So right now the Sony linkbuds S are currently my favorite earbuds that sony has ever put out. And personally, I am really hoping that we will see a Linkbuds Pro… cause sony is finally on the right track with these. But for right now, if you’re trying to choose between any on Sony’s earbuds as of mid 2022, today we’re going to compare the Linkbuds S to the entry level WF-C500’s, the open back Linkbuds, and the Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
Regarding pricing, the WF-C500’s retail for $100, the linkbuds retail for $180… and I feel that these are very niche, the linkbuds S retail for $200 and the WF-1000XM4’s retail for $280. Pretty up there if you ask me. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below, or you can press on the YouTube shopping button, give it a try.
Now first lets talk about these cases. Now all of these earbuds have decently small cases that you can everyday carry. However, the WF-1000XM4’s do have the smallest case… plus it has a slightly soft touch feel to it, making it feel very premium. The linkbuds s also have a decently small case… but this case is made out a recycled plastic. But thankfully this case isn’t slippery like the first linkbuds case. And then there’s the WF-C500’s case which is decently small… but its not as premium. But it gets the job done. But finally there’s the Linkbud’s case, and personally I hate this case. For starters, it is very slippery, plus due to its shape, its hard the handle this case. I also hate that you have to press a button to open this spring loaded lid, and the spring on this lid is very weak. But the magnets in this case are also very weak and you also have to snap your earbuds in… so taking these earbuds out or putting them back away isn’t as easy with these other cases. So yeah, personally I am just not a fan of the linkbuds case… but all of these other cases are fine. However, I do have to point out that wireless charging is currently reserved for Sony’s most premium earbuds, the WF-1000XM4’s… cause all of these other cases don’t have wireless charging. Now I don’t think that this is an issue for the entry level C500’s… but I do think this is a big deal for the mid tier Linkbuds and Linkbuds S.
But now lets talk about battery life. The WF-1000XM4’s have an advertised combined battery life 24 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on… and with their active noise cancelation turned off… they can go for up to 36 hours… which is above average. The Linkbuds S with their active noise cancellation turned on have a combined battery life of 20 hours and with their active noise cancellation turned off they can go for as long as 27 hours… and finally there are the C500’s which have a combined battery life 20 hours.
Overall, but the WF-1000XM4’s and Linkbuds S have above average battery lives… and the C500’s are okay. But then there are the Linkbuds which have a below average battery life for mid tier earbuds. The Linkbuds only have a combined battery life of 17 and a half hours… which I would consider last gen… but they also have a very small case, so I guess it balances out…
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. The C500’s, Linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4’s all fit like a standard pair of in ear earbuds like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2, Sennheiser Momentum 3’s or Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s… as in they go into your ear canals a decent amount. They aren’t shallow fitting like lets say the AirPods Pro or Jabra Elite 85T’s. Now standard fitting in ear earbuds are good because they offer more lock down than shallow fitting in ear earbuds… And with the WF-1000XM4’s… these earbuds come included with foam ear tips… and these foam ear tips offer even more lock down and they passively block out more noise than your standard silicon ear tips that you’ll find on these other earbuds, which are going to help with active noise cancelation performance and even sound quality. But the thing about these foam ear tips is that I find them to be extremely itchy. I can only wear these earbuds for like 15 minutes before I have to rip them out and take a break. Plus these foam ear tips are pretty big. Even the small ear tips on the XM4’s feel a little too big. So for that reason, I simply find both the Linkbuds S and C500’s to be way more comfortable than the WF-1000XM4’s.
But then there are the linkbuds. These aren’t in ear earbuds like these other earbuds. The linkbuds fit in the bowl of your ear like the AirPods 3 do. However, the linkbuds also have a hole in them… meaning that these earbuds let in all of the ambient sound around you. Now this could be useful if you need to be fully aware of your surroundings… but since these earbuds are open back… you are going to have to listen to your media at a higher volume… and your media just isn’t going to sound as good as with these other earbuds cause there is so much noise pollution interfering with your media. So overall, the linkbuds are comfortable… but they aren’t the most practical things out there. The foam ear tips on the WF-1000XM4’s help with lock down and with passively blocking out noise, but they aren’t the most comfortable things out there either. Personally, I feel that both the C500’s and linkbuds S are the only earbuds here that are both comfortable to wear and practical.
Regarding connectivity, with all of these earbuds, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time, you can use either one, its doesn’t matter, and this is the connection set up that we expect to see on all of our earbuds nowadays, and thankfully sony has finally implemented this across all of their earbuds buds.
