Open wireless earbuds have become much more common over the past few years, with the likes of Bose, Nothing, and others offering alternatives to traditional in-ear designs. Open earbuds let you hear the world around you, which is important when you're outside walking or running and want to stay alert to your surroundings. Sony has been at the forefront of this space with products like the LinkBuds Open, and recently, it unveiled its latest open design, the LinkBuds Clip ($229.99). These provide a clean audio response and secure, clip-style fit, but our Editors' Choice remains the Apple AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation ($179), which combine full-bodied sound with surprisingly effective noise cancellation for $50 less.

Design: Distinctive and Effective

The LinkBuds Clip are available in black, green, greige, and lavender. Each bud uses a C-shaped clip with a hard-plastic battery barrel and a sound port, connected by a soft silicone band. Instead of sitting in your ear canal or hooking over the top of your ear like most open earbuds, these clip onto the bottom of your outer ear and point the speaker toward your ear canal.

It's unconventional, and there's definitely an adjustment period, but I actually quite like the approach. The earbuds are very comfortable, and it's easy to forget they're on at all, even after extended listening periods. Sony also includes so-called "air fitting cushions" to help ensure the earbuds fit better, but I preferred how they fit without the cushions.

They do look a bit odd, though. Not as strange as I initially thought, but people will notice them. They're obviously wireless earbuds, but that clip-on design makes them stand out.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The earbuds come with an IPX4 rating for splash and water resistance, though that only applies to the buds themselves, not the case. You're covered for workouts and light rain, but keep the case away from moisture.

Touch controls are available in the capacitive band connecting the two main components of each earbud. I expected to struggle with this, but it actually works decently well. There's a learning curve, but the buds stay secure enough that tapping doesn't shift them around. 

By default, you'll double-tap the right bud for play/pause, triple-tap for next track, and tap repeatedly to raise volume. The left bud allows you to double-tap to cycle through standard, voice boost, and sound leakage reduction modes, with repeated taps lowering volume. The controls aren't as customizable as I'd like. You can assign control groups to different buds, choosing between voice assistant access or song selection, but you can't set individual double-tap or triple-tap functions.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

The Sony LinkBuds Clip connect to your listening device through Bluetooth 5.3, with multipoint support for two devices. The earbuds support AAC and SBC, but Sony's own LDAC codec is missing, which is disappointing. Inside each bud is a 10mm dynamic driver with a 20Hz to 20kHz frequency range.

Included with the earbuds are the air-fit cushions and the charging case, but no charging cable.

Battery Life: Impressive Overall

Battery life is quite good. The earbuds deliver nine hours of continuous use per charge, with the case adding 28 more for a 37-hour total. This is one place where the Linkbuds Clip are clearly superior to the AirPods 4 With ANC, which last just 5 hours with ANC off and 4 hours with it on. Apple's charging case adds 25 hours (ANC off) and 15 hours (ANC on).

There's no wireless charging, which feels like an oversight at this price point. A quick 3-minute charge does give you 60 minutes of playback.

App Experience: Plenty of Customization

The earbuds connect to the Sony Sound Connect app (available for Android and iOS), which is the same app that you use for any of Sony's audio products these days. It's well-designed and responsive, giving you easy access to the features that you might need from day to day. The main screen shows listening mode controls, EQ settings, and playback options, with everything else accessible relatively easily.

(Credit: Sony)

As open earbuds, you won't get the same features as some of Sony's other earbuds, but there are still some controls. There's no ANC toggle, but the earbuds still let you choose between "Standard," "Voice Boost," and "Sound leakage reduction" modes. The latter essentially changes the EQ to prioritize frequencies that travel less, and, as you might assume, that results in a pretty significant change in the audio response. It might be fine for those listening to audiobooks or podcasts, but even then, I found the muffled tone of voices a little distracting.

The EQ is solid, offering presets plus custom settings across 10 bands from 31Hz to 16kHz. JBL's app provides more granular control, but Sony's implementation is good enough for most people and allows meaningful sound adjustments.

Sound: Clear and Wide, But No Deep Bass

With default settings and EQ off, audio quality is better than I expected. But like every other open-ear design, it still falls short of in-ear buds at half the price. The physics simply don't allow for the same bass response or isolation. That's something you'll need to be aware of before you buy.

One thing worth noting is that the positioning of the earbuds dramatically impacts how they sound. At first, I thought they sounded terrible before I realized I was wearing them wrong. It'll take some time to get used to the positioning, and you may find you need to adjust them regularly. Not only that, but everyone's ear shape is different. Some people might end up unable to get a clean audio response. This is also common with open-ear designs.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

"Silent Shout" by The Knife sounds reasonably full, but also embodies the issues open earbuds like these have. This track relies heavily on sub-bass frequencies, which are largely missing on the Sony Linkbuds Clip. That's not unexpected for open earbuds, but it still makes for a somewhat distracting listening experience. The midbass, midrange, and highs are reasonably tuned, and although a little more detail and sparkle would have been nice, I was generally happy with how the percussion and lead synths sounded.

Kendrick Lamar's "Loyalty" runs into similar issues. Sub-bass notes, which are usually present through much of the verse and chorus, are mostly gone here, though most of the other instruments and frequency ranges sound pretty clear. Lamar and Rihanna's vocals are clean and present, and the open design creates a wide, immersive soundstage.

Bill Callahan's "Drover" sounds fine on the Linkbuds Clip, if a little dull overall. The acoustic guitar is a bit muffled, while the drums and other percussion could use a little more sparkle. Callahan's baritone vocal sounds detailed, but lacks some of its usual body. 

Classical music, such as the opening scene to John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, doesn't fare as well as it could, either. It suffers from brass that lacks some of its inherent brightness and vocals that struggle to cut through the orchestration. I do appreciate the wide soundstage here.

(Credit: Christian de Looper)

EQ can address these issues, if not completely. The physical limitations of open-ear design essentially mean that you just can't get deep bass. If you're looking for that subterranean, powerful bass, keep looking.

The microphone's performance is underwhelming. When recording to Voice Memos on an iPhone, my words are intelligible, but my voice sounds dull and lacks depth. Despite bone conduction sensor technology, call quality is just adequate. Fine for voice calls, but you might occasionally repeat yourself.