To end the year in the most beautiful way, Sony offers us its new in-ear headphones, the LinkBuds Fit, supposed to combine comfort, quality and optimal user experience.
Sony’s know-how in audio devices no longer needs to be proven. Whether in terms of headphones, portable speakers or even in-ear headphones, the Japanese manufacturer’s products are regularly at the top of comparison sites. At the end of the year, Sony is rewarding us with a new series of three devices branded LinkBuds. A speaker, the LinkBuds Speaker, and two pairs of headphones, the LinkBuds Fit and the LinkBuds Open.
It is the LinkBuds Fit that interests us here, since they are notably equipped with noise reduction, unlike the Open. The presence of this technology also influences the design of the product, since the Fit are mainly designed to be used with noise reduction, while the Open have an open circular design with a ring to allow the user to be fully aware of his surroundings.
So let’s stay for the moment on the design of these LinkBuds Fit. Designed to be worn in all circumstances, during sports or on public transport, the Fit are placed in the ears, making us almost forget that they exist. The small headband allows them to be perfectly blocked in the ear and several tips of different sizes are also available to adapt to all sizes. Especially since here, unlike headphones from other brands, the tip does not sink completely into the ear canal, in order to minimize the feeling of having a foreign body in the ear . So there’s no need to stick your LinkBuds in your ear like crazy. However, the LinkBuds remains fixed in the ear in all situations. Whether running, walking or sitting, at no time did the earpiece move a millimeter. The headband rests on the anti-helix of the ear.
With the headphones, Sony offers us a nice little box in the color of the intras. We have some reservations about its long-term solidity, as its hinge seems quite fragile. It is also devoid of functions that are essential these days such as geolocation, sound emission to find it in a room or induction charging.
This same case allows the headphones to reach almost 6 hours of charge with noise reduction activated when listening to music. This autonomy even increases to 10 hours in passive isolation mode. These figures are higher than those announced by Sony, but below what the competition offers.
But in the end, what interests us most is the headphones worn while hearing. And on this point, the Sony LinkBuds Fit do what is asked, no more and no less. We could have expected better, but it’s far from catastrophic.
Listening is good, and it is mainly the bass that stands out and is very generous. It’s pleasant to the ear, and fans of bass sounds will clearly find what they’re looking for. In the rest of the hearing spectrum, the headphones obtain rather good results, without being transcendent, especially in the treble. The voices, for their part, seem to emanate from a cave… Speaking of voices, we were also surprised by the microphones, which demonstrated very surprising accuracy, especially in noisy environments. Sony has equipped them with ambient noise reduction technology, which seems to do the job brilliantly.
For its part, the active noise reduction is a real disappointment. It only slightly attenuates unwanted sounds. If you want to work in peace and no longer hear the sound of a television, headphones will only reduce it very slightly. Same thing when a vacuum cleaner is running next to us. Imagine then on a plane or a train…
-The headphones offer a whole host of welcome features that can be tamed with the Sony Sound Connect application: customization of Transparency mode, 360° spatial audio, AutoSwitch allowing you to automatically switch to a LinkBuds Speaker, control by head movements , custom equalization, and so on.
Finally, it is probably the touch controls located on the headphones that disappointed us the most. You never really know where they are located and are a real hassle to use correctly. To increase or decrease the volume, the headphones require us to…tap the headphones lots of times. In addition to being extremely unpleasant, it is above all very imprecise. Tapping two or three times also allows you to use one or the other functionality, but it is also very unintuitive.
The +:
- Excellent audio quality, especially in bass sounds
- Excellent support thanks to the “hoops”
- Good value for money
- Ultra comfortable
- Lots of features to explore
- Overall good microphones
THE – :
- Unconvincing noise reduction
- Too little autonomy
- Touch controls, catastrophic
- IPX4 certification not sufficient
- A perfectible box
So, are we cracking?
Although they will certainly not be voted headphones of the year, the Sony LinkBuds Fit are nevertheless an excellent entry into the already very extensive catalog of the Japanese giant. With their original design, the LinkBuds Fit are above all designed to offer the user unparalleled comfort. It is. In terms of audio performance, on the other hand, we are sure of good quality, even if they are surpassed in all respects by other models offered in the same price bracket, such as the AirPods 4. We will, however, have some reservations about autonomy, a bit too weak, and especially on noise reduction, which is very bad. Despite everything, the budding sportsman or everyman will appreciate its ergonomic design and its overall fairly good performance.
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