The Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless Noise Canceling Earbud Headphones with Alexa Built-in, Bluetooth Ear Buds Compatible with iPhone and Android, Black, are the ultimate audio companion for anyone who wants to experience sound like never before. These ultralight wireless earbuds are designed to transform your audio experience with smart technology that connects your online and offline worlds.
The LinkBuds S noise-canceling wireless headphones deliver the right sound for whatever world you’re in, with seamless shifting from ambient sound to advanced noise canceling and automatic playback that learns from your behavior. With the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds, you can enjoy smart features and settings that learn from your behavior and automatically adjust sound settings, excellent noise-canceling capabilities for immersive sound quality, and ultra-clear call quality with Advanced Voice Signal Processing.
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C –
(This is a lengthy review, so in case you are short on time I have included a quick Pros/Cons summary at the top. This gives an idea of my overall opinions, but for more details continue to read on below.)(Note- I will mostly be comparing these to other earbuds that I have used and/or reviewed recently: AirPods Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4, Echo Buds2, and Klipsch T5 II )THE GOOD:–Comfort/Fit: So far, these are very comfortable to wear. They are slightly smaller than some of the other earbuds I’ve tested, and are up there with Airpods Pro in terms of comfort. They also feel very secure in the ear, unlike some other brands. No complaints here with comfort/design.–Mic Quality: The mic quality of these is excellent. I tested out with calling friends, and these were either 1st or 2nd best sounding earbuds according to the people I called. My friend says that these mics are the best out the earbuds we tested in this range.–Multiple Ecosystem Support: These work well with all ecosystems, whether you are using Apple or Android; and with assistants including Alexa and Google.–Good ANC : The noise canceling on these is also fantastic. This technology has come a long way, and sometimes it can be hard to compare ANC, since each company produces earbuds that prioritize blocking out slightly different frequencies. To me these seem like they are close to the best , but maybe the XM4s and Airpods Pro are SLIGHTLY better, especially the XM4s at low frequency ranges. The Adaptive Sound Control is a neat feature that can change ambient sound settings based on your location, though I’m not sure how useful this will be in practice.THE BAD:–Overall Sound Comparison: With the default EQ settings, the overall sound quality actually seems slightly worse than the WF1000XM4s to me. I also prefer the sound of the Klipsch T5 IIs with most music, and even the Galaxy Pros with some songs; as these LinkBuds S can sometimes sound slightly muffled or dampened in comparison. Still good quality sound overall, just not as good as some of the other options in this range, and not my favorite with any type of music I tested.–No Wireless Charging: This seems like a big disappointment for this price range. I would expect that ALL earbuds that are over $200 should have wireless charging at this point.MORE DETAILS:Here are my thoughts on each category, again mostly comparing to: Airpods Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4, Echo Buds2, and Klipsch T5 II. (I also enlisted the help of a friend of mine that is an Audio Engineer, to give his opinions and to use some of his equipment.)Sound – These sounded great to me when I first put them in and listened to a variety of music. I was not disappointed in overall sound quality at all, and if you aren’t comparing these to anything else, you will also probably think that they sound great. It was only after rigorously measuring their output with my friend’s mics, and also repeatedly comparing them to all of the other earbuds, that I was able to notice the slightly muffled sound compared to the other earbuds. The Airpods Pro, Klipsch T5 II, XM4, and Galaxy Pro all seem slightly more “clear”, with a broader range. The midrange on the Airpods Pro might be the biggest difference here, and when I switched back and forth between them I felt like I was missing some of those midrange frequencies with the LinkBuds S. Overall sound range/EQ preferences are of course very subjective and personal, but my friend and I both agree that these are definitively not our favorite in this category.Design/Fit – I like the way that these fit in my ear, and they are right up there at the top with Airpods and Klipsch in terms of being lightweight and comfortable. For me, the Galaxy Pros were a little to clunky and felt like they might fall out sometimes, but the LinkBuds S fit great while also feeling secure. The texture of the buds themselves is almost a little scratchy, which