Sony's $180 wireless LinkBuds review: comfortable, novel open-style earbud design, superb voice call performance, but so-so battery life for an all-day design
$179.99 — Connect your online and offline worlds digg.com : Are Sony New Earbuds With A Hole Any Good? Here's What The Review Say Mat Smith / Engadget : The Morning After: Sony's weirdest wireless earbuds yet Roland Udvarlaki / Pocketnow : Sony LinkBuds are official with a ring-like design for $179.99 David Carnoy / CNET : Sony LinkBuds Review: Open Earbuds with an Innovative Design Kamlesh Bhati / SPARROWS NEWS : Sony Announced Linkbuds wireless headphones With its Uniqueness Tyler Lee / Ubergizmo : Sony's LinkBuds Earbuds Are Some Of The Most Unique We've Seen Tweets: Nic Nguyen / @nicnguyen : these new Sony linkbuds are the lightest, smallest bud-less earbuds around. they're full of great ideas but need software refinements — i'd wait for the update. https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/... Alvin / @sondesix : I think the idea of Sony's new LinkBuds is developed and reimagined from their old Xperia Ear Duo. Xperia Ear Duo was another pair of Sony's open-style earbuds from 2018 that had the same purpose: so that you can listen to your music and the world around you https://twitter.com/... @mask303 : Fortunately, I had a chance to try the Sony's new “open” earbuds, LinkBuds. The sound quality is very impressive, and I'm glad Sony is opening a door for “Always On” environment with more sustainable way. Niantic and Sony will bring audio AR to the next stage together! https://twitter.com/... @sony : Meet the Sony LinkBuds. An all-new take on headphones with an open-ring feature that looks to connect your online & offline worlds together in style: https://electronics.sony.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Marques Brownlee / @mkbhd : These are Sony's new Linkbuds. Yes, they're circular with a hole in the middle for transparency so you can hear the world around you. And they work surprisingly well! What a fascinating solution https://twitter.com/... Chris Welch / @chriswelch : I'm glad to see Sony getting bold with the LinkBuds design. My goal is always to take the best photos you'll find of any product I review. I obsess over this stuff. Our competitors are very talented! Not saying I hit that mark every time. Today I did. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Chris Welch / @chriswelch : Sony's new LinkBuds are strange, refreshing, and terrific at voice calls. If you're looking for very unique open-style earbuds, there's a lot to like here. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dan Seifert / @dcseifert : i was pretty skeptical about Sony's claims for these weird-looking LinkBuds when @chriswelch first told me about them, but it turns out they work quite well here's his full review: https://www.theverge.com/... Megan Quinn / @msquinn : Excited to partner with @Sony on the launch of LinkBuds to provide immersive audio experiences for @NianticLabs apps. Augmenting reality isn't just about what you see, but also about what you hear. Audio AR is in the early stages and we're leaning in. https://techcrunch.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
The original LinkBuds positioned Sony around an open, ring-shaped fit rather than the isolation-first approach common in wireless earbuds. The review found that design delivered comfort and strong call quality, but made battery life a clear product trade-off.
Sony has continued the open-style line with the LinkBuds Clip, worn outside the ear canal, pairing the format with a stated nine-hour battery life. That follow-on product makes the early LinkBuds review a useful baseline for how Sony has refined the category proposition.
First-order effects
- Sony’s LinkBuds proposition is immediately constrained by the gap between its all-day positioning and the review’s so-so battery life, despite the design and calling strengths.
- Buyers who prioritize awareness of their surroundings and voice calls gain a differentiated Sony option, while battery-sensitive buyers have a reason to favor alternatives.
Second-order effects
- Sony’s later nine-hour LinkBuds Clip raises the product standard within its own open-style range, making endurance a more central comparison point for the original design.
- Samsung and Nothing’s earlier unconventional earbuds show that distinctive industrial design is already a category battleground; Sony must pair novelty with dependable everyday performance to stand apart.
Third-order effects
- If Sony’s continued LinkBuds releases sustain the format, wireless-earbud competition will increasingly split between isolation-focused models and open-style products optimized for comfort, calls, and environmental awareness.
- The lasting differentiator for open-style earbuds is likely to be whether manufacturers can reduce the endurance trade-off without abandoning the fit that defines the category.
The trend: Wireless earbuds are diversifying beyond a single sealed, noise-isolating template, with open-style designs competing on wearability and communication performance as much as sound isolation.