Can we have a conversation about situational awareness? It’s definitely appropriate that we do when one considers the hazards of walking around, running, or commuting while completely disengaged from the world around us with music playing. The popularity of earbuds; especially those with ANC, has created somewhat of a monster. Apple doesn’t deserve all of the blame, but we’re happy to see that a growing number of manufacturers are pivoting somewhat to “open” designs that offer a lot more safety. Sony’s LinkBuds Open are both novel and unique in terms of how they approach the issue.
Do they fix the problem while offering a better sonic experience?
Unboxing & Design
There is a little bit of confusion in regard to the original Sony LinkBuds (model WF-L900) and the LinkBuds Open (model WF-L910). The Open represent the second generation and when you put both models side-by-side, there are some subtle differences worth noting.
Opening the box reveals a nearly square case that is equal in width and depth but only about half height. The top is gloss while the bottom is matte finished with a seam down the center that allows the charging case to open like a clam shell. Under the case is a pull out drawer with the supplied USB cable with the buds and earbud covers both resting inside the case.
The novelty of the design is the figure 8 shape with half being a donut that fits over the ear canal and the other half a bulb that sits behind the donut and contains the battery and electronics.
A soft rubber cover fits over the bulb and allows for color changes and different sized wings that holds the earpiece firmly in place. The earbuds themselves come in black, white, or violet with a choice of blue, green, pink, violet, or black bulb and case covers.
This allows listeners to customise their earbuds to match their outfit rather than having to purchase multiple pairs which would be a waste of money.
The range of case and earbud covers is new, but the basic shape was first seen with the earlier LinkBuds, but the new model is smaller in nearly all dimensions. Although slightly smaller, the weight is actually increased by nearly a gram per earpiece most likely due to the improved battery.
Fit & Comfort
The case is small enough to fit comfortably in a pants pocket and with the addition of a case cover, can also be hung from a key chain or backpack. I found them easier to keep in a pants pocket without a case cover as the covers tended to pick up lint and make the case harder to extract when needed.
The earpieces themselves require that the covers be adjusted so the wings align with the cymba of the ear; this takes a bit of effort to get good alignment but since the covers can remain on the ear buds when charging it doesn’t need to be done very often.
Once fitted, I found the Sony LinkBuds Open to be comfortable for long listening sessions with little or no physical fatigue. If the wings are misaligned, physical fatigue does begin to creep in after about an hour.
The original wasn’t a problem for me, but my daughter found them uncomfortable so the smaller size of the Sony LinkBuds Open was a welcome change for her. Others who found the original design fatiguing due to its size will appreciate the improved ergonomics of the new design.
Internal Technology & Battery Life
The Sony LinkBuds Open use an 11mm donut shaped driver which is a novelty as most dynamic drivers have a voice coil and a large magnet structure parked directly in the central space. Instead, the voice coil is widened to create the central void with the magnets also moved to the outer ring directly behind the diaphragm. The driver is otherwise a typical dynamic driver operating on the same principles as other dynamic drivers.
The electronics are similar to those found in Sony’s XM series models with DSEE, some noise reduction capability, and support for SBC, AAC, and LC3 protocols via Bluetooth 5.3.
There is a pairing button next to the USB port on the rear of the case that can be used to force the earbuds into pairing mode or when connecting a second device. The XM series support LDAC while the LinkBuds do not, while the LinkBuds support Auto-volume control which is not a feature of the XM series models.
Battery life has been increased to 4.5 hours with volume at medium levels with the case providing nearly 3 additional charges. The case does not support wireless charging which is rather disappointing at this price point.
Sony Sound Connect App
The LinkBuds Open are controlled via the Sony Sound Connect app which is available for both Android and Apple devices. The upside of the Sony Connect app is the broad range of features it supports; the downside is the initial setup time due to far too many features.
Thankfully, the app disables features that don’t match the model in use which keeps things working smoothly. The only issue I found was when pairing both the Sony XM5 and LinkBuds Open to the same device, the app seems to preferentially find and control the XM5 instead of giving the user the option of controlling both devices.
Disconnecting the XM5 did result in the app switching to the LinkBuds Open; just be aware that the app can only control a single device at any given time.
The most used feature in the app for me was the EQ which include 8 presets, a manual setting, and the option for saving two sets of custom settings. This allows a broad range of choices for different musical preferences and was something I found helpful depending on the environment the earbuds were being used in.
The “Find your EQ” setting cycles through the various presets and allows the listener to choose which setting to keep which is a nice touch for quickly setting EQ options.
