Pros & Cons
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- Excellent audio quality
- Subtle design
- Comfortable and secure fit
- Good codec support
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- Just average battery life
- Can be tricky to position correctly
Sony LinkBuds Open Truly Wireless Earbud Headphones with an Open-Ring Design for Ambient Sounds and Newly Developed Air Specs
| Connection Type | Bluetooth |
| True Wireless | |
| Type | Open-style earbuds |
| Water/Sweat-Resistant | |
| Wireless |
The $199.99 Sony LinkBuds Open have an open design that lets you remain aware of your environment while you enjoy your favorite tunes. They are compact, fit securely (once properly positioned in your ears), and deliver surprisingly rich audio. Moreover, they support a good mix of Bluetooth codecs and work with an adjustable EQ. We wish battery life were a little better and that the case supported wireless charging, but these are minor drawbacks. If you use an iPhone, the $179 AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation do an excellent job of blending an open design with active noise cancellation (ANC) and excellent audio, making them our Editors' Choice. For everyone else, the Sony LinkBuds Open are a better bet than the $149 Nothing Ear (Open) thanks to their stronger bass and more comfortable, discreet design.
Design: A Ring to Let the Outside World In
Sony's LinkBuds Open look like typical wireless buds. Each one rests in your outer ear and has a small wing to secure its fit. Unlike most of their peers, the LinkBuds have a small ring that tucks into the entrance to your ear canal and allows audio from the outside world to pass in. The rings resemble the noise-reducing earplugs you can buy for concerts or other loud environments. That makes them subtler than either the Nothing equivalents, or any clip-on open earbuds, which tend to look more like bulky tech earrings.
Sony takes a one-size-fits-all approach with the wings, and only one set is in the box. You can buy additional wings in alternate colors (Ash Blue, Ash Green, Ash Pink, Ash Violet, Pure Black) for $9.99. I found the preinstalled fit wings comfortable, even after extended listening, and it meant the buds remained securely in place. Making sure they are correctly positioned can prove tricky, however. You have to align the driver properly over your ear canal in both ears, otherwise the audio sounds lopsided. It often took a minute to get them correctly positioned. Each earbud weighs 0.18 ounces, including the fit wings.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)While the buds' physical controls are easy to learn, they're not as customizable as I would like. Like many Sony earphones, you can only customize controls in groups instead of assigning individual taps or gestures. Out of the box, both earbuds play or pause audio with a double tap and skip to the next track with a triple tap. Repeatedly tapping the left earbud lowers the volume, while doing so on the right one raises it. Like the $199.99 Sony LinkBuds Fit, the LinkBuds Open support head gestures, allowing you to nod your head to accept a call or shake it to reject one if you have the feature enabled.
With their IPX4 water-resistance rating, the earbuds will survive sweat and light rain, but not submersion. The Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds, meanwhile, have a better IP54 rating.
The LinkBuds Open have 11mm drivers and can produce frequencies between 20Hz and 20kHz. They connect to your phone through Bluetooth 5.3 and support Google Fast Pair for easy connectivity with compatible devices. They also support Bluetooth multipoint, allowing you to connect to two sources simultaneously. They include the SBC, AAC, and LC3 codecs but, unlike the LinkBuds Fit, don’t support LDAC for hi-res audio.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The charging case is the same one that ships with the LinkBuds Fit. It measures 1.16 by 1.81 by 1.81 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.08 ounces. It's compact and easy to open and close one-handed. Although it's taller than some other brands' cases, it's still small enough to fit in most pockets.
In the box, you get the earbuds with fit wings preinstalled, the charging case, and a short USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable.
Battery Life: Middle of the Road
The earbuds have a continuous battery life of eight hours, which isn't impressive considering they don't include active noise cancellation, which many other earbuds with similar longevity do. The charging case adds an additional 14 hours of use, for a total of 22 hours. The Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds also offer eight hours of listening, but an additional 22 hours of charge from their case, for a total of 30 hours.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The LinkBuds Open's charging case doesn’t support wireless charging, so you have to rely on the USB-C port. Sony says a three-minute quick charge gives you up to 60 minutes of play time.
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App Experience: Settings Galore and an Adjustable EQ
The Sony LinkBuds Open earbuds work with the Sony Sound Connect app (available for Android and iOS). The app has a clean user interface, though there are heaps of controls to adjust, including settings for Bluetooth multipoint, voice features, and more.
(Credit: Sony/PCMag)The EQ built into the app is sufficient but not especially advanced. You can choose from a number of presets and set up two custom EQ profiles. Each custom EQ gives you access to five bands, ranging from 400Hz to 16kHz.
Sound: Substantial for an Open Design
Typically, open earbuds sacrifice audio quality to allow ambient sound to enter the ear. Their design often means the drivers are placed further from your ears than in other earbuds, resulting in limited bass and a lack of high-end detail. The Linkbuds Open, however, place the drivers right over your ear canal, allowing them to deliver a well-rounded frequency response that helps keep most of the bass frequencies intact while still permitting you to hear outside noises.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)On a track like The Knife's “Silent Shout," the earbuds deliver a surprising amount of bass synth. While the kick drum is a little distant compared with other earbuds, it still sounds natural. The high frequencies are relatively well-produced, and the percussion sounds detailed and clear.
Kendrick Lamar's “Loyalty” simultaneously showcases the best and worst of the buds' bass response. The kick drum sounds deep and heavy, while the sub-bass frequencies are limited; only the higher sub-bass notes cut through. Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals sound superb, and the beat offers good clarity.
Meanwhile, Bill Callahan's “Drover" sounds excellent. This track isn't as dependent on deep bass frequencies as some of our other test tracks, and the driving kick drum sounds round and strong while Callahan’s vocals have plenty of depth. The acoustic guitar lacks a little attack, while the cymbals don’t sizzle quite as much as they would with traditional in-ear earbuds, but they still sound better than most other open earbuds.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)On an orchestral track like the opening scene of John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the earbuds deliver a well-rounded audio response, separating instruments clearly. The brass isn’t quite as bright, and some of the strings aren’t quite as clear as I like, but those limitations aren’t too glaring, and most of the instruments sound rich and realistic.
Of course, it's still possible to hear your surroundings while listening to music. The Adaptive Volume Feature automatically raises or lowers the volume depending on the surrounding noise if you choose to use it.
On a recording made via my iPhone's Voice Memos app, the mics pick up sound clearly. They had no problem recording everything I said and didn't introduce Bluetooth artifacts or other noises.