LinkBuds Clip is Sony’s Most Fashion Minded Earbud Move Yet

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Open ear earbuds are having a moment, but the design language still hasn’t caught up. Too many models still look like gym kit, and that’s a tough sell if you’re trying to wear them on a random Tuesday.

Price: $229.99
Where to buy: Sony

Sony’s LinkBuds Clip is the company’s attempt to make open ear feel normal. Instead of sealing in your ear canal, it uses a C shaped cuff that clips onto the outside of your ear and aims sound inward.

It’s a small shift that changes the whole vibe. If you’ve ever wanted music while still hearing your surroundings, this form factor is the point.

What Sony’s Actually Selling

The LinkBuds Clip is positioned as a clip on open ear earbud built around a C shaped ear cuff. Each earbud uses a 10 mm driver that sits outside the ear canal and fires sound toward your ear while leaving the canal open.

Open ear is a specific kind of listening. You keep more ambient sound in the mix, which is the whole point if you’re walking a busy street, moving around the house, or trying to stay reachable at work.

The design choices here are also trying to look intentional. The color options lean accessory like, which is a smart direction for a category that can look overly functional fast.

Fit And Comfort Details

The cuff design uses an upper band to spread pressure across multiple contact points. That pressure distribution is the difference between a cuff that feels steady and one that starts to bug you fast.

Removable fitting cushions can be repositioned for fit stability. It’s a small, practical adjustment point, but open ear designs don’t have the same built in anchor you get from a silicone tip sealing in the canal.

Fit is the make or break detail for this style, because the driver isn’t sealed in your ear canal. Where the cuff sits changes how the sound lands, and it also changes how noticeable the pressure feels after you’ve been wearing it for a while.

Modes, Apps, And The Sony Software Stack

There are three listening modes you can tap through: Standard, Voice Boost, and Sound Leakage Reduction.

Voice Boost is framed as a speech friendly mode for podcasts and voice led videos. Sound Leakage Reduction is positioned for quieter environments where you don’t want your audio drifting into the room.

Sound Connect app support includes DSEE upscaling, 360 Reality Audio, Adaptive Volume, and a 10 band EQ.

It’s a lot of toggles for a product that looks minimal, but open ear placement can shift the sound more than it does with a sealed earbud, so having tuning tools can help you dial it in.

Calls, Codecs, And Connection Basics

For calls, LinkBuds Clip uses a bone conduction sensor and AI noise reduction. That’s the part that tends to matter most if these end up as your out of the house earbuds.

Bluetooth support listed includes SBC and AAC codecs, plus multipoint. Multipoint is the feature that keeps your laptop and phone from turning into a manual reconnect routine.

There’s no LDAC listed, so this looks more like a convenience focused setup than a hi res codec flex.

Battery, Durability, And Buying Details

Battery life is rated at up to 9 hours on the earbuds. With the charging case, total battery life is rated up to 37 hours. Quick charging is rated at 3 minutes for about an hour of playback.

An IPX4 rating is listed for sweat and light splashes.

In day to day use, those specs are basically telling you two things. First, you can likely get through a full workday without babysitting the battery. Second, the IPX4 rating is meant to cover the boring situations that kill earbuds, like a sweaty walk, a light drizzle, or tossing them in a gym bag after a session.