took me a little while to get used to, but I think I prefer this texture for touch sensitivity. For me though, I have always preferred the press-able buttons on the Klipsch T5 IIs over all of these touch sensors, partly because I often wear a headband over the earbuds and a sweaty headband can mess with the touch sensors sometimes.Calls – This is probably the best overall feature of these earbuds. The microphone quality seemed to be the best out of all the earbuds when testing out on my friend’s equipment, and in real-world testing I experienced similar results. These were either the best sounding, or a close second best when compared to other earbuds when making calls. These sounded the best in almost every environment, maybe tied for best with Klipsch in noisy/windy environments.Water Resistance – These have the same IPX4 rating as most of the other earbuds, but note that the Galaxy Buds Pro have a superior IPX7 rating, if that matters to you. So far these have been working great for exercise, but again personally I prefer more headband-friendly designs sometimes.Charging/etc: These charge at about the same speed as the other earbuds, and have a similar battery life. The BIG difference is that these don’t support wireless charging, which seems odd at this price range. These come with a short 9 inch usb-A to usb-C cable in the box, no plug/brick. This is my least favorite in terms of charging options compared to the other earbuds in this price range.OVERALL: These are solid earbuds that feel great, produce good sound, have good ANC, and have excellent microphones for great call quality. They do just about everything well, but at this current price I can’t say that they are my favorite, or even the best value. Overall my favorites are probably still the Klipsch T5 IIs, which are currently less expensive than these LinkBuds S earbuds at the time I’m writing this. My second favorite would either be the Galaxy Pros or the Airpod Pros, both of which are slightly less expensive and produce slightly better sound in my opinion. The only thing these LinkBuds S are the best at seems to be the mic/call quality, but even then the difference there isn’t big enough for me to recommend choosing them overall. Personally I’m sticking with my Klipsch T5 IIs for regular use, but if you are a diehard Apple user, I would have recommend the Airpods Pro over these LinkBuds S at the current prices. If these drop in price in the future and are competitively priced with some of the other options, then they might be a good choice; especially if switching back and forth between ecosystems is important to you and you don’t mind the lack of wireless charging.
Jared –
Sound: good “clear bass” sound, good equalizer, but not 5* experience for audiophiles. My Technics EAHAZ60PS sound better (without the bass), and at $199)Fit: very good, with excellent natural sound insulation adding to noise cancellation. Earbuds are very light, but may fall off, so not very good for jumping people. Cannot sleep with them on side.Noise cancellation: good, but not the 5* experience. If you look out there there are better choices.Multi-point Bluetooth connection: yes, added via app software upgrade. Works well for answering a call, and moving back to your initial source after call has ended.App features: be aware that “Speak to Chat” , “Pause When Headphones Are Taken Off” do not work on a second connected device. They only worked for me on the mobile where I have installed the app (same happened with my second SONY headphones Sony WH-1000XM4, overhead ones). This was disappointing coming from Sony.Battery Life: not so good. You can see the batteries life go down as you listen a few songs. My Technics EAHAZ60PSbatteries last way, way longer. Disappointment from Sony.Case: plasticky, fits in your palm, looks sturdier than Technics EAHAZ60PS case. Has a e state battery level LED and USB-C charging capability, have not tried yes wirelessly.Value: Bought them on sale at $160ish. Would not advise pay full price as Technics EAHAZ60PS are better sounding at $199, and better battery life.Made in China for geo-location fans.Weird fact: Sony groups its touch features in groups. The defaults are: Right bud, pause, play, forward, back etc, Left bud: ambient/noise cancellation/off. You cannot have volume up/down from the Left bud (you can with Technics EAHAZ60PS ). Sony has an attention touch function that Technics EAHAZ60PS does not have.
Harsha –
The media could not be loaded. I am not an audiophile. So this is a average user review.- 3hr battery usage on full charge of earbuds is a correct claim- but 5 min charge for an hour of usage is not correct, i got only 30mins of usage- ANC is very good- sounds are okay… Bass is okay- dual pairing is working as advertised- no ear hurting observed. I used it continuously for 3 hours, no pain. Only advice here is to choose correct ear tips. In my case my right ear takes medium size and left takes small size.
