Remember the Sony LinkBuds, the quirky little ‘open back’ wireless earbuds from earlier this year? Well, Sony has now released a new member of the LinkBuds series, dubbed the LinkBuds S. However, unlike the LinkBuds, the LinkBuds S is your typical type of wireless earbuds, more like the WF-1000XM4 than the LinkBuds themselves.
Hardware-wise, the LinkBuds S have 5mm neodymium dynamic drivers in earbud offering between 20Hz-40,000Hz in frequency response. Powering it meanwhile is Sony’s Integrated Processor V1, providing their classic noise cancelling qualities. Weighing just 4.8g per earbud, you’ll be able to get up to 9 hours of continuous music playback with noise cancelling off, and up to 6 hours of music playback with noise cancelling on. The charging case itself meanwhile provides you with another 14 hours of use, and according to Sony just five minutes in it will give the LinkBuds S an extra hour of play time. To control it, you’ll simply need to give the earbuds a few taps on the side.
The Sony LinkBuds S come with Google Fast Pair support too, allowing you to quickly sync it to your Android device. Meanwhile, its Swift Pair functionality does the same thing except for Windows 10 and Windows 11-powered machines. Once you do pair it up, you’ll find that it’s able to take advantage of Bluetooth LE audio for low latency audio connections. It supports SBC, AAC, and the LDAC audio codecs. The DSEE Extreme feature also upscales your music back into hi-res audio in real time. Adaptive Sound Control meanwhile ensures that when you’re using ambient mode, it can adjust the ambient sound settings by itself depending on your surroundings to create a better listening experience.
Other features of note include Google Assistant and Alexa compatibility, as well as a Speak-to-Chat feature where the LinkBuds S will automatically pause your music once you start talking to someone. Sony are also claiming that the LinkBuds S has crystal clear call quality thanks to their Precise Voice Pickup Technology that automatically tweaks your microphone settings for better conversations. You’ll also find an IPX4 water resistance rating on the earbuds. Together with the earbuds themselves, you’ll also get a USB-C charging cable and a further three pairs of ear tips in the box.
If you’re keen on getting these as a more affordable version of Sony’s ANC wireless earbuds, they are priced at RM929 and will be available in Malaysia from the 7th of June onwards. You can get them in white, black and ecru colours. I do want to point out though that the Sony WF-1000XM4 is only slightly more expensive at RM1,099, and because it’s been almost a year since they launched you can actually sometimes get it at cheaper than the Sony LinkBuds S.
For more information on the Sony LinkBuds S, you can check out its product page here.
