Get Them Here: Sony Linkbuds Open: https://amzn.to/3BKfdkg
So these are the new Sony Linkbuds Open. Now these are a pair of niche earbuds, they’re open earbuds so you’re always going to be able to hear your surroundings like the Bose Open Ultra or the Soundcore Aerofit 2 that we recently checked out… but Sony’s approach is very different, they look and fit like earbuds, but they have an open driver. The new Linkbuds Open also have big upgrades like better battery life, a better case and a better fit. So lets see what the Sony Linkbuds Open are all about, and lets see if these earbuds are right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Linkbuds Open retail for $200, just like the Linkbuds Fit… but these two earbuds are super different from one another. Now personally I would wait for these earbuds to go on sale… but if you’re looking for a pair of Open earbuds, then these are a good option to consider and I personally prefer these over the Bose Open ultra. 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 lets talk about the fit of these earbuds. Now like I said earlier and as the name implies, these are a pair of open earbuds… so you’re always going to be able to hear your surroundings. And this could be very beneficial for lets say someone that like to run out doors, or a cycler or maybe you’re on a hike… or perhaps you’re in a situation where your ears always have to be open like lets say you work in retail, in an office, in a wearhouse or maybe you’re a driver. And the benefit of having open earbuds is that you’re going to save on battery life cause you’re not going to have to use your earbud’s ambient mode. Now when it comes to fit, these earbuds fit like a normal pair of earbuds, like lets say the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3, as in they rest in the bowl of your ear, which is fine, however do have to point out that these earbuds are a little larger than the original open earbuds. The driver itself is the same… but the back part is a little larger… ultimately these earbuds still fit the same. Now the new linkbuds open also have ear fins, which are going to help with improved lockdown. However, unlike with the original Linkbuds, you cant change the size of these ear fins, you can swap them out for different colors so that you can customize your earbuds and your case, but you can’t change the size of the ear fins. Nonetheless these earbuds are very comfortable and they offer a lot of lock down. And as for open earbuds, sony approach is very different and this is perhaps the most convinente and subtle approach. Cause like I mentioned earlier, if you want open earbuds than you can go with Bose’s option… but I honestly think that these look like ear rings, and plus when you walk around with them on, you can feel them hanging from your ears. And then there are the Soudncore Areofit 2, which I personally really like and they’re super comfortable… but these earbuds look like hearing aids and they do come with a large case. Where as with the Linkbuds open, you can get the Open earbuds experience but they look like normal earbuds.
And the case on these earbuds is fairly small as well. Now this case is similar to the Linkbuds Fit case… expect this case is a little thinner. So this case is going to be a little less noticeable when its in your pocket. And personally I really like the improvements found on this case over the original’s case. The originals case was very small and rounded… which is good, but this case was a little slippery and plus there was a button to open the lid and you had to click you earbuds into place. Where as with this new case, its much easier to get a grip of, the lid opens and closes much easier and the earbuds just drop into place like a normal pair of earbuds. And when it coms to changing, this case charges via a USB C port as it should, but unfortunately this case still doesn’t have wireless charging, which I personally do feel is a shame cause wireless charnging is very standard for earbuds in this price range.
But then theres the battery life on these earbuds, now even though the battery life on these earbuds is decent, their battery life to case size ratio isn’t the best. These earbuds have a combined advertised battery life of 22 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 8 hours… which is good cause they can keep up with you if you wear them all day while at work… but this case can only supply almost 2 additional charges. Personally I would have liked to have seen at least a combined battery life of 30 hours here.
But the good thing here is, these earbuds do have improved battery life from their predecessors… but when compared to the battery life on other open earbuds, these are trailing behind the Bose Open ultra… and the Soundcore Aerofit 2 are in a completely different league, however this case has a much larger foot print. And if we were to compare the case size to battery life ratio on the Sony Linkbuds Open to the AirPods 4, it shows that theres a lot of room for improvement.
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 which is fine, but unlike the Linkbuds Fit, these earbuds dont have LDAC which is Sony’s own in house high res audio codec, but I think that’s fine cause given these earbuds form factor, you’re not going to be able to fully take advantage of LDAC.
Now when it comes to actually lisnteing to music with these earbuds, since these are open ear buds, you’re not going to have the best detail in the mids and instrumentals just cause noise pollution is always going to be able to get in. But regardless, these earbuds get more than loud enough so you’re always going to be able to hear your music over any ambient noise… or you can lower the volume and have a mix of your content and of your surroundings. But just like with most other open earbuds, these earbuds put an emphasis on the bass and vocals are well pronounced. But personally I do recommend that you go into these earbud’s app and raise the mids and highs on these earbuds so that people’s voices are easier to hear. Overall just like with most other open earbuds, these are going to be better for passively listening to your music or for lisenting to podcasts or audio books.
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.
Mic Open Quiet
But finally heres the microphone test, while in a quiet room, I feel that this microphone is good enough to take phone calls with.
Mic Fit Quiet
And when compared to the Sony Linkbuds Fit, these two microphones sound fairly similar while in a quite room.
Mic AirPods 4 Quiet
but Sony’s earbuds are still trialing behind the AirPods 4 which I feel are the gold standard right now. While in a quiet room these are going a much better job of focusing on my voice.
Mic AirPods Road
But more importantly, these do a much better job of of dealing with noise pollution. Cause right now these are doing a great job of blocking out all of this road noise. Cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clealery hear all of this road noise. But if we switch back over to the AirPods 4 it is severely reduced.
Mic Fit Quiet
Now the Sony Linkbuds Fit do a decent job of dealing with this road noise…
Mic Open Quiet
However, the Linkbuds Open are struggling here a little bit cause they are letting in more road noise.
Mic Open chatter
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, its the same thing. These are letting in noise pollution and there is some interference going on with my voice.
Mic Fit Chatter
And the Son Linkbuds fit are also struggling here, but they are going a slightly better job.
Mic AirPods Chatter
But then here are the AirPods 4 and these are doing a much better job of dealing with all of this noise pollution. Cause again if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clealery hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the AirPods 4, it is severely reduced. So overall, the Sony Linkbuds Open have a decent enough sounding microphone on them to take phone calls with while in a quiet room, but they do struggle when it comes to blocking out chatter.
But with all of that being said, the Sony Linkbuds open are a pair of niche earbuds for someone that always needs or wants to be aware of your surroundings. Maybe you want them for exercising while outdoors, maybe you need them for work. Now there are other Open earbuds out there on the market… But the Linkbuds open give you the most traditional experience. The earbuds themselves are lot more normal looking that other open earbuds out there. And the case itself is smaller as well.