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Open-ear earbuds have become increasingly popular for people who want music and podcasts without disconnecting from the world around them. Sony takes a slightly different approach with the LinkBuds Clip, using a clip-style design that sits around the outer ear instead of sealing the ear canal. At Rs 24,990 in India at the time of writing, they are no longer quite as expensive as their launch price of Rs 18,990, but they still sit in premium territory. In the US, it is priced at $230.
The LinkBuds Clip come across as a well-executed pair of open earbuds with excellent awareness, strong calling performance, good battery life, and a comfortable design. However, their open construction also brings some unavoidable compromises, particularly with bass, noise isolation, and performance in loud environments. The bigger question is whether those compromises are acceptable at this price.
6Sony packs in plenty of useful features
Sony’s Sound Connect app is one of the better parts of the experience. You get a 10-band EQ, DSEE, listening modes, Quick Access integrations, multipoint connectivity, and scene-based listening features. There is also support for notification reading and other software-based conveniences. I wish the notification announcements were better tuned. For example, when a money transaction or phone number is mentioned, the earbuds sometimes read the entire number as a large numerical figure instead of announcing the individual digits. For instance, “9,19,000” may be announced as “9 million, 19 thousand,” which can be confusing when you actually need to hear the digits separately.
However, the feature list isn’t as comprehensive as you might expect from a premium Sony product. The earbuds support only SBC and AAC rather than Sony’s LDAC codec, and there is no audio sharing. The LinkBuds Clip also supports Bluetooth multipoint, allowing the earbuds to remain connected to two devices at the same time. This is particularly convenient if you frequently switch between a phone and a laptop, as you can move between the two without manually disconnecting and reconnecting the earbuds.
The touch controls can also be inconsistent because the usable tapping area on the band is relatively small. This becomes particularly frustrating while jogging or moving quickly.
