After a couple of leaks, Sony has officially announced the new LinkBuds. Which is the company’s latest version of its truly wireless earbuds. These sport a rather interesting design, however. Showing a 8 design. Sony says that by using this new design, it is able to create new sound experiences together with its partners, like AR gaming. As well as new work from home experiences, sound AR navigation and quick access to music.
These earbuds are really more about other experiences than just listening to music and podcasts, hence the different design.
The unique open ring lets you hear the outside world, whenever you want
Sony’s other earbuds already offer Ambient Sound, which works really well. But these earbuds take it to a whole new level. The open ring on the Linkbuds allow you to hear the outside world whenever you want, without compromising the listening experience. It also uses a newly developed ring driver unit, and at the center of the diaphragm open for audio transparency. This lets you clearly hear the sounds around you, so you can always hear a phone call coming in, or a car coming up behind you.
The Sony LinkBuds do also work with Google’s Fast Pair feature. So just open the case and they’ll automatically pop up on your smartphone to pair.
These are rated at IPX4, so they are going to be great for working out. They water and sweat resistant, but not water proof. Which is an important distinction.
When it comes to battery life, these earbuds offer about 5.5 hours on a single charge. And the earbuds case will give you an addition 12 hours of playback. And if you need to charge in a hurry, a 10-minute charge will get you 90 minutes of playtime. These are pretty impressive earbuds from Sony, but the design will take some getting used to and may not be for everyone.