Another interesting sound tweak is the background music effect that allows the listener to set the music to sound like its playing through speakers at a distance in various settings. The default is café, but options for my room (a small space), and living room (a mid-sized space) exist in addition to the café or large space setting.
Sony’s DSEE system is present and allows users to upscale low bit-rate content to potentially improve fidelity. With most sources today operating at relatively high bit-rates, this has less utility than it did a few years ago, but can still be helpful.
Sony’s Spatial Audio with head tracking, which works with select Android devices and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio is even more limited as it relies on a connection to a Sony supported source.
Unfortunately, the more universally supported Dolby Atmos spatialization is not supported by the LinkBuds Open.
Other non-sound related features include auto-play that allows configuring playlists to play as soon as the ear buds are put on, auto-pause to stop music when buds are removed, and head gesture that allows for answering or rejecting calls with head movements.
The earbuds themselves allow the listener some limited touch controls including double-tap for play/pause, triple-tap for skip song, and quadruple-tap to lower volume. There are new voice controls as well that allow users to check battery status, adjust volume, and perform previous/next operations.
Admittedly, one can wind up looking a bit odd talking to oneself and shaking their head seemingly at random but the controls do work. We found it easier to use the app/source device than to use the onboard controls as too often one touch would be missed and it would do something unintended and the voice controls simply don’t offer a broad enough range of controls to fully operate the LinkBuds Open. They are a nice start and I look forward to newer versions adding to their capabilities.
Listening
Before going into the sound signature, it is important to note that open designs are often quite fit dependent as the slightest difference in distance from the ear will result in imbalances or loss of clarity caused by part of the driver being blocked by some portion of the ear.
As mentioned earlier, it took some time to find the best fit and listening was done after this initial process of finding the right fit.
Once fitted, I found a signature that was slightly dark and a bit loose in the low-end. Most open designs suffer from a lack of deep bass and my suspicion is Sony attempted to add a bit more bass to offset this common complaint.
The LinkBuds Open do have a bit more low-end grunt than most open designs, but it comes at the cost of a bit of clarity. The sub-bass is still limited so don’t expect these to please diehard bass heads, but there is some impact present.
As the signature moves up into the mid-bass, bass notes gain more texture but again there is an obvious trade-off being made to achieve greater bass impact as these simply don’t have the clarity that models like the sealed LinkBuds Fit bring to the table.
This can be adjusted using the EQ settings and I found that decreasing the bass and pushing the midrange and treble a bit more forward gave a much cleaner signature than the default at the expense of some bass presence.
The Midrange is a bit recessed and less clear than other models again probably because of the attempt to push more low-end into the signature. Guitars have good growl but rasp lacks some clarity and vocals vary depending on the recording.
With most tracks, vocals are delivered with enough tonal weight but there could be more texture and detail. String instruments: primarily violins and the cello need slightly more energy than the default signature provides, and I found myself using the EQ to achieve a good balance between clarity, texture, and detail.
The treble has a bit more clarity and need less tweaking, but still can use a bit of a push forward to bring the signature into balance. That extra push helps improve percussion snap and brings a bit more definition to the sound.
The open design does enable the Sony LinkBuds Open to recreate an above average sized soundstage and the auto-volume adjustment worked well in most environments although some noisier environments triggered the adjustment quickly when things got loud and took longer to adjust downward when things got quiet. Make no mistake, these have noise rejection for calls but make no attempt to provide noise cancelling.
The noise rejection on calls proved to be very good with most background noise reduced to levels well below the conversation making these a good option for using them for phone calls and also requiring situational awareness.
The Bottom Line
The vast majority of listeners who consider buying earbuds that offer improved situational awareness, understand that the design brings with it some trade-offs in regard to sound quality. If your top priority is the best possible sound quality, open-ear designs should probably not be on your shopping list.
However, if you are looking for a pair of earbuds that allow you to work out, run, cycle, or walk while enjoying background music to help keep you moving – designs like the Sony LinkBuds Open really come into their own.
Having used them in the gym, they stay in place and allowed me to hear other people who were on adjacent machines or treadmills, and I never felt like I was going to walk into someone by accident.
They were also excellent in regard to situational awareness when walking my dogs at night. I never had to worry about hearing cars coming around the corner or those running behind me.
The biggest plus? With the Sony LinkBuds Open retailing for almost $100 less than the Bose Ultra Open and Apple AirPods Pro 2 – they do the job at a much better price.
Pros
- Open design allows for better situational awareness
- Improved battery life
- Good call quality
- Good sound sculpting options
Cons
- Signature not as clean as some others
- Very fit specific
- Finicky controls
- No wireless charging
- Adaptive volume of limited utility
Where to buy
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