Unveiled about a month ago alongside the more “normal”-looking LinkBuds Fit and an oddly named LinkBuds Wireless Portable Bluetooth speaker, the decidedly unconventional Sony LinkBuds Open are on sale at a special price before any major US retailer can officially kick off their Black Friday 2024 festivities.
As you can guess by their moniker, these are open-ear buds, following in the footsteps of the original Sony LinkBuds from nearly three years ago with an arguably more polished and sensible design and a purportedly richer set of features and capabilities. Unfortunately, that means you’re not looking at a product anywhere near as affordable as, say, the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE or OnePlus Buds 3, with their recommended price point being set at $199.99.
But now you can save 20 bucks on a black colorway and $21.99 if you prefer a white coat of paint, which is… obviously not much, but clearly better than no discount. Is it good enough to seal the deal before the holidays? Maybe not, but you can never be sure what retailers like Amazon will offer on and around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, especially as far as just-released products are concerned.
The LinkBuds Open, mind you, are cheaper than the Bose Ultra Open and just slightly more expensive than the Nothing Ear (Open) right now, which means that their value proposition is not necessarily very humble. Not with those newly developed “Air Fitting Supporters” promising vastly improved comfort during your lengthiest music listening sessions, and not with Sony‘s integrated V2 processor and a “specially designed” 11mm ring-shaped driver unit offering unusually high-quality sound… for a pair of donut-shaped earbuds with a hole drilled in them.
Your music listening sessions, by the way, can go for up to 8 hours without interruption, which is clearly another thing that justifies the LinkBuds Open’s price tag, especially if you also consider the 22-hour battery life rating with the bundled charging case factored in. All in all, Amazon’s first-of-a-kind promo here is unlikely to remain unbeaten very long, but for the time being, it’s definitely worth considering for a certain kind of wireless earbuds buyer this holiday season.
