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Sony is definitely no stranger to experimental products, unconventional designs, and large-scale gambles on newfangled or simply bizarre technologies, trying for several years now to make neckband speakers a thing, keeping Walkmans alive with a modern Android twist, and selling one of the priciest smartphones in the US with a micro-HDMI port in tow.
Why mess with perfection?
At $179.99, the LinkBuds are naturally positioned below the $279.99 WF-1000XM4 on the true wireless earbuds food chain, with pre-orders underway already for white and gray color options at major US retailers like Amazon and Best Buy and an actual release set for tomorrow, February 17.
That’s an impressively quick turnaround for what certainly looks like a tricky design to execute right, with the idea behind the “open-air” LinkBuds being to keep “all your worlds always connected.” Otherwise put, users should be able to remain aware of their surroundings while listening to their favorite tunes in “crystal clear” quality, which sounds great in theory but may not work quite so smoothly in practice.
Specs, features, and competition
The combined endurance rating of “up to” 17.5 hours when also taking the bundled charging case into consideration is however not impressive, and it remains to be seen (or heard) what the 12mm “ring” driver can do in the real world to provide “rich, well-balanced sound.”
If you do decide to go for these bad boys, you might also be interested to know they have all kinds of advanced features and technologies integrated, from Adaptive Volume Control to Wide Area Tap and Speak-to-Chat, for an extra touch of convenience and functionality. Oh, and they’re also made from recycled plastic materials, which is naturally great for the environment.
