Sony LinkBuds (Open TWS) Announced

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Emojiless, Feb 19, 2022.

  1. Emojiless

    Emojiless Acquaintance

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    These new TWS from Sony seem interesting - the driver is this donut/ring with hole in the middle so you can hear what's happening outside - pretty much opposite of noise cancelling.

    https://electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/truly-wireless/p/wfl900-w

    I could see myself using these as I get tired of iems sticking in my ears pretty quickly. Some immediate use cases I can think of (at least for me) are while driving - I have an old car with no phone connectivity but would like to listen to podcasts / call while on my commute without losing sound awareness. Also in the office, so I can listen to music without distracting teammates but also hear conversations starting and participate without taking them off.

    One major downside is that it doesn't support bluetooth connectivity to multiple devices, so swapping between teams calls on laptop and music on phone will not be seamless.

    Initial youtuber impressions praise soundstage and critique lack of bass (doh), especially subbass which is probably because of the ring design. It would be interesting to get some good ears on these.

    Specs:
    Battery
    BATTERY LIFE (CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION TIME)

    Max. 2.5 hrs

    Battery Charge Method
    USB Charging (with Case)

    Battery Life (Waiting Time)
    Max. 10 hrs

    Battery Life (continuous music playback time) (Buds+Case)
    Max. 17.5hrs (5.5hrs+12hrs)

    Bluetooth® Specification
    Bluetooth® version

    Bluetooth Specification Version 5.2

    Effective Range
    32.81 ft

    FREQUENCY RANGE
    2.4 GHz band (2.4000 GHz–2.4835 GHz)

    Profile
    A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP

    Supported Audio Format(s)
    SBC, AAC

    Supported Content Protection
    SCMS-T

    Charging Case
    Dimension

    Approx. 1.63 x 1.91 x 1.22" (41.4 x 48.5 x 30.9 mm )

    Weight
    Approx. 1.2 oz (34 g)

    General Features
    DSEE

    Yes

    Frequency Response (Bluetooth® Communication)
    20 Hz–20,000 Hz (44.1 kHz sampling)

    Headphone Type
    Open, Dynamic

    Magnet
    High-power neodymium magnets

    Waterproof
    Yes (IPX4)

    Size & Weight
    Weight

    Approx. 0.14 oz (4.1 g) x2

    HPC Supported Function
    Adaptive Control

    Yes

    Speak to Chat
    Yes

    Quick Access (Spotify)
    Yes

    360 Reality Audio
    Yes

    Operation Method
    Wide Area Tap

    Yes

    Wearing Detection
    Yes

    Voice Assist Function
    Google Assistant

    Yes

    Siri and Amazon Alexa
    Yes
     
  2. jnak00

    jnak00 Friend

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    I picked up a pair of these about a week ago. Sony's one of those companies that will occasionally throw a product out there that is really unlike most anything else on the market, and these are one of those products.

    Obviously these have a very specific use case as they have zero isolation. I walk to work every day, and so I wanted something to listen to while still being able to hear what was going on around me. Many TWS or wireless headphones, like my Jabra Elite 75t or WH-1000XM3, have some sort of hear-through or pass-through mode that pipes in sound from outside. However, I find these don't work great. The Jabra is particularly awful, as any bit of wind noise is amplified 1000x and quickly overpowers the music. Puzzlingly, the Jabra's hear-through mode still does a good job blocking out human voices, so you may not realize people are talking to you even with that mode on. Basically you get wind noise like crazy and still can't hear people talking, which is next to useless for a hear-through mode.

    The Linkbuds solve that problem and actually sound pretty damn good, especially considering the inherently flawed design. Obviously any noise around you is not blocked and that will impact your listening enjoyment. But one the whole, I would say they sound better than my Jabra's. I was concerned about the bass with the open design, but the bass is actually decent. They are not bass cannons by any means, but they are not bass-light and also respond well to eq using the accompanying app. Mids are clear and full, and the treble doesn't have any sibilance or piercing glare. They stage reasonably well too. I would say the comfortably meet the sound quality standards needed for their specific use case, but I wouldn't sit and just listen to these like I do with my ZMFs.

    My main issue with them is the fit. My right ear comfortably accepts the bud with no fuss. My left ear, on the other hand, must be deformed or something because I struggled mightily with getting the bud to fit. They come with five sizes of "wings" that hook in the folds of your ear to keep them in. I tried all manner of sizes, insertion angles, penetration depth, etc. and either the bud would keep falling out, or I got severe discomfort in that ear from the way it fit. I was ready to sell them until I found one approach that works reasonably well. One thing I really notice with these is that the fit greatly affects the sound balance.. Since my right ear always fits well and the left ear is still finicky, I notice the sound balance will sometimes skew to the right, just as if someone had moved the balance control knob to 2:00 instead of 12:00. Giving the left bud a little wiggle usually resolves that. Of course, getting a good fit is also crucial to maximizing sound quality. A loose fit means the bass response quickly disappears; however, a loose fit also usually means the earbud is about to fall out, so you'll know something's off.

    If sound quality is your first priority, don't get these. But if you want something that lets you maintain awareness of your surroundings (walking/running/biking, or even in the office), and doesn't sound like ass, give these a shot. But buy them from someplace with a good return policy, as the fit is critical and highly person-specific.
     
  3. lagadu

    lagadu Facebook Friend

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    I found that the Samsung galaxy buds pro do this decently well, using ambient sound mode. Might be worth your time giving them a try if you get a chance.
     
  4. leafy

    leafy Facebook Friend

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    I have a pair of Linkbuds too. Been using them for about a month. The best thing about the ambient sound from the Linkbuds is that there is no delay itself, so it sounds less weird.
     

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