the Sony LinkBuds they are different from anything we have seen so far.
The market for cuffie true wireless in fact it has accustomed us to products mainly in-ear, compact, with a fin or with a small shaft. LinkBuds have a small hole in the middle. Yes, you got it right and no, it’s not a design mistake. The company has simply made a different choice, that of creating a product that aims at always keep in touch with your surroundings.
The Sony LinkBuds review
It may have happened to you too to go out with headphones in your ears, perhaps the in-ear ones.
They can offer you a great listening experience but they can also isolate you a lot. And it’s not always bad. Sometimes isolating yourself is what you need but maintaining contact with the environment can save your life. Or at least provide you with important information about what is happening around you.
Think about when you have to cross the street, about the announcements while you wait for the train, about the conductor trying to get your attention to check the ticket.
In all these cases, intercepting external noises is vital.
Sony designed the LinkBuds with just this goal in mind: to keep you connected to the rest of the world.
Design and comfort
These headphones offer an unusual design, almost eight, cwith a full circle and one that has a hole in the center. It is not a purely aesthetic choice, there is a logic in terms of functionality. The full part houses the battery, the chip and all the other sensors, while the “holey” part integrates the first ring driver.
What are the benefits? First of all to let external sounds pass.
The first time we went out with these headphones we could hardly believe our ears: we could hear traffic, hear people talking, hear all the surrounding noises and in the meantime listen to our usual playlist as if nothing had happened.
The second advantage is comfort. This is because they put less pressure on the ear canal so you can wear them for longer, without feeling discomfort.
In the beginning, however, it takes a few minutes to understand how to wear them. Basically it is a game of joints where the flap plays a fundamental role. Know that you have some inside the package 5 different pairs and you will have to find the right combination. And, we tell you from experience, don’t assume that the two ears are the same.
When you have identified the right fins you can use the headphones without problems, even for a little physical exercise. Moreover they are IPX4 so they resist splashes and sweat.
The other obvious advantage is that when you don’t use them, you will not have to take them off to fully hear what is happening.
A few days ago we came across a village festival. The music was very loud and we didn’t have to put away the LinkBuds to fully enjoy the experience. We kept them and when the party was over we started using them again.
Sony LinkBuds review: everyday use
At this point, however, you will want to know how they behave. In short, is the sound quality up to the Japanese brand? In our opinion, yes. The sound is clean and full. The highs and mids certainly make it more but the lows don’t seem overly sacrificed to us. They are not for audiophiles but overall the acoustic experience is very good.
Sony has also improved the microphones therefore, compared to other models that I have had the opportunity to try, these LinkBuds also performed well on call.
Sony has also thought about revolutionizing the controls. Instead of relying on touch these headphones rely on vibrations. This means that you don’t necessarily need to touch the headphones. You can tap your cheek, ear, head … Not indiscriminately, mind you. You have to stay around but it is a very smart and very comfortable method. Definitely more intuitive than the touches on the single earphone.
The only problem is that Sony has sacrificed a bit the number of touches and customizations to embrace this system. You only have double and triple taps. Left or right. So you can, for example, decide that two touches on the right pause and three instead change the song while on the left this allows you to raise and lower the volume. You basically change them two by two as they are paired on each side.
The Sony Headphones app gives us, as always, a lot of features. We have, for example, adaptive volume control, which automatically adjusts the volume based on the surrounding noise. So when the noise increases, the volume increases. We find then Sony equalizer, that works perfectly, 360 Reality Audio and technology DSEE, pTo decide whether you prefer to prioritize sound quality or connection stability.
There is also it Speak to Chatwhich continues to be translated inexplicably with Text Voice Dictation.
What is it for? It basically pauses when you speak and works perfectly.
In short, there is everything and everything works perfectly.
Autonomy
We conclude with autonomy. We have about 5-6 hours of continuous use and a total of 17 hours using the case. We are therefore average, without major surprises.
We take the opportunity, however, to talk about the case which is the element that convinced us less. It is very compact and incorporates the slightly dotted pattern of the earphones but there is no magnetic closure, only a physical button to open them. In addition, there is no wireless charging, which we would have expected given the price range.
Sony LinkBuds review: conclusions
At this point we should answer the mother of all questions: are they worth buying? Sony LinkBuds aren’t for everyone. They cost 180 euro and are specifically designed pfor those who want to stay in contact with the outside without sacrificing good audio quality, good performance of the microphones and autonomy that allows you to cover two days of use without great difficulty.
That said, we must congratulate Sony because it takes courage to innovate a sector like that of true wireless headphones that has accustomed us to a certain repetition in terms of design and hardware. We are sure that, over time, the aural driver of the Japanese company will give us other satisfactions.