Sony Linkbuds Clip: https://geni.us/GC-SonyLinkbudsClip
So over the last few years, wireless earbuds have been evolving and we’re even getting new form factors. And perhaps the most niche earbud form factor are open earbuds. These are very small earbuds that don’t actually go into your ear canals, and instead they rest on your ear cartilage and they allow you to still hear all of your surroundings…. They’re technically more like speakers that are strapped to your ears. And sony just came out with their version, the Sony Linkbuds Clip… so lets see what these are about and lets see if these are right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Sony Linkbuds Clip have a retail price of $230, I feel that these are a little up there, so I would wait for them to go on sale. But nonetheless if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always watch some of the related videos in the description below.
So first there’s the case, now this is the same case that you’ll find on lets say the sony linkbuds fit or the sony Linkbuds Clip. This case is decently small, and I particularly like how easy it is to open the lid and and I like how strong the magnets are… but this case is still a little big and its a little noticeable when its in your pocket when compared to other earbuds out there. But nonetheless this case is acceptable. And just as you’d expect, it charges via a USB C port as it should, but unfortunately this case doesn’t have wireless charging which I do feel is a negative given the size of this case and the price of these earbuds.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Sony Linkbuds Clip have an advertised combine battery life of 37 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 9 hours straight, giving them great stamina which is super important if you’re someone that works retail or if you’re a driver… plus the case can supply 3 additional full charges… and if you were to drop these earbuds on a dead battery into their case, then a 3 minute charge gets you one hour of playback time.
But with the case out of the way, lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Now like I just said, these are a pair of open earbuds. They bassciyl rest on your ear cartilage and they shoot sound into your ear canals. These aren’t standard fitting earbuds like lets say AirPods or galaxy buds and they aren’t in ear earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 or linkbuds s. So with the Linkbuds Clip, you’re going to be able to be fully aware of your surroundings. Which is going to be good if you’re walking outdoors… but personally I think open earbuds like these are great for people that work retail and your boss mandates that your ears have to be open… or if you’re a driver… you can hear your audio but still hear your surroundings. Now I have seen some people using these types of earbuds while at the gym… but personally I would only recommend them for someone who’s workout routine is very mild… if you’re someone that’s going to be running, or jumping rope or doing lots a kalestitics… I don’t think these are the earbuds for you. But regardless these earbuds fit well and they are fairly flexible… and if you want you can also add a spacer if you want a more snug fit.
Now when it comes to connectivity, 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, it doesn’t matter. And this is the connection set up that we expect. But also, these earbuds can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time, regardless of eco system, which is good if you’re a power user that likes to hot swap between an iPhone and a pc on a regular basis.
And latency is not an issue for these earbuds, so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC, as they should… but the don’t have support for LDAC. However LDAC doesn’t really matter on these earbuds cause since they are open earbuds, you’re going to get a lot of noise pollution anyways.
Now when it comes to actually listening to music with these earbuds, open earbuds like these are good for passively lisenting to music… or for lisenting to podcasts. Since these are open earbuds, you’re going to get all of the noise pollution around you, so you’re not going to be able to hear all of the detail in the mids and highs like you would with a pair of in ear earbuds. But overall, these earbuds do lean towards a brighter sound sigautnre so that you can hear the vocals… and they give you a lot of bass when you need it, but its not going to resonate all that much. But also, the linkbuds clip do have 3 different sound modes. Now for the best sound quality, you want to use them while in standard mode… but they also have a voice boost mode which is bassicly just going to boost your mids and highs… so that you can better hear the voices in your audio. Pretty simple. And then there’s sound leakage mode which is going to lower the mids and highs on these earbuds, so they are going to have a warmer sound signature… which means you’re going to hear less of people’s voices. The idea here is, this mode is going to help you not disturb people sitting next to you cause lower frequency sounds travel out further… but regardless you’re wearing open earbuds… people will be able to hear whatever you’re lisenting to.
Now when it comes to your media controls, these earbuds are like the original AirPods, they have haptic touchpads… which I actually really like, you can either tap on the rear unit or on the rubber clip and you can double tap to play or pause, triple tap to skip a track and you can continuously tap to adjust your volume. Overall they get the job done, the only think is, these earbuds done have proximity sensors, so they aren’t going to automatically play and pause your music when you take them out or put them in, which I do feel is another negative given their price point.
Mic test
But with all of that being said, the Sony linkbuds clip are a solid pair of open earbuds. Since these are open earbuds you’ll be able to be fully aware of your surroundings which could be useful in certain use cases. Audio is good, but these are better suited for passively listening to music or for podcasts. And always remember that people around you will be able to hear your audio. Battery life wise, the linkbuds clip are good, I just don like that their cases doesn’t have wireless chargning and the earbuds themselves don’t have wear sensors.