Sony Sony LinkBuds Open True Wireless Earbuds (White) Review

The Sony LinkBuds Open are a niche product with a fatal flaw: they're not very good as headphones. Sound is mediocre (47th percentile), the mic is weak (43rd), and build feels cheap. Their one trick is letting you hear everything around you, which they do perfectly. Only buy these if that specific feature is worth $230.

The Sony LinkBuds Open are a weird one. They're true wireless earbuds with a hole in the middle, designed to let you hear your surroundings at all times. That's the whole point. In our database, they land in the 47th percentile for sound and the 40th for comfort. Those aren't standout numbers, but they tell you what you're getting: a middle-of-the-road listening experience that prioritizes awareness over immersion.

You get about 22 hours of battery life with the case, which puts you at the 56th percentile. That's decent. Everything else, from microphone quality (43rd percentile) to build quality (38th), is below average. These aren't trying to be the best at anything except one specific thing: keeping you connected to the world around you.

Let's be clear: you don't buy these for benchmark-topping performance. The 11mm ring-shaped driver delivers sound that's just okay, sitting in the 47th percentile. Bass is predictably light because of the open design. The microphone lands in the 43rd percentile, so calls are passable but not great in noisy places. There's no active noise cancellation to speak of, which is by design, but even the passive isolation is weak (40th percentile). The real performance metric here is situational awareness, and they score a perfect 100 on that because you can hear everything. It's a trade-off, not a weakness.

At $228 to $230, these are expensive for what they offer. You're paying a premium for a very specific, niche feature—the open design—while accepting performance that's below average in almost every other category. The price per performance ratio is poor. You can get better sound, better mics, and better build from competitors at this price, but you won't get this particular design. It's a value proposition only if situational awareness is your absolute top priority.

Stacked against the competition, the LinkBuds' weaknesses are glaring. The Nothing Ear (a) offers better sound and a more compelling design for less money. The Anker Soundcore P3i gives you adaptive noise cancellation and better battery for a fraction of the price. Even Sony's own WF-1000XM5, while more expensive, is in a completely different league for sound and noise cancellation. The JBL Tune Flex offers real noise cancelling and likely better bass at a lower cost. The LinkBuds only win if you compare them on their one unique feature: being open. In every traditional metric, they lose.

Skip these if you want good sound, reliable connectivity, or to block out the world. The data says it all: a 47th percentile sound score means half of all wireless earbuds sound better. A 36th percentile connectivity score points to pairing headaches. And if you need isolation for commuting, the gym (their 9.2 fitness score is a joke), or focus, these will frustrate you. You're paying a premium to hear more, not less.

We can't recommend the Sony LinkBuds Open for most people. The data is clear: below-average performance across the board for a premium price. However, if your primary need is to hear your surroundings at all times—think office workers who need to hear colleagues, cyclists who need traffic awareness, or parents listening for kids—these are a purpose-built tool. For everyone else, there are dozens of better options. This is a data-backed niche pick, not a general recommendation.