Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless Noise Canceling Earbud Headphones with Alexa Built-in, Bluetooth Ear Buds Compatible with iPhone and Android, White

The Sony Linkbuds S are a shrunk-down, improved version of the already excellent WF-1000XM4. I wasn't expecting this. Given the "Linkbuds" moniker I was expecting them to prioritize ambient sound features over all else, just like the original Linkbuds, but that simply isn't the case here. Build: the Linkbuds S are impossibly small compared to the WF-1000XM4, Sony's previous noise canceling earphones. They actually resemble the Samsung Galaxy buds 2 in overall size and shape. They also sport a nice large touch sensitive area that no one should have trouble missing. The only gripe I do have is that the outer surface is textured and this can cause some discomfort if it rubs against the crus helix. Case: the case is definitely one of the more pocketable out there. It's about the same size as the Airpods Pro case, but slightly shorter and narrower, albeit a bit thicker. However, it also has a textured surface which can make it a little difficult to slide in and out of pockets. Fit: the Linkbuds S fit very similar to the Galaxy Buds 2 and deeper than the WF-1000XM4. They are a little fiddly to fit. In my case I have to rotate them back and forth to get them to seat correctly. Although Sony instructs users to rotate the buds backwards to get a good fit I actually found this uncomfortable because the buds would rub against my Crus Helix and cause discomfort. Rotating them forward slightly fixed the issue. Once the buds were in place I found the fit to be secure and that, combined with their light weight, meant that it was easy to forget they were there. My one complaint about the fit is that the buds are so small that it's very difficult to insert them without either accidentally hitting the touch area or rubbing a finger against the noise canceling microphone, resulting in some static noise. Noise canceling: the noise canceling on the Linkbuds S is fantastic. Although the Linkbuds S are advertised as being open I actually found them to be more isolating than the WF-1000XM4s without noise canceling on. With noise canceling on I actually found the Linkbuds S to be slightly superior to the WF-1000XM4 in terms of blocking out background noise and they certainly blow the Galaxy Buds Pro/2 out of the water. I haven't had chance to test the Linkbuds S with very low frequency sounds (e.g. public transport, planes) but for blocking out office and household noise they're the best true wireless earphones I've tried. Sound: I saved the best to last. I was very pleasantly surprised with the sound quality of the Linkbuds S. The WF-1000XM4s were a big disappointment in this regard, with an overly dark presentation for my taste that led to recessed mids and lackluster treble. The Linkbuds S by comparison adopt a Harman-like tuning that presents mids and treble brilliantly with a satisfying bass boost that doesn't dominate the overall sound. The Linkbuds S definitely beat the WF-1000XM4s for overall sound and they're up there with the Galaxy Buds Pro/2, which are the reigning champs. Comparing the Galaxy Buds side by side with the Linkbuds S I honestly can't pick a favorite amongst the three, which I think is a very good thing. Other: in my limited tests the transparency features are great, as with the WF-1000XM4s. The only other thing that I think is worth noting is that the Linkbuds S struggle to maintain LDAC connectivity more than the WF-1000XM4s. This isn't surprising, given the small size, but is worth considering for anyone who wants to use LDAC in challenging environments or on the go. Wrap up: previously if I wanted to recommend a pair of true wireless earphones for someone I would have to include a 'but'. The Airpods Pro have great noise canceling but the sound isn't top tier and they don't play well with Android devices. The Galaxy Buds sound fantastic but the noise canceling isn't great and they don't play well with iOS. The WF-1000XM4s have top tier noise canceling and work well with both iOS and Android devices, but their sound isn't the best. The Linkbuds S on the other hand have top tier noise canceling, work excellent with both iOS and Android, and have excellent sound. These are now my default recommendation to anyone looking for new True Wireless earphones. Alternative picks: If it wasn't for the better Bluetooth connectivity of the WF-1000XM4s and the improved battery life the Linkbuds S would have made the XM4s redundant. Whether the increased price is worth it for those things will be up to the individual. I think there's still a case to be made for getting the cheaper Galaxy buds over the Linkbuds S if noise canceling isn't a priority. However, I think the only reason to pay more for the Airpods Pro would be if you really like the design and/or the enhanced integration with iOS is really important.

