If you needed further proof that open-ear audio is having a very big moment, Sony is here to back you up. Today, the company announced its LinkBuds Clip, which are a new pair of open-ear wireless earbuds that stray away from the design of its previous LinkBuds Open.
Unlike the LinkBuds Open, which have a donut-shaped bulb that rests in your ear, the LinkBuds Clip (you guessed it) clip to your ears like other open-style wireless earbuds from Bose or Soundpeats. Personally, I think that move was the right choice. Having used the LinkBuds Open a bit myself, the donut shape was nice for securing the earbuds in your ears and for sound quality, but it definitely paled in comparison to other open-style earbuds when it came to hearing your environment. I haven’t used the LinkBuds Open myself yet, but I’m willing to wager that you can hear a lot more of your surroundings with them on.
RIP LinkBuds Open and the donut shape. © Andrew Liszewski / GizmodoOutside of that shift in design, the LinkBuds Clip look fairly standard when compared to other open-ear wireless earbuds. They have three listening modes: a broad one meant for a wider range of music, one for vocal boost if you’re watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts, and (the most interesting to me) one for sound leakage, which helps prevent others from hearing what you’re listening to. In case you’re unfamiliar with open-style earbuds, sound leakage can be an issue since the earbuds’ speakers tend to rest outside your ears, not in them.
© SonyLike other open-ear wireless earbuds, the battery life is fairly strong since these buds aren’t using active noise cancellation (ANC). Sony says the LinkBuds Clip will get up to 9 hours on a charge, while the case holds an additional 28 hours. No wireless charging, though.
If the LinkBuds Clip are a worthy competitor in the space, I assume it will come down to audio quality. Sony doesn’t detail the drivers in the LinkBuds Clip, but the wireless earbuds share similar tuning to its highly rated 1000X series and come with Sony tech like the Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE), which is designed to upscale compressed audio files. Whether those things will make a difference in sound quality is TBD, but I look forward to finding out for myself.
Like the previous LinkBuds Open, the LinkBuds Clip comes in a variety of appealing colors, like black, green, lavender, and “greige,” which I just found out is a mix of beige and gray. You can also mix and match case covers, which come in coral, green, blue, lavender, and black. The LinkBuds Open are available now for $229, while covers can be purchased separately for $24.99.
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