Stand out in comfort, sound and call quality
I bought these because I have had great experience with other Sony headphones I’ve owned and used regularly, most recently the WF1000XM5. I use those when I travel because, 1. The noise cancellation and sound isolation/suppression are the best I’d ever experienced with buds, and 2. The audio quality with music is top notch. I have many more pluses but those two are invaluable for me as I fly a lot, so buds are best for me. Cans make me hot and uncomfortable on longer flights.

Unfortunately, the advantages of the M5’s for flying, makes them a bit of an issue for me to use regularly for work or home. All that time between flights, I take a lot of virtual meetings and calls in busy places. I need to be able to hear the other side and they should be able to hear me without having to find a quiet space or isolate myself from the environment. Friends have recommended other models and brands, but those were made for runners and I don’t run, so I avoided them. I also didn’t want something too big around my ears so they’d stay on (again, I don’t run). Then I saw these launch. At first, I was skeptical of the style. I wanted open air concept, but I didn’t think these would sit right and would be two far from my ear canal. I have big ears. I figured I’d give them a shot as my experience with Sony buds were always good.

These surprised me and didn’t disappoint. First they fit well, I didn’t need the supplied cushions, but I can see those cushions providing a more customizable fit for some people, maybe those with smaller ears (not me). They sat pretty close to my ear canal. The spacing was great. Close enough to hear the music, far enough to be open ear and allow just enough external noise for me. Audio quality was superb. I thought I was just going to put these in for calls. I’m actually using them and keeping them on longer for music listening because audio quality is great. It sounds like you are listening to speakers in your ceiling or an external sound source. You almost forget that they’re on, which speaks to the comfort. More comfortable then your typical in ear or hook style buds. I even use them when I’m working in the office. Try out the background music feature. Pretty cool effect.

Oh, the reason I bought them is the best part. I use them in the office, at home, and out and about when I have con calls to take. Especially at the airport. This does a great job of isolating my voice so others hear me more than the background. I’m also surprised how well I can hear especially when in busy places like airports.

All the rest is great, 5+ hours is fine for me. My M5’s are 5 hours and good enough for a flight from the Midwest to the West coast. I don’t have 5 hour meetings and I personally wouldn’t want headphones on for 8 – 10 hours working at my desk. I try not to work at one sitting for that long. Feel bad for anyone that does.

All in all, I’m happy with these. I even got my wife to try them. She hates all types of headphones. Cans mess up her hair and buds are uncomfortable for any length of time. She was even more skeptical than me. She’s a fan and I may have a mother’s day gift idea.

My advice would be to try these if you’re skeptical. They may surprise you even more than they surprised me.

Great App Features and Comfort, But Open-Ear Design Limits Volume
I ordered these Sony LinkBuds wireless open-ear earbuds, and here are my thoughts after using them for about a month.

First off, after testing a few open-ear earbuds, I’ve realized that this style of earbud simply isn’t my personal preference. However, I still wanted to give these a fair and balanced review.

I have tried some much cheaper open-ear earbuds before, and there is definitely a noticeable difference in quality with these Sony earbuds. That said, like most open-ear designs, I find that volume and bass are somewhat limited compared to traditional sealed earbuds.

Thankfully, the Sony Sound Connect app includes an equalizer that allows you to adjust the sound. I ended up boosting the bass quite a bit, lowering the midrange slightly, and increasing the higher frequencies. With these adjustments, the sound becomes much more enjoyable and reasonably balanced for an open-ear design.

Open-ear earbuds allow you to listen to your surroundings while still hearing your music, which can be useful in certain situations. To me, the experience is somewhat like having a small radio playing in the room with you rather than music being fully isolated in your ears.

However, when using these while out and about, especially on the bus, I found them somewhat disappointing. The motor noise from the bus is barely drowned out even at maximum volume, which is one of the trade-offs with open-ear earbuds.

I also tested them with a few phone calls, and the call quality seemed good. The person on the other end reported that my voice sounded clear, and their voice was also easy to hear.

In terms of comfort, these earbuds are quite comfortable to wear. They come with two small rubber fitting supports to help adjust how they sit in your ear. I experimented with them but personally preferred using the earbuds without the additional supports.

The companion app offers several listening modes including:

Standard Mode

Voice Boost Mode

Sound Leakage Reduction Mode

Background Music Mode

The sound leakage reduction mode works by reducing higher frequencies, which helps prevent others nearby from hearing your music. That said, because these earbuds aren’t extremely loud to begin with, sound leakage generally isn’t a big issue in noisy environments.

The voice boost mode enhances speech frequencies, which works well for listening to audiobooks or making lyrics easier to hear in music.

The background music mode works best in quieter environments and creates more of an ambient listening experience.

The app also includes several preset EQ options such as Heavy, Clear, Hard, Soft, and Manual. I ended up using the manual EQ, with the bass turned up fully, mid frequencies a little above halfway, and the high frequencies around three-quarters. This setup improved both the perceived volume and overall sound balance.

The earbuds also support tap controls for basic functions. By default:

Left earbud

Double tap cycles between Standard, Voice Boost, and Sound Leakage Reduction modes

Triple tap is not assigned by default

Repeated tapping lowers the volume

Right earbud

Double tap Play/Pause

Triple tap skips to the next track

Repeated tapping raises the volume

You can also configure some additional options through the app. For example, the left earbud can be set to launch certain music apps, such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and possibly others. These assignments can be changed through the settings in the app.

Overall, I think these are well-made open-ear earbuds with good app customization and comfort, but the open-ear design comes with limitations in volume and bass that may not suit everyone. Personally, I’m more used to sealed earbuds, so this style isn’t quite my preference.

However, if you specifically want open-ear earbuds that allow you to stay aware of your surroundings, these perform well and offer solid sound quality for the category.

Good quality
I originally had purchased a different brand and it was so buggy that I returned it. These are awesome! The touch functions well, the voice calls are fine. The fit is good and it looks nice.