BUYERS BEWARE - DO NOT BUY IF YOU VALUE YOUR MONEY!!! The charging life of these earbuds nose dive after about a year and a half of use! Don’t get me wrong, the earbuds sound really good, but the fact that after purchasing two different pairs of these earbuds, BOTH PAIRS had the same battery life / charging issues. After about a year and a half of use, the right earbud holds just enough of a charge to function for a little over an hour and then dies rather abruptly, while the left earbud still has well over half of its charge left. I tried calling Sony tech support, and as I am sure you can guess, though the support person I spoke with was kind and patient, their troubleshooting did nothing to restore the battery life of my earbuds. I was then told to call a third party repair service, which just directed me to a website to submit a repair. The SoundConnect app used to manage the earbud settings and features is clunky to use at the best of times, not to mention updating the firmware for the earbuds is a painfully slow and clunky process as well. If you have an iPhone, be prepared to deal with connectivity issues when taking phone calls - and problems with the app on the iPhone working in sync with the earbuds themselves. Because of the sound and lightweight quality of the earbuds, I wanted to love them. However, given the $200 price tag for obviously poorly constructed electronics, I CANNOT RECOMMEND THESE EARBUDS TO ANYONE, unless you want to just waste $200 of your hard earned money. Take it from someone who has owned two pairs of these earbuds and can confirm, no matter how well you take care of the Sony Linkbuds earbuds, they will stop holding a charge rendering them pretty much useless after about about a year and a half of use, the SoundConnect app is less than good, updating the earbuds firmware is extremely slow and drawn out, connectivity issues when taking a call gets old fast…and now I’m finding my earbuds case looks like it isn’t holding a charge as well. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere!!! UPDATE: The "troubleshooting" the Sony customer service rep walked me through did nothing to help with my Linkbuds issues. As a matter of fact, now they are barely holding a charge...no joke. At least before the troubleshooting I got a little use out of them before the charge would die. The site the Sony customer service rep referred me to that I mentioned in my original review was not set up to take repairs for the Sony Linkbuds S earbuds at all. The information on the repair site basically suggested I find a local electronics repair shop. So, I tried that. Not one business I called worked on the Sony earbuds - and I live in a large, tech-centric city. That was a total bust and waste of my time. Then, through a random online search, I found a link to Sony webpage that directed me to call United Radio Service Inc. for repairs, so I did. The person I spoke with told me that the cost for parts and repair labor made it infeasible to repair the earbuds due to the fact that the cost of the repairs would be more than the purchase cost of the earbuds. Another bust. Finally, I also found out that the earbuds and the USB transceiver are all pre-set with information that allows them to communicate with and from each other. These settings can only be configured at a Service Center with all components present. For this reason, you can't just simply replace one missing part yourself, i.e. a damaged earbud, say with one that you find refurbished online. Bottom line: You can't actually get the earbuds repaired, and you can't replace a defective earbud. No matter what line of nonsense Sony tries to tell you. Once these stop working properly outside the timeframe of the warranty, you are out of luck. ***Again, Don't waste your money or time with these earbuds. Look elsewhere, you'll be glad in the long run that you did!***

It has taken me over a year and quite a bit of money to find some ear buds that won't fall out of my ears!! Apparently I have freakishly small ear canals. Hard ear buds like airpods hurt like a mofo after being in place for any amount of time and every soft ear bud I have tried will literally fall out when I'm sitting still. These came up on a "Best of" earbud list for small ear canals and I decided to give them a go. To be fair, these are the most expensive pair I've tried to this point, so it's entirely possible that the 2-300+ dollar pairs might fit small ears easily, but I was trying to avoid paying that much. To be honest, I was trying to avoid paying more than 50 bucks, but after my third try, I knew that was a pipe dream. I think the combination of the smaller size and the fact they are lighter than most ear buds, these finally are the ones that stay put!! You do have to download a special app in order to get them to connect to your device - which is strange and kind of annoying - and sometimes the battery will just die without warning, but other than those two small complaints, I love these earbuds! Highly recommend for people with small ear canals and for the rest of you too! :) Update 6/16/25: still LOVE these! In fact I bought a second pair. I’ve updated my star rating from a 4 to a 5 bc you don’t need the app to connect them, apparently I’m just an idiot.

I got this for 7.6k during the great Indian sale which is a steal!!! This comes very close to Sony's flagship tws, WF-1000XM4. The audio quality is mind blowing. The ANC is really good. You can say that it comes to about 90% of XM4's ANC capability. The battery life is decent but it doesn't matter to me much as I don't wear it continuously for more than 2 hrs and I put it back in the case after use. The comfort is great unlike the XM4 and you can wear it for a long time. It has a quick charge feature where a 5 min charge gives you 60 mins of playback. As mentioned by another reviewer, don't use the Equalizer in the Sony Headphones app. Install the Wavelet app and use its auto equalizer for Linkbuds S. The difference in quality is huge. Another useful feature is that you can connect to 2 devices at the same time. Do note that the right earbud is the primary unit and it consumes more power than the left one. There will be a slight difference in the battery to about 2 to 6% between both the earbuds. If you see a huge difference to about 12 to 20% or more, one of the earbuds is defective and you need to get it replaced. The only drawback I felt in this device is that during phone calls, the voice sounds mechanical and not natural. When I called my friend via the earbuds, he immediately asked me if I'm using some earphones or headphones as the clarity wasn't great. So if you are buying this device for calls, I will not recommend it. You can look at other premium devices like Samsung Buds 2 Pro, Airpods Pro 2, Bose QC 2, Oppo Enco X2 and the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. The latest Sony flagship, WF-1000XM5, is the best version of the XM4 and the Linkbuds S as it has incorporated all the positives from both devices. If you have the budget, then definitely go for the XM5.

