The Sony LinkBuds Match wi-fi headphones are much less elitist, extra colourful, and far more enjoyable than the WF-1000XM5. It retailed for $200 a pop at launch however has since skilled a reduction. On this complete evaluate, I’ll share why these headphones are a wonderful various to Sony’s top-of-the-range fashions.
Good
- Comfy semi-in ear format
- Compact design and engaging colours
- Good audio high quality
- Good battery life
- Full of options
Unhealthy
- “Solely” IPX4 certification
- Ample ANC efficiency however not a lot passive noise isolation
- No wi-fi charging assist
Sony LinkBuds Match: All offers
The Sony LinkBuds Slot in a nutshell
The Sony LinkBuds Match was launched in October 2024 this yr with an asking value of $199. At present, you could find them for $179 on Sony’s official retailer or Amazon. Sony’s wi-fi earphones are additionally accompanied by equipment which can be offered individually. Airfitting supporters are offered individually at $9.99. The case cowl will set you again by one other $19.99.
Sony LinkBuds Match design
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The Sony LinkBuds Match are comfy and compact in nature. The semi-in ear format, with pretty brief silicone suggestions, would not impede the ear canal. Sony outfitted its earbuds with assist fins for a greater match, however these fins are hole. They appear to be ultra-flexible air cushions. As soon as once more, the benefit is to offer better consolation whereas making certain a great match within the ear with no inflexible ridge stabbing at your cartilage.
Sony additionally sells covers for the charging case and air-fitting supporters in 5 totally different colours. They price between $10 and $20 apiece. This lets you create colour combos for a bit of extra personalization.
The earbuds are IPX4-certified, and with their air-fitting supporter, you’ll be able to think about using them for sports activities. The charging case can be very compact, and I really like its sq. format with rounded corners. The shade of white makes it appear to be a marshmallow. Nevertheless, I am not so eager on the marbled impact on the lid. When seen from a distance, it seemed soiled however that is completely subjective. The hinge had a bit an excessive amount of play for my desire, too.
Sony LinkBuds Match: Audio high quality
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The Sony LinkBuds Match have a really heat audio signature, with a bit of extra emphasis on bass than the remainder of the musical message. It is a very traditional and customary rendering available on the market. Sony’s proposal gave the impression to be very masterful to the bare ear to me. In brief, I did not discover the bass unbalanced within the total rendering.
The one actual flaw is the shortage of passive noise isolation. Do word that that is the counterpart of the consolation provided by the semi-in ear format. The ear canal is much less obstructed, so that you hear extra ambient noise. You may crank up the amount and activate ANC, however you lose element as you intensify the bass much more. In all honesty, although, I appreciated the audio high quality of the LinkBuds Match.
When it comes to {hardware}, we discover the identical “Driver X” transducer and V2 chip as within the Sony WF-1000XM5 (evaluate), the producer’s present flagship. Help for the Bluetooth LDAC codec can be an apparent plus.
Sony LinkBuds Match Lively Noise Cancellation
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Sony LinkBuds Match’s Lively Noise Cancellation works on a purely automated method. Its depth can’t be manually adjusted. Sony claims that its “ANC Optimizer” perform adapts ANC to your sound surroundings. General, the Lively Noise Cancellation is ample, however suffers from the semi-in ear format of Sony’s earbuds, which do not supply sufficient passive noise isolation.
However, the transparency mode will be manually or mechanically adjusted. Relying on the amount of ambient noise round you, the Sony LinkBuds can enhance or lower the depth of the transparency mode. In actuality, this works fairly properly. When an ambulance whizzes previous or a subway door alert sounds, there’s sure to be a bit of lag, and also you get the impression that the amount management is enjoying methods on you.
However the transparency mode of the Sony LinkBuds impressed me total. It amplifies related sounds properly, and I did not discover any hiss or distortion.
Sony LinkBuds Match options and purposes
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Sony LinkBuds Match are fairly beneficiant by way of options. The five-band equalizer is top-notch, there’s multipoint connectiity for pairing with two units concurrently, and put on detection.
Sony followers shall be delighted to study that the Communicate-to-Chat perform remains to be obtainable. Fairly frankly, I would like considered one of this perform’s worshippers to clarify to me what’s the level of it. Am I too silly to know the idea? Personally, I hate it when my music pauses as quickly as I cough or mumble a phrase. That is much more grating since I all the time have to attend at the very least three seconds for it to cease.
A brand new function from Sony is the “Background music impact. The concept of that is to provide the impression that the music you are listening to is background music, relegating it to the background noise class. Sony will artificially enhance the depth of the stereophonic scene, giving the impression that the audio supply is additional and additional away. There are three modes to select from: My Room, Dwelling Room, and Café. It is enjoyable, however personally, I discovered the echo generated by this mode moderately annoying in the long term. The “My room” mode, which was the least intense, was probably the most tolerable.
It is nothing new this time round, however the Large Space Faucet perform is as nice as ever. The earbuds include built-in accelerometers. They’ll detect close by vibrations. Therefore, you’ll be able to faucet your temple with out touching the earbuds to activate the controls.
Sony additionally added voice instructions for the earbuds. Personally, I do not see myself ever utilizing them each day and particularly not in public. That is much more restricted since Sony solely helps instructions in English.
In any case, Sony is as beneficiant as ever with its options. The producer utterly reworked its Sony Sound Join software to higher harmonize all its audio ecosystems with a centralized app.
Sony LinkBuds Match: Battery and charging
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The 5.5 hours of battery life with ANC introduced by Sony for LinkBuds Match stays within the higher mid-range of the market. The earbuds will be totally charged 3 times through the charging case. Charging from 0 to 100% takes roughly two hours. Charging through the field takes three hours and is carried out through a wired connection solely; since wi-fi charging just isn’t supported.
Personally, I used Sony earbuds underneath these settings:
- 100% cost.
- Put on detection disabled.
- No charging throughout my session.
- Lively Noise Cancellation is all the time on.
- 50% listening quantity.
- Paired to an Android smartphone.
- LDAC codec.
Based mostly on the above parameters, I used to be in a position to exceed 5 hours of listening time with none challenge. I have never examined it out, however I am certain in case you want SBC/AAC codecs, and even LC3 (LE Audio), it is best to simply exceed six hours, even with ANC enabled.
Conclusion: Ought to I purchase Sony LinkBuds Match?
Would I like to recommend you to purchase the Sony LinkBuds Match for $179? Sure.
Though the superb Sony WF-1000XM5 are nonetheless my favourite wi-fi headphones, they’re nonetheless promoting for round $230 on-line. The LinkBuds Match options the identical V2 chip and the identical transducers.
In the event you don’t love in-ear displays, they’re additionally a great compromise by way of consolation. To get all this with out sacrificing match is one other plus level. The charging case is super-compact and simple to hold. I additionally recognize the numerous customization choices provided by Sony, though you must purchase its equipment individually that do add up with out you realizing it.
Better of all, they’re feature-packed. I really like the vibration controls that lets me faucet my temple moderately than the earbuds. The Background Music Impact perform is enjoyable, and the brand new Sony Sound Join software is extra intuitive. Add LDAC to that, along with put on detection and multipoint connectivity, and you have got some very spectacular earbuds on this value vary.
What about you? What do you consider the Sony LinkBuds Match after this complete evaluate? What else would you prefer to learn about these Lively Noise Canceling wi-fi earbuds?
