Today, we’re looking at the LinkBuds S, and we will discuss all the essential things you need to know about it. We have the white-coloured buds for our Sony LinkBuds S Review.
But if you aren’t into white, there are other colours available. You can choose something based on your aesthetics.
It’s one of Sony’s latest products under the LinkBuds family. The buds launched this March with an innovative ring driver style. Its design offers uniqueness in terms of sound quality, fit, and a look that gives off a premium vibe.
If you’re interested in the product and want to get more details, continue reading our Sony LinkBuds S Review. It will provide all the essentials about the buds’ features, specifications, design, functions, etc.
Sony LinkBuds S Packaging
Our buds arrived in a simple, premium-looking white box displaying a minimalist yet sophisticated vibe.
This plastic-free box includes the LinkBuds S in its charging case and a short USB-C cable to charge it. Sony even added four pairs of silicone tips for the earbuds.
Medium-sized tips are set on the buds by default, with XS, S, and L tips in the packaging. We love how Sony designed its packaging since it comes with small draws to access the guides, tips, and cable.
To continue our Sony LinkBuds S Review, we’re looking at the product’s functionality and design.
Sony LinkBuds S Review – Design and Functionality
If you look at the design of these earbuds, you’ll notice that Sony opted for a more classic style. Other than that comes with ANC or active-noise cancellation support – a feature that isn’t available on other LinkBuds.
Aside from the classic earbud design, the LinkBuds S has a large primary body that sits outside your ear. There’s also a part with a silicone tip that goes in your outer ear canal.
All parts of the LinkBuds S have a textured matte coating. Then, its outer touch-sensitive surface has a large and rounded shape, making it easy to tap/hold the control functions. It also has a sensor close to the three charging spots to know if you have the buds inserted.
While writing this Sony LinkBuds S Review, we saw how the charging case complements the LinkBuds S with its rounded style. It comfortably fits your pocket or hands for easy portability.
There are strong magnets on the charging case for holding the buds in place in their compartments. There’s a central LED to display the charging status and earbuds of the case. Additionally, a strong magnet secures the lid of the charging case.
Lightweight and Compact for Long-lasting Comfort
The Linksbuds S weighs 4.8g, so it’s the smallest and lightest wireless noise-cancelling buds around. Sony reduced its size with a compact driver. Then, it integrated the Bluetooth Audio SoC and noise-cancelling processor into a single chip.
Secure and Comfortable
Combining the perfect shape of the human ear and an ergonomic design, the LinkBuds S stays secure when worn. It uses extensive ear shape data collected since the introduction of the first in-ear buds in 1982. Sony also designed the LinkBuds S based on evaluating different ear sensitivities to make it comfy for everyone.
Transparent Ambient Sound or High-quality Noise Cancelling
The LinkBuds S lets you enjoy transparent ambient sounds and noise-cancelling. It automatically links the two modes depending on what you’re doing and where you are.
Adjusts ambient sound to whatever you do for all-day wearing
Adaptive Sound Control is an intelligent feature that detects your location and activity. The gathered data allows this feature to adjust ambient sound settings to achieve the ideal listening experience. Eventually, it learns your behaviour, recognises your usual locations, and tailors audio based on the situation.
Enjoy the Best Call Quality with the Sony LinkBuds S
Precise Voice Pickup technology optimises microphones on the inside and outside the earbuds. It also controls advanced audio signal processing to deliver ultra-clear communication even in noisy environments.
Developed with AI machine learning, Sony’s noise reduction algorithm uses over 500 million voice samples to suppress ambient noise. As a result, the LinkBuds S extracts your voice.
Immersive Sound and Authentic Music
The new 5mm driver unit may be small, but it reproduces crystal clear voices and powerful bass. It brings out the best in any genre of music with its rich mid-range that delivers clear voices. This driver also enhances noise cancelling for fewer distractions when you listen.
Enjoy High-Resolution Audio Wirelessly
With LDAC audio coding technology, the LinkBuds S supports High-Resolution Audio Wireless. LDAC transfers around three times more data than conventional Bluetooth audios.
This feature lets you enjoy high-resolution content and the quality that a dedicated wired connection delivers.
Real-time Restoration of Compressed Files
During our tests for the Sony LinkBuds S Review, we noticed the retained sound quality in the compressed files.
The LinkBuds S use Edge-AI, so DSEE Extreme converts compressed digital music files in real-time. It dynamically recognises musical genres, instrumentation, and each song’s elements.
More Convenience with the Sony LinkBuds S
Sony and Microsoft worked together to develop technology and support the Microsoft Soundscape app. As a result, it offers a rich 3D audio-based navigation while the embedded sensors allow for hands-free use.
Hear Ambient Sound Only
Speak-to-Chat allows you to pause music automatically when you speak. It’s a handy feature that lets you hear the ambient sound and conversation. When you finish talking, the music starts automatically playing again.
Instant Pause and Play
Removing the earbuds stops the music since the proximity sensor knows when you’re wearing one or both. Pop the earbuds back so the music will continue playing.
It’s a convenient feature when you’re busy and on the go. You won’t have to bother reaching to pause or play your favourite tunes.
