- Sony LinkBuds Clip will launch for $229 / £180 / AU$329.95 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, its first clip-style open-back earphones. Sony has enjoyed making some of the best open-ear earphones we’ve tested to date (and will happily claim to have invented the category with the original Sony LinkBuds, although that depends on whether you count AirPods-like earphones as open-ear, but I digress), although the company has never tried this ‘ear-cuff’ style fit until now.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip includes a 10mm driver, and like all clip-style open earbuds, this one sits just outside your ear canal, sending sound into it without cutting you off from the outside world.
They come with a small flexible attachment, which Sony calls an “air fitting cushion”, designed to sit in the basket and to keep them more firmly in just the ear (or to keep them at all if you have smaller ears).
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Because of the way external audio is allowed, they include a specific new audio mode called Voice Boost, to make (as you’ve probably guessed) things like podcasts and audiobooks clearer.
They also include an Adaptive Volume feature, as seen on the Sony LinkBuds Fit, so they can automatically turn up the volume to avoid sound drowning in high areas.
There’s also a ‘Sound leakage reduction’ mode for places like the office where you want to make sure the open fit doesn’t blast your playlist out to your neighbours.
The earphones include Sony’s DSEE audio upscaling technology to make low-quality streaming music sound better, but there’s no Bluetooth support for higher-resolution LDAC – just the basic AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. There is multi-point pairing to switch between two devices instantly, naturally.
They have a bone conduction sensor as well as microphones to help pick up your voice for calls, with AI-powered background noise reduction.
To control them, you can press the earphones themselves – they have an accelerometer in them, so you don’t have to press anywhere in particular. In fact, while testing them, I found that you didn’t necessarily need to press the earbuds themselves—pressing my ear right where they sat worked, too.
They promise nine hours of battery life from the buds and 37 hours including the case. A quick charge feature promises to provide an hour of play from three minutes of charging. They’re IPX4 rated for waterproofing, so they should be fine to use for light exercise – maybe don’t wear them out in heavy rain.
They come in black, white, purple and light green and come in a funky box that’s both curved and square – and you can buy sleeves for the case to mix up the colours. These are available in five colours: coral, green, blue, lavender and black.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip costs $229 / £180 / AU$329.95 and will be available for purchase in January, although Sony did not provide an exact date. The LinkBuds Clip Cases cost $24.99 and are only available from Sony’s website.
Based on the specs alone, you might think the price sounds pretty high for the specs – the Shokz OpenFit Pro, for example, costs a similar amount and includes an effective active noise cancellation feature and Dolby Atmos. JBL has just announced a direct competitor in the form of its Soundgear Clips, and they will cost $149. The Earfun Clip 2 includes Sony’s own higher-resolution wireless LDAC technology, and they launch at $79…
But that’s probably fine – it’s all about the experience, right? I got to try out a demo session with the LinkBuds Clip, and I’m afraid it just reinforced to me that Sony might have the price wrong here.
Cut must be square
First of all: the fit. They go on the ear quite easily and I first tried them without the air fit pad. This was comfortable, generally felt natural and there didn’t seem to be much risk of them falling out, although I wasn’t able to take them for a quick run. There was a slight rotational give to them and I think that’s part of why they feel quite natural to wear.
I tried them with the air fit pad in and the difference was interesting – to my ears (which aren’t small) it meant any rotational give disappeared and they held stones steady where I put them. In return for this, I could ‘feel’ them more on my ear – 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 the ones with the airbag. As I said, I didn’t think they would fall out without it – but with this one, I was specific they would last and I love a little extra peace of mind where I can get it these days.
When I turn on some of my music, my concern about the price tag becomes immediate – while I only spent about 10 minutes listening to the earbuds, the sound quality just didn’t seem to be where I’d like it to be at over $200.
It’s been normal for open earbuds to have a softer, less deep sound 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 wearing 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 – regardless of the budget level, it always finds a way to make sure your music feels like it has the right shape.
But it was immediately apparent that there is a lack of deep bass, and I don’t mean because I was listening to some trance bangers. The low end is generally weak, meaning that acoustic instruments don’t have their full resonance, let alone a drum machine that lacks the intended punch.
Similarly, the treble felt like it struggled to stand out clearly outside the midrange, feeling a bit too attached and unable to really shine. And that’s part of a general lack of dynamic ability, which meant the sound didn’t feel particularly energetic, and didn’t have the natural detail I expect from Sony.
(I also noticed some audio leakage from someone else who tested their buds about six feet away from me, but I don’t know how loud they had them – it might not be that bad in more common scenarios, and there’s always the audio mode to reduce the leakage if you need it.)
Of course, 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 double that, I’m worried these will struggle.
However, we can only make a real judgment after a proper testing period and comparing the sound, and I did not test features such as the microphone quality, which could end up recommending it over the competition if you take a lot of calls (the microphone quality of the Sony WH-1000XM6 with AI noise reduction is best in class after all).
The best open-back earphones for all budgets
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