Sony LinkBuds Clip Review – A Different Kind Of Open-Ear Apporach

Unboxing

Sony recently launched the LinkBuds Clip, and we got one for review to see what it’s capable of. Starting with the unboxing, the small paper-based packaging opens to reveal the small package that contains the documentation and accessories. The quick start guide is printed right on it, and below it you’ll find the main subject of this review.

While this pair of earbuds lack the traditional silicon ear tips owing to its clip-style form factor, it’s got two pieces of silicon that is functionality similar in ensuring the user’s wear comfort.

Walkaround

The earbuds are housed in a square-shaped case where all four sides are symmetrical – the front features an LED indicator light to display status, while the rear is where the pairing button and the USB-C charging port are located; the top half of the case has a glossy surface, while the bottom is matte. Inside, the earbuds are docked and receives power from two pins per side.

Design-wise, it’s perhaps best described as utilitarian; although looks high up in most people’s list of priorities as far as earbuds are concerned. The C-shaped bridge connects both sides of the earbuds, itself functioning as a control surface for the earbuds via double tap, triple tap, and quad tap modes. The bigger side hugs behind the user’s ears, while the smaller side is where you’ll find the 10mm drivers delivering the audio. Sony says it took sound leakage into consideration concerning the LinkBuds Clip’s physical design, and onboard you’ll find 2 microphones for voice pickup as well.

As mentioned earlier there’s the included “fitting cushions” which provides an additional point of support for users with smaller ears, in case the earbuds end up slipping out of position from large body movements. For your reference, we also put the LinkBuds Clip’s case side-by-side with the WF-C710N; if you want numbers, the case measures 50.4 mm on all sides, and is 32.6 mm thick (roughly the same as the WF-C710N’s case).

Specifications

Sony LinkBuds Clip (WF-LC900)

Full specifications available on product webpage.

Form Factor	Clip-on open-ear earbuds
Drivers	10mm driver
Frequency Response	20Hz – 20,000Hz
Microphones (Per side)	Dual beamforming microphones + bone-conduction sensor
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.3
Listening Modes	Standard Voice Boost Sound Leakage Reduction Background Music* *Added via v2.0 firmware update
Companion App	Sony Sound Connect
Battery	Earbuds (Battery capacity unspecified) Up to 9 hours Charging Case (Battery capacity unspecified) Up to additional 28 hours
Dimensions & Weight	Earbuds Unspecified dimensions / 6.4g each Charging Case 50.4 x 50.4 x 32.6 mm / 42g
Colors	Green Greige [As tested] Black Lavender
Ingress Protection	IPX4

User Experience

Starting up the LinkBuds Clip for the first time with the Sound Connect app, you’ll be given an instruction on how to wear this earbuds with this new form factor. The app will also give you an overview of available controls (which can be customized later), and past that, into the main menu you go. All of the settings related to the earbuds are all laid out within the “My Device” tab in the app.

Originally, the earbuds are offered in three listening modes: Standard, Voice Boost, and Sound Leakage Reduction; halfway into our review process, Sony also published a new firmware update (v2.0) which adds a new Background Music mode, replicating environments like your own room, a living room, or a cafe shop. Only Standard mode allows you to configure a custom 10-band EQ though, whereas what you hear in the other three modes is what you get.

In terms of audio quality, it’s best described as serviceable. The nature of open-ear earbuds’ design means that there will be some inherent audio characteristics that is harder to overcome as opposed to sealed designs, like the lack of sub-bass range, which is applicable to the LinkBuds Clip. Compounding on that, the C-shaped form factor does introduce some variance in terms of the position relative to your ear canal, and that can affect its sound in slightly different ways – and I had to took a minute or two to figure out the best position every time I try to wear it.

As mentioned earlier, Sony designed LinkBuds Clip with sound leakage in mind, so how did that work out in practice? Decent, I’ll say. Unless you’re in a super quiet environment, chances are environmental noises will mask the leakage fairly easily in most situations; the Sound Leakage Reduction mode can slightly reduce the leakage in exchange for reducing its high-frequency range, but the difference is small enough that it’s probably not that useful to begin with. If you’re in calls out in loud areas though, you can use Voice Boost mode if you need it to be louder than whatever the environment noise you’re dealing with.

In terms of microphone quality, the LinkBuds Clip does struggle at loud environments, where the user’s voice will become quite muffled despite successfully suppressing noises from the moving traffic. Stick to quieter environments wherever you can, where it does a solid job of voice pickup at a reasonable volume level.

The Good

There are a few positives to take away from testing this new pair of earbuds from Sony: the LinkBuds Clip adopts a new form factor that, for its intended audience, prioritizes outside awareness more than the sound it delivers. While you’ll probably still want a closed-style earbuds for sound quality, the LinkBuds Clip performs decently for all the limitations that it has to contend with, with EQ being the extra help to fine-tune if you’re more particular about the sound.

Since this is an open-style earbuds, ANC is not necessary – thus allowing the battery to solely focus on maximizing audio playback time instead of simultaneously processing the noise cancellation via a dedicated chip. The combination of 9 hours + 27 hours makes it capable of lasting a full week if you use it for 5 hours per day on average. Controls are pretty simple, too, as all you need to do is to tap the C-shaped bridge a specific amount of times to perform an action.

The Bad

On the downsides, there’s a few things worth pointing out. For starters, the excellent battery life LinkBuds Clip offers comes in the tradeoff of bulkier size in both the earbuds and the case, the latter of which is especially important since small pockets may struggle slightly to fit the case. Also, just putting this out but your mileage may vary – wearing the earbuds for long periods (3 hours+) has caused some pain on my ears, for which I’m not sure whether it’s the bulkiness or just the clamping pressure being the culprit.

For its price, it also lacks wireless charging support, meaning the USB-C connection is the only way of topping its batteries up. Also worth mentioning is the call quality, or lack thereof. Despite Sony’s claim of using a bone conduction sensor to improve voice pickup, the result isn’t particularly great with how the voice is processed, so best stick to quieter environments if you want to allow the other side of the call to figure out what you say.

Verdict

Sony is asking RM899 for the LinkBuds Clip, which admittedly is on the high side for the feature set it offers. Make no mistake, it’s still a decent pair of earbuds for those looking for this kind of form factor, but better options certainly exist to cater to this group of listeners.

Special thanks to Sony Malaysia for providing the LinkBuds Clip for this review.