C –
Edit to fix my grammarLong review. TLDR: ANC doesn’t work efficiently with constant wind noises blowing in left ear. Transparency sounds whiny, tinny, and almost unuseable. Shotty BT connection. Lack luster app. Sound is good, but only after tweaking the EQ. Switched back to my AirPod gen 1s. Pretty disappointed.So I’ve been using the AirPods 1st gen for about 5 years now. They have always been good, done me right, but they have been crapping out so I decided to look around for new ear buds.I did plenty research and everything came back to these. The price seemed right for what was being advertised. I got them, out of the box was cool, I knew it needed some tweaking, but not too bad. The Transparency was a bit whiny and tinny, but not unbearable. The sound was great, nice bass and what not but I did mess with the EQ a bit then got a nice sound. Audio enhancing, the ear forming schtick, all that fun stuff. This was the first day.The second day was when they were gonna be fully used, as I have my earbuds in almost all day at work, switching between listening to music/podcast, to just pausing the sound and forgetting they are there.Everything was cool, I was digging the transparency and having the podcast on at the same time, the ANC was satisfying. I was able to have a backpack leaf blower on and barely hear it. Of course, ANC was on, and I had my music near full blast. I didn’t do much physical activity that day, so they stayed in my ears well. After a while, I didnt notice them.But then comes the 2nd day. I’m getting ready for work, getting them on, and I notice the left ears transparency was far more intense than the right. The right felt normal, but the left felt like there was someone constantly blowing air into the mic. It was pretty jarring, but it was easily able to drown out in the music/podcast- with transparency on. But with the ANC setting on, it was near mind rattling.The ANC seemed like it didn’t do what it’s suppose to, like the Transparency mode was still active, but only in the left ear. The right felt as it was suppose to, but the left seemed to have no difference between ANC and Transparency.Only when I turned the ANC setting off, and just relied on the seal from the buds themself for the noise cancelling, that wind sound went away. This was the trouble shoot solution that SONY THEMSELVES recommended. Basically saying “just don’t use the ANC feature that you paid to get”Sure, easy fix, but the transparency still started to go, on top of the whiny and tinny sound. Which, the 2nd day, it was almost unusable as the voices came through way too intense and loud, with too much white noise being picked up.This day as well, I was doing some landscaping and was a bit more labor intensive but nothing crazy. These things would not stay in. I’d shove them in, get a solid seal, and then gradually they would fall out. I’ll give it the fact that I was making some hard movments as I was digging in dirt, but even later in the day, simple walking was making them want to fall out. I kept it going, giving them the benefit of the doubt maybe I need to change sizes, all that.I’m driving home, and decide to keep them both in so I can really break in the sound. But as I was driving, I kept having stuttering and quick disconnects. With my phone on my lap, the case in my pocket, I was getting real bad BT connection. Maybe it was the change of internet signals or whatever, if that’s even a factor. I ended up taking them out and using my car stereo because of how bad it got bad.Day 3 rolls around, and all the same issues. Constant heavy wind sound blowing through my left ear, which then eventually switched to the right. Same issues not staying in my ear, I changed buds and smalls were too small, and the large were too large. I suck it up, and keep using them for the day. Trying to mess with the settings and see what I can do. Nothing much able to change.Then My phone starts dying so I decide to plug it in, and keep it off my person, only about 20ft at most away from me at any time, and these things were stuttering and losing connection so bad. I was still within such close proximity to my phone and the case, outside of a building, no walls or anything to impede the connection, and I couldn’t get more then 10-15ft without connection problems. That was very frustrating. I should be able to have my phone within a more reasonable distance to keep a solid connection.I did go into the settings and re-prioritized the Connection Quality over Sound Quality, and that seemed to have made it even worst. This was after a full day of being generally uncomfortable wearing these.The app for these seemed really dated. I understand a BT headphone app not being super crazy innovative, but this one seemed hyped up with unnoticeable change. The added features such as the spatial audio, ear forming, auto voice detection, we’re all very lack luster.I was very excited to try these out and get something other than AirPods, but even after doing extensive research on Wireless Earbuds and came to these conclusions, I am very disappointed. If I’m paying a decent amount on ear buds that have all the bells and whistles, i want the bells and whistles. I didn’t buy ANC, Transparency, in-depth ear buds, to not even be able to use those features because they are just overall uncomfortable to use.I already issued a return, and went back to my old gen 1 AirPods. I am more than likely go for the AirPod Pro 2.This could all be subjective and personal issues with my specific device, but even with that, that calls for mad inconsistency and I’m over all very disappointed that after all my research, it came down to this.
