- Sony LinkBuds Clip launch for $229 / £180 in January 2026
- 10mm drivers, DSEE upscaling, and AI noise reduction for calls
- After an early test, they fit well, but I’m concerned about the sound
Sony has unveiled the LinkBuds Clip, which are its first clip-style open earbuds. Sony has enjoyed a run of fashioning some of the best open earbuds we’ve tested to date (and will happily lay claim to having invented the category with the original Sony LinkBuds, though that depends on whether you count AirPods-style earbuds as being open ear, but I digress) although the company has never tried this ‘ear-cuff’ style fit so far.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip include a 10mm driver, and like all clip-style open earbuds, this sits just outside your ear canal and fires sound into it without sealing you off from the outside world.
They come with a little flexible attachment that Sony calls an “air fitting cushion”, designed to sit in the curve, and to hold them more firmly only the ear (or to hold them at all if your have smaller ears).
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Because of the way external sound is allowed in, they include a specific new audio mode called Voice Boost, to make (as you probably guessed) stuff like podcasts and audiobooks come across clearer.
They also include an Adaptive Volume feature, as seen on the Sony LinkBuds Fit, so they can automatically ramp up the volume to avoid the sound being totally drowned out in loud areas.
There’s also a ‘Sound leakage reduction’ mode for places like the office, where you want to make sure the open fit isn’t firing your playlist out to your neighbors.
The earbuds include Sony’s DSEE audio upscaling tech to make low-quality streaming music sound better, but there’s no LDAC higher-res Bluetooth support – just the basic AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. There’s multi-point pairing to switch between two devices instantly, naturally.
They feature a bone-conduction sensor as well as microphones to help pick up your voice for calls, with AI-powered reduction of background noise.
To control them, you can tap the earbuds themselves – they have an accelerometer in, so you don’t need to tap anywhere in particular. In fact, while testing them I found that you didn’t necessarily need to tap the earbuds themselves – tapping my ear right at the point where they sat also worked.
They promise nine hours of battery life from the buds, and 37 hours including the case. A fast-charging feature promises to provide an hour of play from three minutes of charging. They’re IPX4 rated for waterproofing, so should be good to use for light exercise – don’t wear them out in heavy rain, maybe, though.
They’re available in black, white, lilac and pale green colors, and come in a funky box that both curved and square – and you can buy sleeves for the case to mix up the colors. These are available in five colors: coral, green, blue, lavender, and black.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip cost $229 / £180, and will be available to buy in January, though Sony didn’t provide an exact date. The LinkBuds Clip Case covers cost $24.99 and are available from the Sony website only.
Based on the specs alone, you might be thinking the price sounds pretty high for the specs – the Shokz OpenFit Pro, for example, cost a similar amount and include an effective active noise cancellation feature and Dolby Atmos. JBL just announced a direct competitor in the form of its Soundgear Clips, and they’ll cost $149. The Earfun Clip 2 include Sony’s own LDAC higher-res wireless tech, and they’re launching at $79…
But that’s probably fine – it’ll be all about the experience, right? I got to try a demo session with the LinkBuds Clip, and I’m afraid that just reinforced for me that Sony might have the price wrong here.
Clip to be square
First up: the fit. They go onto the ear pretty easily, and at first I tried them without the air fitting cushion. This was comfortable, felt overall natural, and there didn’t seem to be much risk of them falling out, though I wasn’t in a position to take them for a quick jog. There was a little rotational give to them, and I think this is part of them feeling pretty natural to wear.
I tried them with the air fitting cushion in, and the difference was interesting – on my ears (which aren’t small), this meant that any rotational give disappeared, and they held rock steady where I’d put them. In exchange for this, I could ‘feel’ them on my ear more – not that they applied pressure or became uncomfortable in any way, but I just felt more aware of them.
I think on balance I preferred them with the air cushion. As I said, I didn’t think they’d fall out without it – but with it, I was certain they would hold, and I love a little extra peace of mind where I can get it these days.
Firing up some of my music, my concern about the price tag become immediate – while I only spent about 10 minutes listening to the earbuds, the sound quality just didn’t seem to be where I’d want it for over $200.
It’s been normal for open earbuds to have softer and less deep audio quality than the best earbuds with an in-ear seal, but recent releases have really closed that gap – again, with the Shokz OpenFit Pro, our audio editor Becky Scarrott said she could forget she wasn’t using more traditional earbuds. The sound is detailed and rich enough to compete.
With the Sony LinkBuds Clip, the sound balance was really good, as I always expect from Sony – no matter the budget level, it always finds a way to make sure your music feels like it’s the correct shape.
But it was immediately obvious that there’s a lack of deep bass, and I don’t mean because I was listening to some trance bangers. The low end is slight overall, meaning that acoustic instruments don’t have their full resonance, let alone a drum machine lacking its intended punch.
Similarly, the treble felt like it struggled to stand clearly out of the mid-range, feeling a bit too attached and unable to really shine. And that’s part of a general lack of dynamic capability, which meant that the sound didn’t feel particularly energetic, and didn’t have the natural detail I expect from Sony.
(I also noticed quite a bit of sound leakage from someone else testing their buds about six feet from me, but I don’t know how loud they had them – it may not be as bad in more common scenarios, and there’s always the sound mode to reduce leakage if you need it.)
Obviously, sound quality is always relative to price – based on my demo, I expected the buds to cost more like $120 / £100, like the impressive Sony WF-C710N at launch. At nearly twice that, I’m worried these will struggle.
However, we can only make a real judgment after a proper testing period and comparison of the audio, and I didn’t test features such as the mic quality, which could end up recommending it over the competition if you take a lot of calls (the mic quality on the Sony WH-1000XM6 with AI noise reduction is best in class, after all).
The best open earbuds for all budgets
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