And In general, i feel that Sony’s earbuds are good options for power users cause all of these earbuds will jump from one device to another if another device asks to pair with them. Now these earbuds are as convenient as hot swapping… but at least you don’t have to use their app or place these earbuds into pairing mode every single time that you want to jump from one device to another.
But when it comes to overall performance, all o these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs, the C500’s have support for SBC and AAC. Pretty standard. But all of these other earbuds have support for SBC, AAC, and LDAC which is Sony’s in house high res audio codec. Now if you want to take advantage of LDAC than you do have to be an android user cause iPhone top out at AAC… but also LDAC does take its toll on the battery life. Because for comparison sake, with the Linkbuds S, they can go for as long as 6 hours while they are using AAC and with their ANC turned on… but with LDAC they’re only good for 3 and half hours.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Now the C500, Linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4 are all better suited for someone who likes a bass heavy sound signature cause these earbuds do like to lean towards a warmer sound signature. But definitely, both the linkbuds s and WF-1000XM4’s sound better than the C500’s. The bass on the C500’s can roll off a little bit and it can over power the rest of your music… and the highs on these earbuds can get tinny at times. Where as the bass on both the Linkbuds and WF-1000XM4’s is much cleaner and when it starts to resonate… it doesn’t roll off. And more importantly, the highs on these earbuds don’t get distorted. Now yes, both the linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4’s do have better instrument separation than the C500’s… but these earbuds still sound a little narrow cause they main prioritize the vocals and bass. Instrumentals don’t really have all that much room to shine here. Now all of these earbuds do connect to Sony’s app and you can customize their EQ… and if you’re someone that like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ… then both the Linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4’s can get the job done if you lower their bass and raise the mids and treble… but since the instrument separation on these earbuds isn’t the best… they can still leave you wanting more. Overall like I said, the C500’s sound good enough to get job done if you like a more bass heavy sound signature… and both the Linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4’s are also better suited for someone who likes a more bass heavy sound signature… but these two more premium earbuds do perform better than the entry level earbuds here cause their bass doesn’t roll off and their highs don’t get distorted.
And then, there are the open back linkbuds. Now personally I would only recommend these earbuds for passive listening cause your music just isn’t going to sound the best with these earbuds. Since the linkbuds are open back, you are going to be constantly fighting noise pollution. And in general… these earbuds also have a very bass heavy sound signature. But these earbuds sound much more hollow and shallow cause you can barely hear the instrumentals with these. Now personally I found that these earbuds sound best while in their bright EQ setting, cause at least this way you can hear the mids… but like I said, I would only recommend these earbuds for passively listening to music cause their open back design just isn’t going to allow your music to sound its best. Plainly said, I would much rather listen to music with the C500’s rather than with the Linkbuds.
Now regarding the media controls on these earbuds… the C500’s are using physical buttons, both the linkbuds s and WF-1000XM4’s are using touch pads, and the linkbuds are using haptic touchpads, similar to the original AirPods. And personally I love the haptic touch pads on the linkbuds… they’re a good in between between physical buttons and touch pads. But the really cool thing about the linkbuds is that they have this wide tap area feature… where you don’t actually have to tap on the earbuds themselves. Now I think this is a very cool idea and I really wish that the linkbuds S also had this feature… but they don’t. They only issue about the wide tap area feature is that I found that it can get activated while you’re chewing… and lets face it, this is a big deal cause a lot people use their earbuds while that eat. But with that aside, with the Linkbuds, Linkbuds S and WF-1000XM4’s, you can customize the layout of their media controls… where as with the C500’s you can’t.
But also, with the C500’s these are the only ear buds here that don’t have wear sensors, so they won’t automatically play our use your music when you take them out of your ears or put them back in. And personally, I feel that this is a major inconvenience.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds… and I’m actually very excited to talk about this cause sony is back to doing active noise cancellation very well. However, both the C500’s and linkbuds don’t have active noise cancelation… and I also want to taper exceptions here. The ANC on these earbuds isn’t going to block out as much noise as a pair of over ear ANC headphones like lets say the Bose QC45, AirPods Max or Sony 1000XM5’s which are currently my top 3 ANC headphones.
Now the Sony WF-1000XM4’s are still number one here cause they block out a ton of noise. Albeit they do have an advantage cause of their itch foam ear tips which personally I am just not a fan of. But right below them are the Sony Linkbuds S which also block out a ton of noise… but since they are using silicon ear tips, they’re way more comfortable. So personally I do prefer them. Now right below them are the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s which also block out a ton of noise. Right below them are the Jabra elite 85T’s, below them are the AirPods Pro, below them are the Jabra Elite 7 Pro’s, below them are the Beats fit pro and below them are the Galaxy Buds Pro.