Tl;Dr: Awesome for small ears and side sleepers. Good quality and easy to use. However, there's a whole app and a ton of features you might not use, making the price tag a little less worth it for you. I absolutely recommend these earbuds if you have small ears like me. I've never had earbuds that (even with the tiniest buds) don't hurt my ears or gradually slip and fall out due to how small my ears are. These are the first earbuds I've ever had that fit like a glove and are comfortable for hours on end. You can tell how well they fit in the pictures I attached. Swear to God, doctors should prescribe you these earbuds if they notice your ears are tiny lol. It's also awesome how low profile they are. Check out the attached picture for how little it sticks out from my ear. It's perfect if you like a lowkey style or if you like to lay on your side and listen to stuff. I can sleep on my side with both earbuds in for a good hour or two, which I really appreciate. I also appreciate their ease of use. Pairing them to a device is simple; just press a button on the back of the case. I also like all the touch controls, e.g. tap once on the left to switch from noise cancelling to ambient, tap 4x on the right to raise volume, etc. They work well while also not being oversensitive. Your music won't pause just because your hat or hair hit your ear, which is great. As far as quality goes, they're about what I'd expect for this price range. The sound quality is good and I like the different equalizer settings. I really like how it'll give you a little test and create an equalizer profile fit to your music taste. The noise cancelling is good enough and the ambient mode works well too. Lastly, the quality of the earbuds themselves is good. I didn't get the recycled plastic ones, but mine feel like good quality plastic. My sole complaint is that I feel like the value for money is off a bit if you don't care about the extra software. If you don't want to install the app that goes with the earbuds and set up the extra features, it feels like a bit of a waste. For example, there's this whole adaptive noise cancelling feature that will automatically adjust when (and how much?) noise is cancelled based on what you're doing and where you are. I haven't used this feature at all. Firstly, because it takes a set up process in a quiet place, which I never got around to doing. Secondly, it requires precise location data to be on and accessed at all times. Call me a boomer, but I don't think my earbuds need to or should know which cafés I frequent or what my schedule is like. It's a lot of work when it's already so easy to just manually switch them from noise cancelling to ambient when someone talks to you. It also supports 360° Dolby atmos sound, which is cooler in theory than in practice. Very few music streaming platforms support this sound. Tidal was the only one I recognized, and it seems like it's dropping the service soon. I can't help but wonder if the price could have been lower if it didn't have this feature that most customers won't use. Other people might feel the same about the equalizer settings or the ability to test and find the best fit for your ears. Anyway, if you don't care about these extra features, there might be a cheaper, simpler option for you. Either way, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I've had them for 6 months now and although the $200 price tag wasn't easy for me, I never regret my decision. I'll probably keep buying these until they stop making them lol.

Utilizo o Sony Linkbuds S no home office, academia e nas corridas (longões) de final-de-semana. A qualidade dos microfones, som, ANC e som ambiente são excelentes, as funcionalidades de speak-to-chat e aprendizagem dos ambientes são muito divertidos e úteis, os LinkBuds S são confortáveis e muito estáveis, fixam bem e não caem durante os treinos de corrida. O únicos ponto que precisa melhorar e uma proteção maior conta água, suor e poeira, ele vem com IPX4.

