- Sony LinkBuds Clip launching for $229 / £180 / AU$329.95 in January 2026
- 10mm drivers, DSEE scaling and AI noise reduction for calls
- After an initial test, they fit well, but I’m concerned about the sound.
Sony has introduced the LinkBuds Clip, which are its first open-back clip-style headphones. Sony has enjoyed a streak of creating some of the best open-ear headphones we’ve tested to date (and will happily claim to have invented the category with the original Sony LinkBuds, although that depends on whether you count AirPods-style headphones as open-ear, but I digress) although the company has never tested this “ear” style until now.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip feature a 10mm driver and, like all open clip-on headphones, sit just outside your ear canal and emit sound without isolating you from the outside world.
They come with a small flexible attachment that Sony calls an “air fit cushion,” designed to sit in the curve and hold them more firmly just in your ear (or to hold them in place if you have smaller ears).
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Because of the way external sound is allowed in, they include a new dedicated audio mode called Voice Boost, to make (as you’ve probably guessed) things like podcasts and audiobooks appear clearer.
They also include an adaptive volume feature, as seen on the Sony LinkBuds Fit, so they can automatically increase the volume to prevent the sound from being completely drowned out in noisy areas.
There’s also a ‘Sound Leakage Reduction’ mode for places like the office, where you want to make sure the open setting doesn’t send your playlist to your neighbors.
The headphones include Sony’s DSEE audio enhancement technology to improve the sound of low-quality streaming music, but there’s no support for higher-resolution Bluetooth LDAC, just the basic AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. There is multipoint pairing to switch between two devices instantly, naturally.
They feature a bone conduction sensor and microphones to help pick up your voice on calls, with AI-powered background noise reduction.
To control them, you can touch the headphones themselves; They have an accelerometer, so you don’t need to touch any particular place. In fact, while testing them I discovered that it wasn’t necessarily necessary to touch the headphones; touching my ear right where they were also worked.
They promise nine hours of battery life on the headphones and 37 hours including the case. A quick charge feature promises to provide an hour of playtime with three minutes of charging. They are IPX4 rated for waterproofing, so they should be good to use for light exercise; However, you may not wear them out in heavy rain.
They are available in black, white, lilac and pale green, and come in an original box that is both curved and square, and you can buy covers for the case to mix the colors. They are available in five colors: coral, green, blue, lavender and black.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip costs $229 / £180 / AU$329.95 and will be available to purchase in January, although Sony did not provide an exact date. The LinkBuds Clip Cases cost $24.99 and are only available on Sony’s website.
Based on the specs alone, you might think the price sounds pretty high for the specs – the Shokz OpenFit Pro, for example, costs a similar amount and includes effective active noise cancellation and Dolby Atmos functionality. JBL just announced a direct competitor in the form of the Soundgear Clips, and they’ll cost $149. The Earfun Clip 2 features Sony’s LDAC high-resolution wireless technology and launches at $79…
But that’s probably okay: it’ll all be about the experience, right? I got to try a demo session with the LinkBuds Clip and I’m afraid that reinforced for me the fact that Sony might have got the price wrong here.
Clip to make it square
First: the fit. They fit in the ear quite easily and I initially tried them without the air fit cushion. This was comfortable, overall felt natural and there didn’t seem to be much risk of them falling, although I wasn’t in a position to take them on a quick run. There was a bit of a rotation towards them, and I think this is part of them feeling quite natural to use.
I tried them with the air fit cushion and the difference was interesting – on my ears (which are not small), this meant that any rotational flex disappeared and they stayed firmly where I had placed them. In exchange for this, I could “feel” them more in my ear, not that they applied pressure or became uncomfortable in any way, but I just felt more aware of them.
I think I ultimately preferred them with the air mattress. Like I said, I didn’t think they would fight without him, but with him, I was TRUE They would hold up, and I love having a little more peace of mind where I can get it these days.
Listening to some of my music, my concern about the price became immediate: Although I only spent about 10 minutes listening to the headphones, the sound quality just didn’t seem to be where I’d want them for over $200.
It’s been common for open-back headphones to have softer, shallower audio quality than the best in-ear headphones, but recent releases have really closed that gap; Again, with the Shokz OpenFit Pro, our audio editor Becky Scarrott said she could forget she wasn’t wearing more traditional headphones. The sound is detailed and rich enough to compete.
With the Sony LinkBuds Clip, the sound balance was really good, as I always expect from Sony: no matter the budget level, it always finds a way to make sure your music is in the right shape.
But it was immediately obvious that deep bass was missing, and I don’t mean that I was listening to some trance tracks. Bass is light overall, meaning that acoustic instruments don’t have their full resonance, much less a drum machine that lacks its intended punch.
Similarly, the treble seemed to struggle to stand out clearly outside of the midrange, feeling a little too attached and unable to really shine. And that’s part of a general lack of dynamic ability, which meant the sound didn’t feel particularly energetic and didn’t have the natural detail I expect from Sony.
(I also noticed quite a bit of sound leakage when someone else tested their headphones about six feet from me, but I don’t know how loud they were; it may not be as bad in more common scenarios, and there’s always the sound mode to reduce the leakage if you need it.)
Obviously, sound quality is always related to price – based on my demo, I expected headphones to cost upwards of $120/£100, like the impressive Sony WF-C710N at launch. At almost double that, I’m worried they’ll have problems.
However, we can only make a real judgment after a proper trial period and audio comparison, and I didn’t test features like microphone quality, which might end up recommending it over the competition if you take a lot of calls (after all, the microphone quality on the Sony WH-1000XM6 with AI noise reduction is the best in its class).
The best open-back headphones for every budget
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