So overall, sony claims the top two spots here when it comes to active noise cancelation. And the Linkbuds S manage to out perform some more premium earbuds out there. And personally, the linkbuds s are currently my top pick for ANC earbuds, cause they are simply more comfortable to wear than the WF-1000XM4’s and their itchy foam ear tips, and they also have much more manageable case than lets say the Bose QC earbuds.
Now the linkbuds S also have a really good sounding ambient mode as well… but the ambient mode on the WF-1000XM4’s sounds a little better. The ambient mode on the WF-1000XM4’s doesn’t have a constant hissing in the background like the linkbuds S do… and the WF-1000XM4’s don’t amplify your own voice like the linkbuds s do.
Now due to the linkbud’s open back design… these earbuds also have an ambient mode. But unlike with these other two earbuds… you can’t turn it on or off. So this is another reason why I don’t like the open back design of the linkbuds… and finally there are the C500’s which simply just don’t have an ambient, period.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now sony has always struggled with their microphones for phone calls… and ironically, I feel that the WF-1000XM4’s have the worst performing microphone here.
Now the microphone on the WF-C500 sounds very robotic… but I would actually argue that its easier to understand you with these earbuds than with the more premium WF-1000XM4’s.
But things might be changing with the Linkbuds, cause these microphones sound and perform better than the microphone sound on the WF-1000XM4’s
I can’t help but feel that the microphones on the linkbuds and linkbuds s do a battery job of focusing on my voice.
But for sure, the microphone on the linknbuds and linkbuds s do a much better job of de3aling with noise pollution. Cause right now these earbuds are doing a decent job of blocking out this road noise… however, they are pushing down my voice. But for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise… but if we were to switch back over to the linkbuds s, it is reduced.
And the same thing can be said with the Linkbuds… they are reducing this road noise… but they are also pushing down my voice.
Where as with the C500 I do sound rather choppy… but you can make out what im saying…
Mic XM4 Road Noise
But then there are the WF-1000XM4’s… and with these earbuds, there is a lot of static in the background when I’m talking. And this is actually an improvement cause they used to have a lot more static when they first came out.
Now the WF-1000XM4’s also aren’t doing the best job of dealing with this chatter, but at least there isn’t any static when I’m talking in the background.
Where as with the WF-C500’s my voice is a lot more forward… but there is still some choppiness. Nonetheless, I prefer this mic over the WF-1000XM4’s.
But finally there are the linkbuds and linkbuds s… now these earbuds are doing a decent job of blocking out this chatter
But they are also pushing down my voice, And again for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch over to the linkbuds s, it is reduced. But overall, I feel that the linkbuds have better performing microphones than the WF-1000XM4’s… but I would still try to take phone calls with these earbuds while in a quieter environment… and these earbuds still pale in comparison to lets say the AirPods 3.
But with all of that being said, the Sony WF-C500’s are a decent pair of entry level earbuds to pick up. Overall, they get the job done, they have a decently small case, and you can adjust their EQ to your liking. Now if active noise cancelation is super important to you and you absolutely need to block out the most amount of noise with your earbuds… then the WF-1000XM4’s are the way to go. These things truly block out a ton of noise and their foam ear tips really do give them an advantage. But like I have explicitly warned a few times already… personally I find the foam ear tips on the WF-1000XM4’s to be very itchy and uncomfortable. But that might not be the case with you. But also, keep in mind that these earbuds don’t have the microphone for phone calls. But they do have really impressive battery life. But personally, I do prefer and recommend the Linkbuds S over the WF-1000XM4’s simply cause their silicon ear tips are way more comfortable to wear. Plus, they also block out a ton of noise, and they also have really good battery life. The only main draw back about these earbuds from the WF-1000XM4’s is their lack of wireless charging. But I would still rather go with the Linkbuds S than the WF-1000XM4’s. But finally there are the open back linkbuds. Personally I find these earbuds to be very niche… and their open back design is more of a handicap more than anything else. For me it is very hard to justify getting the linkbuds, and its also very hard for me to recommend them. Personally, I simply wish that sony would give us linkbuds… but without the open back design. Give us a pair of linkbuds that directly compete against the AirPods 3 and Galaxy Buds Live… I am sure that there are people that would love a pair of super comfortable earbuds from sony that they can wear for multiple hours on end.