Sony’s LinkBuds are priced at $180

Sony may not have much success selling smartphones, but they do hold a fair share of the headphone market thanks to their WXM series of IEMs and over-ears. The newest addition to the wireless earbud lineup, the LinkBuds, offer a number of unique features that would appeal to quite a few users.

The buds are presented as something one can keep in all day long. They have a figure-8 design, along with a small hook to secure them into your ear. While other ‘open’ earbuds exist, like the Galaxy Buds Live or the AirPods Gen 2, these LinkBuds have a literal hole in them to allow sound to enter.

Open-back headphones are popular among some music listeners due to the wider sound stage they offer. Within the earbud format, it would allow you to hear the world around you in a natural manner. IEMs like the AirPods Pro or the XM4s might offer transparency mode to facilitate the same safety, but those methods use the microphones to send sound into the buds.

As such, the battery is being used in a more active manner, and one might encounter hissing or rattling sounds being picked up by the microphones. On the other hand, the buds generally tend to isolate voices through the mic, which might make them appealing in noisy situations.

Sony’s LinkBuds offer the most natural sound, as there is no layer blocking your ear. They purport a comfortable fit, and a rather wide sound stage for music. The accompanying app includes an equalizer to adjust the sound profile. In the app, one can also assign double and triple tip functions independently to each bud, allowing for a total of four controls.

Moreover, the buds have another unique feature in the form of a wide-area tap. Instead of needing to press the surface of the LinkBuds, one can double or triple tap the area around their ear to trigger the control. While they don’t sound as good as Sony’s flagship WF-1000XM4 noise-isolating earbuds, they offer a discreet, innovative design and a more secure fit than the AirPods, as well as good sound