The Sony LinkBuds S are not visually stunning in the same way as the first Sony LinkBuds. Those didn’t even fit inside your ear, but were designed to let external sound pass through a loop over the ear canal. Weird, but very cool. But in fact, the Sony LinkBuds S surprise in their own way when you approach them and realize they’re smaller and lighter than any alternative design you’ve come across. They’re designed like all the other best truly wireless headphones, except that they incorporate Sony’s noise-cancelling technology into a surprisingly unobtrusive design. The build quality is unquestionable, the specs are impressive, the battery life is more than acceptable and there are also several very well implemented control options.
The LinkBuds S even have better eco credentials than the majority of competitors, as well as incredible comfort. So, on paper at least, well, they’re ready to dominate. And during this review of the Sony LinkBuds S, we found that they largely deliver on that promise. The levels of detail, sound staging and tonality are impressive, and the way the frequency range is balanced from top to bottom is also formidable. In terms of dynamic range, however, the LinkBuds S fall a little short – they can’t muster the sonic energy and momentum to fully bring a recording to life. Here you can read all the details in our Sony LinkBuds S review.
Sony LinkBuds made a big splash earlier this year, with a unique ring-shaped design that keeps you in touch with your surroundings without relying on a transparency mode. But there’s a new LinkBuds in town, which follows suit by… leaving it all behind. The Sony LinkBuds S are a conventional pair of wireless headphones, for better or worse.
Sony LinkBuds S review: Design
When a product is as small and lightweight as this, there’s not much that can happen in terms of “design”. Of course, the whole point of the LinkBuds S being so small and lightweight is to provide a comfortable fit, and in that respect, the design is a resounding success. The 4.8g per earpiece is nothing when it comes to true wireless designs and, coupled with the four differently sized pairs of earpieces in the package, its simplicity itself to fit securely and comfortably.
They’ll stay that way for hours – certainly until they need charging – and are perfectly discreet when in place. As such, the LinkBuds S is perfectly well made and finished from the same kind of recycled textured and stone-finished plastic that the company makes its top-of-the-line headphones from. Choose from black, white, or ecru finishes. That last color makes Sony look a little prosthetic, to be honest.
Sony LinkBuds S review: Comfort
The LinkBuds S has earpieces and comes in two colors, basic black and ecru, making it indistinguishable from other popular wireless headphone models. In this case, however, mixing and matching is not considered a bad thing. The rounded, simple design is so simple that you could wear them all day long and never get tired of them. Sony advertises the LinkBuds S as all-day headphones, so we wore these headphones on a daily basis. Thanks to their lightweight, plastic-free recycled materials and small size, they were comfortable enough to wear for several hours at a time, and for us, they never wobbled during exercise or commuting.
This is the case with some wireless headphones, but not with the LinkBuds WF-L900. Of course, not everyone will find the LinkBuds S as secure and comfortable to wear as we did, but even in this review, we were surprised by how secure and comfortable they felt when worn.
Sony LinkBuds S review: Connectivity
The Sony LinkBuds S connects to your preferred device via Bluetooth 5.2 and supports the default SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs; LDAC is somewhat less stable than other high-quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX, but its inclusion allows Android users get a high-quality option without having to rely on AAC, which is better suited for Apple devices.
LinkBuds S also supports Google Fast Pair, so installation on Android is fairly easy. Once pairing is initiated, a card should pop up on the compatible Android device, allowing for a fast connection, and the fact that it uses Bluetooth 5.2 means that when this device becomes available with the new LC3 code, there is a good chance that it will be used This means that it is possible. However, it is unclear when that will be, so don’t hold your breath.
Noise Cancelling
Sony LinkBuds S features excellent active noise cancellation (ANC) for a pair of wireless headphones. With low-point attenuation of up to 35dB around 200Hz, ambient noise in this range should be attenuated to around an eighth of the volume. Such ANC performance will significantly quieten low, jarring sounds such as the roar of a car engine or the noise of a lawnmower.
Higher frequency, random noises will still be audible to some extent. Passive isolation has a greater impact on these types of sounds and the LinkBuds S offers decent isolation performance. As long as you have good sealing with appropriately sized ear tips, you shouldn’t be bothered by things like dish noise or the chatter of people in a coffee shop.
Sony LinkBuds S review: Audio Performance
The LinkBuds S occupies a small niche in Sony’s lineup. The WF-1000XM4 headphones cost $280, which is $80 more than the LinkBuds S. If you compare the new headphones to Sony’s more recent LinkBuds, the $20 premium is worth it. The LinkBids S is not only more comfortable, but they sound much better. The LinkBuds S don’t sound any better than the XM4s, but they are impressive considering their tiny, lightweight packaging. The default sound profile is very pronounced in the midrange, which can make the LinkBuds S sound a little too loud at high volumes; we assume Sony has set them up this way to compensate for slightly weak high and low volumes.
Vocals are clear and there’s no noticeable distortion, even when you turn up the volume. Although you won’t get the bass crackle, even the best headphones do this only slightly better. If that’s what you’re after, over-ear headphones with larger drivers are your best bet. Like the XM4s, the LinkBuds S supports the high-quality LDAC encoder in addition to SBC and AAC. However, enabling LDAC will consume your battery life, and that’s already on the weak side. A future firmware update will also add Bluetooth LE Audio support.
Sony has class-leading active noise cancellation technology, and it’s on full display here. Enabling ANC mode filters out most noise from your surroundings. Boring, constant sounds, like crowd noise or lawnmower noise, are attenuated enough that you don’t even hear them with music playing. More specific sounds, such as someone standing next to you talking at normal volume, will leak out and the overall performance is worse than the XM4 headphones, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. At least you get ANC on these headphones, something that wasn’t possible with the previous open-back LinkBuds design.
Call Performance
In terms of call quality, the LinkBuds S made our voice sound much fuller compared to the original LinkBuds, although as was the case with the WF-1000XM4, we think the call performance could have been better. While we consider, say, the Apple AirPods 3 as one of the best microphone headphones for voice and video calls, the LinkBuds S is more viable for answering a quick call during a run.
The headphones are supposed to filter out interference sounds, which seemed to be effective unless the background noise included voices, such as from a TV or radio announcement.
Sony LinkBuds S review: Battery Life
Battery life for the Sony LinkBuds S has estimated at up to 6 hours with active noise cancellation enabled, with another 14 hours of play available via the charging case (which charges USB-C.) In testing, the LinkBuds S was ready to return to the case after about 6 hours and 15 minutes without phone calls, outperforming the LinkBuds (5.5 hours) and AirPods Pro (4.5 hours). With a 45-minute phone call, the LinksBuds S died after just 5 hours.
Conclusion
Sony has gone back to basics with the LinkBuds S, focusing strictly on ANC and audio performance rather than overly modern design and ambient sound pretensions; it’s a great, less expensive alternative to the WF-1000XM4, and it’s a great product, with a more affordable price point. More importantly, it retains many of the brand’s features while introducing new ones and improving on some of the weaknesses of Sony’s earlier models, such as call quality.
The LinkBuds S is probably the most comfortable headphones Sony has ever made, but they don’t come cheap. Some alternatives will give you superior noise cancellation or bigger, more basic sound. Others may outperform the LinkBuds S in battery life or offer more features like wireless charging.