Pros: Su Carga (la bateria promete lo que cumple) Buena App En iOS se comporta mejor y es mas estable, aunque en Android me funciono bien tambien pero aveces se desconectaban (use un iPhone 13 Pro Max y Un s22 Ultra) El sonido es bueno, tiene exceso de bajos, a mi me gusta mas planos, por que soy ingeniero de audio, pero con el ecualizador no tuve problema, ademas se sincroniza con mi cuenta, asi que si uso los auriculares en mi iphone o ipad recuerda la ecualizacion en la app. La Supresion De Ruido Es Magnifica (Mucho mejor que Airpods Pro) suprimen igual que los airpods pro pero no sacan ese ruido blanco molesto que aveces me sacaban los airpods pro, aunque no suprimen todo el ruido es decente. Para hacer ejercicio funcionaron bien, no se cayeron, quedaron fijos y no se movian. Cosas que no me gustaron: El material si bien es reciclado, tiene un tacto extraño, no es liso, parece mas un carton corrugado, se siente arenoso, y los audifonos tambien, es cuestion de gustos pero a mi me hubiera gustado que se sintiera listo y no arenoso y extraño. Los controles tactiles son buenos, pero solo te deja cambiar los predeterminados por la app para cada auricular, por ejemplo si elijes que con un auricular quieres cambiar el modo ambiente y el de supresion de ruido puedes hacerlo tocando un clic, pero si presionas dos clics no pasa nada, (la app no te permite pesonalizar), asi que al final tuve que optar por tener en el izquierdo la supresión y el modo ambiente, y del lado derecho el control de volumen, sacrificando cambiar de cancion o pausar (una lastima por que la podria poner del lado del control de ruido con dos clics) cuando se cierra la tapa se pierde la conexion, si quieres conocer el estado de bateria no basta con abrir la tapa, tienes que sacarlos para ver el estado en la app y se conecten los auriculares. No permite la conexion multidispositivo de forma rapida, es decir cuando tenia mis airpods podia pasar de mi iphone a mi mac, a mi ipad y los detectaba sin tocar nada, aqui no es asi tienes que irte al apartado de bluettooh y buscarlos (claramente primero tienes que emparejarlos, ya despues de eso se queda registrados pero tienes que buscarlos si cambias de dispositivo) El Modo Ambiente funciona bien, tiene una opcion para escuchar a las voces mas claras, pero no esta a la altura de otros del mercado, tu propia voz no se oye clara, se oye acartonada, tambien tiene mucho ruido blanco, aunque me gusto que se pueda controlar el nivel de ambiente o de sonido que quieres oir. vengo de unos airpods pro por que no me quedaban y me lastimaban la oreja, estos me quedan muy bien, se moldan perfecto a la estructura de la oreja, pero despues de una hora si me empezo a doler la oreja, si tienes la parte de la oreja donde va la forma circular del auricular muy pequeña puede que te moleste como ami, apesar de eso se sienten solidos y ergonomicos. Extras: los auriculares ofrecen extras en la aplicacion de sony, como el audio 360 que funciona bien pero solo funciona con ciertas aplicaciones, o el DSEE Extreme que optimiza los archivos digitales de música comprimida en tiempo real con Edge-AI (Se oia normal nada destacable), sin embargo ningun de estos extras le dan un plus a el auricular, haciendo que no destaquen mucho. los microfonos son pasables, no son geniales, pero te sacan del apuro no esperes lo mejor. Conclusion: Son buenos si tienes cualquier sistema operativo, recomiendo que se usen solo si los piensas escuchar en un solo dispositivo, ya que la interconectividad entre dispositivos es tediosa, por el precio creo que esta bien, la calidad del sonido me gusto y el modo de supresion de ruido es muy bueno, sin llegar a sentir tu oido taponado, cancelando un buen porcentaje de ruido.

BOUGHT Nov 23, 2022 (was 4 stars): Needed to replace my Bose Soundsport bluetooth headphones for working out + travel (less bulky than the Sony WH-1000XM3). This was 44% cheaper during Black Friday sales so I took a chance amidst the mixed reviews. PROS: really comfortable, great for outdoor walks & workouts. Battery life is good with the charging case and very responsive for tap functions or linking to a variety of devices. CONS: some songs sound EXCELLENT, some (instrumental) sound awful like from a tin can. Limited sound adjustment but I knew nothing beats the VERY expensive WH-1000X series for sound (curious what THOSE earphones sound like!). Not perfect, but worthwhile at the SALE price; full/regular price, I wouldn't buy it. UPDATE Sept 24, 2024 (now 1 star): I'm now getting the dreaded problem others have complained about. Even after a full charging session, the LEFT airbud and case are still reading at 99-100% but the RIGHT airbud starts at 94%, and its power starts to drop in real time, a percentage every 30 seconds or so of playing music! In short, after a 45 minute workout it's already at 20% with low battery warning. When others complain to SONY, their customer service offers the same list of links with DID YOU TRY THIS, etc. I try them all to no change in behavior, and like at the end of every list, they give a link to contact them directly. It goes to a generic page listing every since SONY product except the Linkbud S in question, making most people give up. I know. I was warned. I hoped it wouldn't happen to me but... I'll have to live with a super weak RIGHT earbud charge and start shopping for a replacement in the near future. It's a shame as I quite like their older over-ear WH-1000XM3 headphones which still work just fine. Linkbuds however, turned into Linkduds. :-(