Sony today announced a trio of new products in its LinkBuds line. (One of which really isn’t what you’d consider when you hear “buds,” but we’ll get to that in a minute.) Building on the 2022’s LinkBuds and LinkBuds S, the new LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open are still of the earbud variety, matching fit and style with design and function. Sony’s adding the LinkBuds Speaker, too, which features some special pairing with the new buds, as well as a couple other Sony headphones.
And, yes, after a successful collaboration with the LinkBuds S in 2023, Olivia Rodrigo (who must always be referred to by both names, my teenage daughters tell me) is back for more.
Still need more? Say goodbye to the old Sony Headphones Connect app, and say hello to the new Sound Connect app.
Let’s get into it.
The LinkBuds Fit
The new LinkBuds Fit (née LinkBuds S) are all about comfort. “Unrivaled comfort,” Sony says. That’s in part due to the design themselves, which Sony says “combines a shape that perfectly matches the human ear with an ergonomic design for a more stable fit.” It also said it’s used “extensive ear shape data” — which is something we’ve heard from pretty much every earbud manufacture this year — “as well as the sensitivity of various types of ears to ensure an ideal shape and comfort.” And they weigh in at 4.9 grams, same as the LinkBuds S.
All that comfort also has to do with the new “Air Fitting Supporters.” As Sony puts it, “the Air Fitting Supporters have a tail that is soft and hollow to reduce ear contact and pressure, and to prevent accidental dislodging.” They also come in different colors so if you don’t like what comes with your LinkBuds Fit — which themselves are available in black, white, green, and Olivia Rodrigo’s favorite, violet — you can replace them with another color. Same goes for the extra “Case Covers,” which also allow you to personalize things.
Sony also says they sound good. An automatic ambient mode automatically adjusts the ambient sound to your surroundings. And the LinkBuds Fit have the “Integrated Processor V2,” same as is in the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds. The LinkBuds Fit support Multipoint so you can connect them to more than one device at a time. And Bluetooth 5.3 gets you LDAC, SBC, AAC, and LC3 Bluetooth codecs.
You still get a plethora of controls, too. Instant play and auto-pause are on board, as are new head gestures. Nod to pick up a call, shake your head side to side to decline. (Yes, that sounds familiar — Apple’s AirPods 4 have head gestures too.) Same goes for and voice control. They also support Spotify Tap and Amazon Music Play Now, as well as “Wide Area Tap,” so you can double or triple tap to hit all the functions beyond the buds themselves — yes, we mean on your face. It’s weird at first, but it works.
Battery life on paper is 5.5 hours in the buds themselves, with up to 21 hours of total playback after three more top-ups from the case. Sony says 5 minutes of charging will get you another hour of playback, which is pretty par for the course these days.
And while you won’t want to take these swimming, you should be good with sweat and maybe a light rain, thanks to the IPX4 rating.
The LinkBuds Open
Then we have the LinkBuds Open, which follow their predecessors by keeping the same open-ear design (which remains more like an open ear-hole design than, say, what Shokz does) and adjusts the name to match. There’s an 11mm hole in the middle of these buds, so you can still hear what’s going on around you while listening to, say, Olivia Rodrigo. And you can listen to Olivia Rodrigo with Adaptive Volume Control, which automatically adjusts things depending on how loud it is around you.
Sony considers these to be all-day earbuds thanks to their open design and Air Fitting Supporters. You don’t get quite as many colors, though — just black, white, and Olivia Rodrigo Violet. Optional Case Covers are available here, too.
Like the LinkBuds Fit, the LinkBuds Open also are powered by the Integrated Processor V2. The ring-shaped driver features a “high-compliance diaphragm and powerful neodymium magnet” for the mids and highs. And they support a Digital Sound Enhancement Engine for clear phone calls.
Battery life is a bit better than the LinkBuds Fit — Sony says to expect 8 hours before recharging, and up to 22 hours after depleting the case a couple times. You get the same IPX4-ish water resistance as the LinkBuds Fit.
The LinkBuds Speaker
The LinkBuds Speaker is, well, a speaker. Its claim to fame is Auto Switch, which somehow “swaps playback between LinkBuds earbuds and the LinkBuds Speaker automatically, depending on the situation.” And you should be able to switch back and forth all day long with up to 25 hours of battery life and the ability to quick charge. Obvious power, play/pause and volume buttons make for good controls.
There’s a detachable strap (that looks more like a ring-type handle) that makes the LinkBuds Speaker easy to carry around, and a dedicated charging cradle with pogo pins, so you can pick it up and go, if you want. Or plug in. Your call. (But think about what Olivia Rodrigo would do. And whether she’d go for the gray or black model.)
How does it sound? We’ll have to see. (Erm, hear.) But chances are the “X-Balanced Speaker Unit” with a tweeter and passive radiators should keep things going nicely. There’s also a five-band equalizer so you can tweak things that way.
And, yes, this is one you can use by the pool. Keep the wired charging flap closed and it’s IPX4 water resistant.
Pricing
Everything is available for preorder now from Sony. Here’s how it breaks down:
- LinkBuds Fit: $200 at Amazon, Best Buy and others
- LinkBuds Open: $200 at Amazon, Best Buy and others
- Air Fitting Supporters: $10 a pair, only from sony.com
- Case Cover: $20, and you can get custom colors on the upper and bottom parts, only from sony.com
- LinkBuds Speaker: $180 at Sony and Amazon
The new Sound Connect app
And, finally, the old Sony Headphones Connect app is getting a much-needed refresh. (It’s long been a drag on the overall Sony headphones experience, functional as it may be.) Starting today, the Headphones Connect app should update to become Sound Connect.
Sony says all headphones that are currently compatible with the old app will be compatible with the new app. And ULT Speakers/Headphones and the new LinkBuds Speaker will be, too.
