(Pocket-lint) – Sony has been one of the best choices for headphones for many years. With flagship product lines like the 1000X grabbing awards and headlines, there’s no shortage of quality if you’re happy to spend the big bucks.
With the arrival of a new brand in early 2022 – LinkBuds – we thought that name would be reserved for these unique open-ear headphones, but it is not. It also applies to the LinkBuds S, which land as something of a sub-flagship model, replicating much of what the WF-1000X offers, but in a more affordable package.
We plugged in and had fun with Sony’s LinkBuds S to see if they’re worth it.
Our quick pick up
The Sony LinkBuds S are a great set of truly wireless headphones. They’re a bit quiet, so you may need to turn up the volume a bit higher than with some competing headphones, but overall there’s a lot here that you’ll find in the 1000X models – but at a more affordable price.
The LinkBuds S take advantage of Sony’s wide range of audio technologies to make the experience of using them a little more seamless. The best sound quality is reserved for those connecting to devices that support LDAC, so they’re likely to be preferred by Android users, with the benefit of Google Assistant integration if you want it.
With a great feel, plenty of comfort and a choice of four ear tips per size, the Sony LinkBuds S are up there with some of the most attractive earphones out there. There are others that beat the quality or offer longer battery life, but for the price these are a serious set of headphones.
Sony Linkbuds S
4.5 stars – pocket moss recommended
For
- Comfort and fit
- Lots of software features
- Sounds great
Against
- Touch response can be a bit slow
- Not the loudest
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Design and build
Let’s get to the bottom of the name. Sony has a lot of products and while the 1000X has become a brand in its own right, the rest of the range is hidden in numbers and letters. LinkBuds, it seems, is designed to push another brand.
The product name of the LinkBuds S is WF-LS900N, although Sony has avoided using it, perhaps to try to make the LinkBuds S stick around. As it should, because this is a solid set of truly wireless headphones.
Pocket fluff
The LinkBuds S are compact, slimming down from the WF-1000X to make them 41 percent smaller and 43 percent lighter.
The design means they sit well in the auricle, visible but not protruding, so you’ll have no problem slipping a hat over them. They come with four sets of tips in different sizes to help you achieve the perfect seal.
We found them to sit well in the ear, comfortable and secure, meaning there’s no need for things like fins or wings to help them lock into your ear. This means they are secure when racing around – but of course the fit will vary from person to person.
Pocket fluff
They are finished in a tactile plastic that runs smooth on both the body of the bud and through the case. They’re IPX4-rated, so they can withstand splashes, but they won’t survive a soak like some dedicated sports headphones.
The case has a USB-C charging port on the back – no wireless charging – with a back button to trigger manual pairing. It has a nice movement on the case lid, with a colored LED strip giving you some indication of the status and an overall good feel of quality.
They come in three different colors black, white and ecru which is kind of beige.
Setup and control
- Google Fast Pair
- Sony Headphone App
- LDAC support for Hi-Res music
Thanks to Google Fast Pair, if you’re connecting to an Android device, the LinkBuds S will be automatically detected when you open the lid, so you can just tap and go. Once connected, you are also offered a link to the Sony Headphones app.
While the app isn’t essential, it unlocks a lot of functionality, so you’ll want to install that app as well. In this app, you can define things like the quality of the LDAC connection on devices that support higher resolution music, as well as the surround sound mode and controls.
Pocket fluff
If you’re connecting to an iPhone, you’ll end up on AAC, but Android already offers extensive support for LDAC, not just on Sony Xperia phones, but many others as well. The Sony Headphones app allows you to choose between sound quality or connection quality, as LDAC is more demanding on the connecting device and can sometimes cause connection problems if the signal is not strong enough.
The app lets you control the surround sound system, which offers to automatically adapt based on your activity. So if you’re walking, for example, it’ll let more sound through, but when you’re sitting still, it’ll block out more background noise.
However, this adaptive system is optional and we found it better to turn it off so you know exactly what you’re dealing with. We also found that the LinkBuds S always connected in ambient mode, even though we always used them in noise canceling mode.
Pocket fluff
You can customize the controls to some extent, so the supported faucets offer different features. Again, these are all mapped out in the app. Like the 1000X, you can have surround sound at the touch of a button, or you can have the music stop when you start talking, which is perfect for ordering coffee, for example.
There’s also integration with Alexa or Google Assistant, as well as quick access to Spotify if you want, meaning you’re fully equipped with services.
We also found that touch responses sometimes weren’t as quick as we’d like them to be. Double-tapping to skip tracks, for example, seems to take longer than it should and often causes us to pause instead of skipping music.
Performance and sound quality
- LDAC
- DSEE Extreme
- 360 Reality Audio
Sony LinkBuds S are loaded with audio technology. There are 5mm drivers in each earbud, but there’s also a lot to make your music and calls sound better.
We mentioned LDAC, and we’ve generally experienced a solid connection using LDAC on a number of phones, with the occasional dropout for a short period when turning the head. The connection and music are restored quickly, but this does not seem to depend on the device we were using, it seemed to be common for all the phones we tested.
Switching to the stable connection option resolves this issue, so if the occasional music dropouts annoy you, then make sure you select this option.
LDAC will get the most out of your higher-quality tracks, but for those not streaming from a high-quality source, there’s the DSEE Extreme option to improve the sound quality of your compressed tracks. Again, we thought it best to include this.
Pocket fluff
Sound quality is good from these headphones, with an option to adjust the equalizer if you want to further customize it to your liking.
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The active noise cancellation is also really effective, great for blocking out external noise like road noise and airplane hiss – although it won’t give you the quiet feeling you’d get from over-ear headphones.
Easily switching to surround sound is useful if you want to be more aware of your surroundings when walking, for example, on busy streets.
Noise cancellation also works well on calls, with those on the other end of the line still able to hear us with minimal interference, even in busy places. Most didn’t know we were using headphones for the conversation you wanted.
Pocket fluff
The voice assistant option is great, although we found Google Assistant to be a bit slow. On an Android device, you can have deep integration, be able to read notifications and offer a reply option, but it all seems a bit too slow and after a while it might be easier to just use your phone. But as a last resort with full hands, it’s perfect for serving.
The headphones also offer access to 360 Reality Audio, aimed at giving you more immersive audio with compatible apps. The setup for this process involves taking pictures of your ears, we’re not sure why. Disappointingly, you’ll have to repeat the process if you move phones or connect to another device.
No support for multipoint pairing.
Battery life
The LinkBuds S will give you 6 hours of music playback with ANC on, which extends to 9 hours if you turn off noise cancellation. Charging the headphones in the box takes about 2 hours.
The case charges via USB-C, which takes about 3 hours to fully charge. The case will give you 20 hours of total battery life, which is pretty average for this segment of the market, and you can check the battery status via the app. When the battery level gets low, you’ll get a notification in your ear so you’ll know when to charge.
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To summarize…
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