Control with Your Voice When Using the Sony LinkBuds
Just say “Hey Google” or “Alexa” to activate your preferred voice assistant and get hands-free help. You can play music, connect with friends, set reminders, etc. Also, the LinkBuds allow managing noise-cancellation, interacting, and joining Microsoft Teams meetings.
Everything at Your Fingertips with Quick Access
Quick Access lets you configure the LinkBuds S to continue Spotify music playback or personalised Endel soundscapes. A two to three taps, and you won’t have to use your smartphone.
Fast Pair to Locate Your Headphones
The LinkBuds S supports Google’s new Fast Pair. This helpful feature lets you find your earbuds by sound. You can also check their last location in Google’s Find My Device app.
Easy and Quick Pairing with Your Computer
Swift Pair makes pairing your headphones quick and easy with your Windows 11 or Windows 10 laptop, desktop PC or tablet. The pop-up pair assistant appears on nearby Windows 11 or Windows 10 devices when you’re on pairing mode.
LE Audio: Next-generation Bluetooth Audio
The LinkBuds S is ready for LE audio, so you can enjoy ultra-low latency that’s excellent for gaming. This next-generation Bluetooth audio also offers high-quality sound Thanks to the Processor V1, your audio will be stable and skip-free as you enjoy your wireless freedom.
Minutes of Charging and Whole Day of Listening with the Sony LinkBuds S
With a full charge, the LinkBuds S gives you 6 hours of playtime. The charging case has an extra 14 hours, so you have 20 hours of playback time.
Charging the earbuds for five minutes gives you up to an hour of playtime. If you need to monitor the LinkBuds S’ battery life, access the Sony Headphones Connect app.
Specifications
We also looked at the LinkBud S’ specifications for our Sony LinkBuds S Review. These are closed-dynamic earbuds, and each weighs approximately 4.8g.
It comes with a 5mm high-power neodymium magnet and Bluetooth frequency response of 20Hz to 20,000Hz (44.1kHz sampling). Its frequency response ranges from 20Hz to 40,000Hz (LDAC 96kHz sampling – 990kbps).
These earbuds are waterproof. That means you can use these on the beach, during a swimming party, or when you’re out doing errands.
The buds charge for approximately two hours, and USB charging is possible via its case. For continuous music playtime, the battery lasts six hours with the NC on and nine hours with the NC off.
For continuous communication time, the buds’ battery lasts 3.5 hours max despite having the NC switched on/off. When it’s on idle, the maximum hours of its battery life is 8.5 hours with the NC switched on. If you switch it off, the battery life lasts longer at 16 hours.
The earbuds use the Bluetooth Specification Version 5.2 with an effective range of 10m. Here, its frequency range is 2.4GHz band (2.4000GHz to 2.4835GHz).
Hands-on with the Sony LinkBuds S
We ensured to try the LinkBuds S and used it for a couple of weeks to see their performance. In our Sony LinkBuds S Review, we’ll share our hands-on experience with the buds and how well they performed.
But before we look at its performance, we’ll discuss its Headphones Connect Software.
It’s best to download and install the Headphones Connect Software to optimise your LinkBuds S. After doing so, wear the earbuds to start pairing them with your smartphone. It supports Microsoft Swift Pair and Google Fast Pair so linking to Windows and Android devices is easy.
The software displays each earbud and charging case’s battery level. With a menu on the interface’s upper-right corner, you can view tutorials and check the earbuds’ firmware version. It lets you back up and restore settings via the cloud or start the Music Centre app.
When we listened to music with the LinkBuds S, we were impressed by the clean vocals and solid bass.
We had a more enjoyable experience when we listened to and viewed video content since there was no latency. We also didn’t notice any lags or delays.
The overall audio quality was excellent with its balanced frequency response. Vocals, guitar, and bass were clear, and the bass sounded nice and punchy.
We often listen to music and podcasts via Spotify, so we used the dedicated features for this app. To our surprise, these were perfectly convenient. The features allowed us to enjoy our favourite content without much effort.
It also worked efficiently for voice calls, and we had no issues with clarity and latency.
The LinkBuds S also performed well with its ANC technology and blocked out most environmental noise. Low sounds like the rumble of a car’s engine or the blaring of a lawn mower weren’t audible.
Sony claims that these earbuds can last up to six hours when fully charged. Our test results received five hours and 41 minutes, which was close enough.
This number of hours is also more than enough since we don’t listen to music or podcasts continuously. Plus, its charging case comes with additional 14 hours, which is a lot.
Sony LinkBuds S Review Summary
The LinkBuds S is an exceptional pair of earbuds with excellent build quality, specifications, features, and performance. Although its battery life isn’t impressive, it’s long enough to last a day. We also appreciate the eco-friendly materials used for its packaging.
We enjoyed using this product during our tests since it was comfortable to wear. Both buds stayed in our ears securely even while we moved around.
Most importantly, its excellent features and performance improved our music and calls. It reproduced high-quality audio full of detail with impressive soundstage, tonality, and balanced frequency range.
Overall, we were satisfied with this product, and we highly recommend it.
Want to learn more about the LinkBuds S? Check out Sony’s official product page for more details.
