Sony’s LinkBuds Clip offers nine hours of battery but struggles with awkward design and call quality issues for premium price
The box opens to show gray and black plastic buds that clip behind your ears. The buds weigh 6.4 grams, which feels heavy compared to other pairs like the Soundcore Aeroclip. However, they provide nine hours of music play time, with 27 more hours available in the charging case.
The case design makes putting on and taking off the buds awkward. Most clip-on buds face sideways when stored, making them easy to grab, but Sony’s buds face down. This means you must twist your hand in a strange way to put them on or remove them. The touch controls work well because they’re on the loop connecting the two earbud pieces instead of the back.
The Sony Connect app offers features like better wireless sound quality and special audio that makes music feel all around you. You can also adjust the sound with a 10-band sound changer and pick from three sound styles. The app lets you pair with multiple devices and quickly open music apps like Spotify.
Phone calls sound poor on these expensive buds. Voices often sound tinny and distorted when you listen, and people you call say you sound like you’re on speakerphone. Sony claims their system uses smart voice pickup and bone-conduction technology to make calls clearer, but this didn’t work well in practice.