via Sony
When I first saw the leaks for the LinkBuds, I knew I had to have them. I often go for a skate, and, when I do commute, I like to do so on a longboard. The one thing that’s missing from these outings is a good soundtrack. I hoped Apple’s excellent transparency mode in the AirPods Pro would work, but the truth is, it’s only really good indoors and for conversations. They really can’t help you be aware of your surroundings on the road. So, when I saw the Sony LinkBuds in a leak, headphones that literally have an opening in the middle of the driver to let real sound in, I knew I had to have them. These would be the perfect headphones for outdoor runs, skates, bike rides, and anything else.
And that was before Sony announced any of their features, some lucky people got an advanced review… and before Sony announced the disappointing price tag. These headphones will set you back $179.
Ouch.
But there’s nothing quite like them on the market, so I apologized to future me who wants to do things like own a house, and I pre-ordered a pair. They’ll release on February 17th (Thursday), and I can’t wait to start reviewing them.
More than Just a Doughnut Hole
To be honest, if Sony had just said, “Hey, here’s a set of earbuds. There’s a hole in them.” I’d say,
via Morbotron
But Sony didn’t stop there. While the rumored active noise cancellation (ANC) was fortunately not attempted, Sony did pack a few tricks into their new headphones. Some come from their high-end headphone lineup, while another is brand new.
Sony’s more poorly named high-end headphones, like their WH-1000XM4 and their WF-1000XM4 headphones, have a number of features unique to the brand. One is that they can silence themselves when they hear you’re talking. This makes its way to the LinkBuds. Sony wants you to be able to just wear these all day, besides charging, and being able to talk over your music and have it pause is definitely a part of that.
The LinkBuds also feature a unique control system that turns you into an extension of the earbuds. While many earbuds require you to interact directly with the earbud to control things like music playback and volume, Sony has instead built controls into you. When you double or triple tap near your ear, they’ll sense it and allow you to control your playback. Touching or squeezing your earbuds can move them, forcing you to adjust them later. With the LinkBuds, you don’t have to worry about that, just tap near the earbuds, on you.
Assistants Built In
One of the coolest features of the AirPods is the ability to just say “Hey Siri” to gain access to the virtual assistant. On Android devices, only Google’s own Pixel Buds had this ability. Sony’s LinkBuds, however, will also work with Hey Google out of the box, as well as Amazon’s Alexa. Finally these useful features are making their way to third parties.
Better Materials
via Sony
Headphones, especially truly wireless earbuds, are practically disposable objects. There’s little to recycle from them, their batteries are small and therefore degrade quickly, and every company replaces them in a few years with something much better. The cycle is disturbing and wasteful. Sony, to their credit, has done something small about that. The plastic used for these headphones comes from discarded plastic. Plastic isn’t frequently recycled, mostly because it’s more expensive to use recycled plastic than new plastic. However, consumers can create demand for this more expensive plastic to reduce waste. By buying products that use recycled plastic, we keep a little more out of the landfills.
At least, for a little while. A few years, perhaps. A short time in the lifespan of plastic and this planet, but maybe long enough for humanity to get a lot better about this wasteful stuff, either through recycling, breaking it down, or eliminating it from everyday use altogether.
Worth the Price?
https://youtu.be/PY8YbLRjO70
These additional features are neat, but they’ve certainly increased the price of the LinkBuds. This, along with reportedly short battery life, 5.5 hours of listening and up to 17.5 hours when charged with the case, make the decision to buy these headphones a little more difficult. On one hand, they have unique technology and a unique form factor that makes traveling safer and conversations easier. On the other hand, $179 is a lot to ask for a new product style with middling sound quality and a niche market. For me, someone who’s looking forward to having tunes on the road again, it’s a hard pill to swallow, but a necessary one. I could also see those who use VoiceOver or TalkBack on their phones liking these for accessibility, without drowning out their surroundings. For others, perhaps those who don’t need to be able to hear their surroundings while they listen to music, podcasts, or themselves when on a work call, the other features likely won’t justify the price, battery life, and middling sound quality.
Still, I look forward to testing them myself.
You can check out Sony’s latest headphones on their website. They’re available for preorder from retailers like Best Buy (nope, not an affiliate link, just a link).