Jared –
Being a musicophile who has 450+ songs on playlist i can easily judge these buds, sharing my personal experience after 10days of everyday usage! I was always in search of small tws not compromising the sound quality well, finding them is next to impossible isn’t? what if i say Sony Linkbuds S fulfills your dream? ;)For those who doesn’t have enough time to read whole review, you can consider below points & order these. (Tho i would recommend you to read everything as you are paying a lot!)1) Comfort & compact2) Sound quality3) Premium features, Reliability.FULL REVIEW :1) COMFORT : Hands down these are the best TWS i ever used! It’s compact & fits into my ears perfectly, doesn’t feel like I’m wearing them. still I’m scared if they fell while walking.2) SOUND & BASS : I’m seriously impressed with the sound quality, why wouldn’t I? That’s Sony!! Coming from 15mm drivers I’m Kinda disappointed about bass but what can we expect from 5mm drivers in these tiny cute buds.3) PREMIUM FEATURES, BUILD QUALITY & RELIABILITY : Sony has dedicated app to play around with Equalizer as per your liking you can adjust the sound signature also packed with some incredible stuff like speak-to-chat (i personally use it), adjust ambient sound (YES! You can).These are made from recycled material honestly it doesn’t look as premium as XM4 earbuds but way compact. As it’s Sony!! You can trust, I’ve seen people received faulty product or not working after few months, brand came forward to replace them without any hesitation.4) NOISE CANCELLATION & CHARGING : NC is fine not the best, you will be able to hear background noise slightly while playing music in wild traffic or nearby construction site. Battery backup depends upon how you use them i turned on DSEE extreme, NC, on full volume i got them around 4hours (on single charge, haven’t put them back into case). These support fast charging so i guess there won’t be any problem while travelling. Ambient mode is awesome! It boosts outer sound which doesn’t seem to be fake or weird.Conclusion : Except wireless charging, You are getting all XM4’s features on Linkbuds S at lesser price.(XM4 doesn’t have multi connection i.e: can’t connect earbuds to 2 device simultaneously, whereas Linkbuds support it after new firmware update)I don’t regret purchasing it for 9.9K, but still they are damn expensive. Wish build quality was better.I would recommend to purchase during sale with card offers. Usually it’s sold for 16,990/- during special occasions it comes down to 13,990/- or 14,990/- make sure there’s any card offer & extra discount available.This is how i got for 9.9k+ Linkbuds S : 13,989/– Prepaid transaction discount : 3,000/– Extra 10% discount through card : 1,000/-= Final price : 9,989/-If you have the budget, for the price (under 10k) it’s absolutely worth it!Samsung galaxy buds 2 pro, costs the same as Sony during sales. I’ve never used them so, can’t speak much about it nor i own a samsung device (yeah, buds 2 pro sound better with samsung handset on the other hand, Sony playbacks in high quality on any device. On Samsung you won’t be able to change Equalizer settings, gotta stick with presets)Tip : Purchase Spigen Rugged Case to protect these “damn expensive” buds!I’ll keep updating my review, time to time! Hope this helps!! 😀
Harsha –
I am not an audiophile. So this is a average user review.- 3hr battery usage on full charge of earbuds is a correct claim- but 5 min charge for an hour of usage is not correct, i got only 30mins of usage- ANC is very good- sounds are okay… Bass is okay- dual pairing is working as advertised- no ear hurting observed. I used it continuously for 3 hours, no pain. Only advice here is to choose correct ear tips. In my case my right ear takes medium size and left takes small size.
Jared –
Sound: good “clear bass” sound, good equalizer, but not 5* experience for audiophiles. My Technics EAHAZ60PS sound better (without the bass), and at $199)Fit: very good, with excellent natural sound insulation adding to noise cancellation. Earbuds are very light, but may fall off, so not very good for jumping people. Cannot sleep with them on side.Noise cancellation: good, but not the 5* experience. If you look out there there are better choices.Multi-point Bluetooth connection: yes, added via app software upgrade. Works well for answering a call, and moving back to your initial source after call has ended.App features: be aware that “Speak to Chat” , “Pause When Headphones Are Taken Off” do not work on a second connected device. They only worked for me on the mobile where I have installed the app (same happened with my second SONY headphones Sony WH-1000XM4, overhead ones). This was disappointing coming from Sony.Battery Life: not so good. You can see the batteries life go down as you listen a few songs. My Technics EAHAZ60PSbatteries last way, way longer. Disappointment from Sony.Case: plasticky, fits in your palm, looks sturdier than Technics EAHAZ60PS case. Has a e state battery level LED and USB-C charging capability, have not tried yes wirelessly.Value: Bought them on sale at $160ish. Would not advise pay full price as Technics EAHAZ60PS are better sounding at $199, and better battery life.Made in China for geo-location fans.Weird fact: Sony groups its touch features in groups. The defaults are: Right bud, pause, play, forward, back etc, Left bud: ambient/noise cancellation/off. You cannot have volume up/down from the Left bud (you can with Technics EAHAZ60PS ). Sony has an attention touch function that Technics EAHAZ60PS does not have.