to them. At least, thats my thinking.
Mic Linkbuds S Quiet
But finally heres the microphone test, and sony has been improving the mic on their headphones, but the mic on the earbuds have been struggling for a little bit.
Mic XM5 Quiet
Now while in a quiet room, I feel that the mic on the Linkbuds S, WF-1000XM5’s and Linkbuds Fit sound about the same.
Mic Fit Quiet
They Sound good enough, but I would like them to focus a little more on my voice.
Mic AirPods Quiet
Cause for comparison sake, here are the AirPods 4 which are the gold standard when it comes to mics for phone calls. This mic does a much better job of focusing on my voice.
Mic AirPods Road
But both the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 do a much better job of dealing with noise pollution while still keeping my voice front and center.
Mic Linkbuds Fit Road
But the Linkbuds Fit also do a good job of dealing with road noise, cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the linkbuds fit, it is severely reduced. However when compared to AirPods, my voice isn’t as clear.
Mic XM5 Road
But when compared to the Sony WF-1000XM5’s, the Sony WF-1000XM5’s have a lot of distiron to them, and I feel that this is unusable.
Mic Linkbuds S Road
And with the Linkbuds S, they are blocking out this road noise, but my voice is super hard to hear.
Mic Linkbuds S Chatter
But the linkbuds S do a decent job of blocking out chatter with minimal interference.
Mic XM5 Chatter
And the WF-1000XM5’s are doing an okay job of dealing with this chatter, but there is a lot of interference going on with my voice.
Mic Linkbuds Fit chatter
Where as with the Linkbuds Fit, these are going better than the Sony WF-1000XM5’s cause they have less internfrnce going on with my voice.
Mic AirPods Chatter
But then here are the AirPods 4, and these are doing the best job here of blocking out all of this chatter while keeping my voice front and center, cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the AirPods 4 it is severely reduced. So the Linkbuds Fit show that Sony is improving their microphone for phone calls, but they are still trailing behind AirPods.
But with all of that being said, the Sony Linkbuds Fit are a pair of very well rounded earbuds that do a lot of things very well. Now first off theres the fit, these are perhaps the most comfortable earbuds that Sony has made so far, they passively block out a lot of noise, but they are also very easy to forget that you’re wearing them, and thanks to their ear fins, they offer great lock down making them a good option for the gym. They also have good battery life with a decently small case, but I do wish that their case had wireless chargning. Sound quality wise, they should be able to please most people, whether you like a bass heavy sound signature or if you like a more open sound. They also have a great performing ambient mode which is great for commuters and they have a decent performing mirphone that allows you to get away with a lot of noise pollution. The main area where these struggle is active noise cancellation. But the overall user experience that these earbuds offer is great.