The $199.99 Sony LinkBuds Fit are midrange earphones with a lot to offer. We particularly like their customizable wings that help them fit securely and their well-mixed, pleasing audio. If active noise cancellation (ANC) is your top priority, the $179 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are also worth considering, with better ANC and battery life, but a bulkier design. Ultimately, the $199.99 JBL Live Beam 3 earbuds are our Editors' Choice in this price range thanks to their advanced charging case, excellent battery life, solid noise cancellation, and detailed sound.

Design and Features: Focused on Fit

The Sony LinkBuds Fits have a bud-style design rather than a stem design. They have an IPX4 water resistance rating, which is enough to ensure that they can survive sweat and rain but not full submersion.

They come with swappable wings designed to keep them firmly in your ears during movement. The wings are flexible and should fit well in most ears. Sony sells the wings (and case covers) in various colors so you can customize the look. Sony worked with artist Olivia Rodrigo to develop the color palette, which includes Ash Blue, Ash Green, Ash Pink, Ash Violet, and Pure Black. The earbuds are comfortable to wear.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

Touch controls let you manage playback and volume. By default, the left earbud controls noise modes with a double tap, cycling through active noise cancellation (ANC), ambient sound, and off. Repeated taps lower the volume. The right bud plays and pauses audio with a double tap or skips to the next track with a triple tap. A repeated tap raises the volume. You can customize these to a small degree. For example, you can set one earbud to control song selection, where a double tap skips to the next track, and a triple tap goes to the previous track. You can also use head gestures—a nod or shake will accept or reject an incoming call. This worked well in testing, but it’s not a feature I expect to use regularly.

The LinkBuds connect through Bluetooth 5.3 and support Google Fast Pair for easy pairing with compatible devices. They support Bluetooth multipoint for connectivity with two sources simultaneously. Internally, they have 8.3mm drivers with a frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz. They support the AAC, LC3, LDAC, and SBC codecs and are certified for high-res audio.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The charging case is small and portable. Its design makes it easy to open, even with one hand. At 1.28 by 1.85 by 1.85 inches (HWD), it’s a little taller than some alternatives but has a smaller footprint than most. Its USB-C port sits on the rear for charging; the case does not support wireless charging.

Sony says the LinkBuds fit should run for 5.5 hours with ANC on and 8.5 hours with it off. The case holds 15.5 to 24 hours of additional battery life, depending on your use of ANC and listening volume. For comparison, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds have a battery life of 8.5 hours with ANC on, with an additional 31.5 hours in the case.

The box includes the earbuds, the charging case, a short USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable, and three additional pairs of eartips.

The earphones work with the Sony Sound Connect app (available for Android and iOS), a redesigned and rebranded version of the Sony Headphones Connect app. Overall, the app feels more modern, though most of the controls are organized the same way. It lets you set adaptive noise modes, set multipoint connections, and manage settings.

(Credit: Sony/PCMag)

The app's EQ is fairly basic. It comes with a few presets and two custom EQ settings. When you customize the EQ, you can access five bands, ranging from 400Hz to 16kHz. We'd like to see more advanced EQ options at this price point, but we appreciate having a user-adjustable EQ at all.

Noise Cancellation: Good for the Price

The LinkBuds dependably cut out lower frequencies, especially the hum from plane engine noise, leaving only some of the higher, white-noise-type frequencies behind.

On a busy city bus, they largely cut out noise from the engine and other low-frequency hums while also deadening some of the higher frequencies from the doors opening and closing. In a busy café, they reduced much of the low-level background chatter, and while I could still hear the voices of those closest to me, they were much quieter. The ANC isn’t quite as effective as that of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, which have the best noise cancellation in this price range.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The transparency mode is impressive. It does a great job of reproducing sound across the frequency range and only cuts some of the highest frequencies, though some background hiss is audible in the mix. Rather than leaving transparency enabled all the time or toggling it on and off manually, Sony lets you set the earbuds to automatically switch to transparency mode when they detect you speaking and then switch back after a preset amount of time.

Sound: Rich and Rewarding

With ANC disabled and the default EQ set, the earbuds deliver a deep and rich frequency response.

On a track like “Silent Shout” by The Knife, the LinkBuds reproduce the deep tones of the bass synth and kick drum while leaving plenty of room in the mix for the higher-frequency percussion and vocals. The drums feel slightly tucked away compared with some of the other instruments, but this doesn’t detract from the listening experience.

Meanwhile, on Bill Callahan's “Drover,” the earbuds offer exactly the frequency response I want. The round bass gives Callahan’s vocal the nice deep resonance it deserves while preserving the high-frequency attack from the acoustic guitar and the brightness from the violin. 

With Kendrick Lamar's “Loyalty," the LinkBuds do a good job of handling the sub-bass synth during the chorus, though the lowest of the low notes are a little out of range. Still, there is plenty of space in the mix, and both Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals sound rich and clear.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

On an orchestral track, like the opening scene of John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the earbuds give the brass instruments a bright tone while ensuring that the instruments are nicely separated. The vocal soloist pierces through the mix cleanly.

The LDAC codec helps make the LinkBuds sound their best, though it is only available to Android devices.

The earbuds offer spatial audio, though only within certain apps. The spatial effect sounds decent, but it requires a compatible phone and a compatible streaming service.

The microphone sounds quite good. It easily picks up everything I say without introducing Bluetooth artifacts or other noises when recording audio through an iPhone.

Verdict: Just the Right Fit for You?

Sony's LinkBuds Fit get most things right, from a comfortable and stable design to good audio quality and active noise cancellation. They have tough competition from the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, which don't fit as well but have the best noise cancellation in this price range. Meanwhile, the JBL Live Beam 3 earbuds include an advanced case and have longer battery life. They're ultimately the most well-rounded pair of the bunch, making them our Editors' Choice winners.