Hands-on With Sony's New LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open Earbuds

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While it doesn't look like Sony is going to release a new set of WH-1000XM6 flagship over-ear headphones this year, it has introduced two new LinkBuds earbuds, the LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open. Both cost $200 and come in multiple color options along with optional customizable accessories, including swappable fins and case covers that come in a variety of colors. They're available for preorder now and ship around October 22.

I've been playing around with the new buds for the last few days and have been impressed with the improvements Sony has made to both models' designs and performance.

I liked the original LinkBuds and thought their ring driver was innovative, but they didn't fit everybody's ears equally well. The new LinkBuds Open are slightly smaller with an "evolved geometric form" that does improve their fit. They also sound better. 

Meanwhile, the new LinkBuds Fit are Sony's response to Beats' popular Fit Pro earbuds. Lightweight and compact, they're the noise-isolating sibling to the LinkBuds Open and seem more like a second cousin to the LinkBuds S, which will remain in the line. When in your ears, it's actually a little hard to tell the two new models apart; both feature Sony's new Air Fitting Supporters, which are essentially sport fins. 

Here are my quick first impressions of both models. I'll have full reviews in the coming days, so stay tuned for those.

Watch this: Sony LinkBuds Fit Earbuds Review: Better Than the Beats Fit

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Sony LinkBuds Open hands-on early impressions

While the LinkBuds retain their ring-shaped open driver -- these buds have no ear tips -- it's slightly smaller than the original's driver (11mm versus 12mm). Also, the Air Fitting Supporters are an improvement over the original's Arc Supporters, which were quite slim and didn't conform to the shape of your ear as well as these new supporters do. 

The combination of the slightly smaller driver design and the new supporters should allow the buds to fit more ears more comfortably and securely. However, those with smaller ears may have some issues with them (I plan on having a few folks with smaller ears in the office try them on and get their impressions for my full review). 

I personally got a very secure fit and was able to run with the buds without a problem (they're IPX4 splashproof). The originals created some pressure points for some wearers. I had to fiddle around with their positioning in my ears from time to time, but I didn't experience any pain points with the LinkBuds Fit. However, Apple's new AirPods 4 were slightly more comfortable in my ears, though they didn't fit as securely. 

Aside from the fit, the other big change is to the sound quality. It's definitely improved. Despite the smaller drivers, the buds play more loudly and also deliver a little more bass. The buds are equipped with Sony's V2 digital processing chip and Sony says the driver's have a "high-compliance diaphragm and powerful neodymium magnet" that were "specifically selected to reproduce clear mid and high frequency sound." 

They don't sound quite as good as the LinkBuds Fit, but they're among the best-sounding open earbuds and do feature clear, nicely detailed sound. They don't deliver as much bass as the LinkBuds Fit and other premium noise-isolating buds, but in quieter environments anyway, there's a relatively small drop-off in sound quality from noise-isolating buds. Also, like other open buds, their sound does have an open, airy quality to it.

In my early tests, voice-calling performance was good and the buds have good battery life. They're rated for up to 8 hours on a single charge, with the compact case providing an additional 14 hours. It's worth noting the lightweight case, which features a trendy marble swirl on the glossy top portion, feels a tad flimsy, but hopefully it will hold up fine over time. Note that the case does not have wireless charging, which is a tad disappointing for a set of $200 earbuds. 

The LinkBuds Open do have a couple of extra features worth highlighting. Not only are they equipped with Sony's Speak-To-Chat feature that pauses your music when you start a conversation, but they have some voice controls built into the buds themselves. The voice-control feature has to be activated in the settings menu, as does Speak-To-Chat. But once it's activated, you simply say, "Hey, headphones," then say one of the available voice commands, which include commands for skipping tracks forward and back as well raising and lowering volume. 

• Slightly smaller design
• Improved sound quality
• New Air Fitting Supporters (optional colors available as post-purchase accessory for $10)
• New 11mm ring driver
• Integrated Processor V2
• Ear-detection sensors 
• Supports DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) 
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IPX4 splashproof
• Up to 8 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels (additional 14 hours in charging case) 
• Compatible with Sony's "renewed" Sound Connect app for iOS and Android
• Multipoint Bluetooth pairing
• Built-in voice controls
• Audio codecs supported: SBC, AAC and LC3
• Available in black, white and Olivia Rodrigo's violet color
• Price: $200

Sony LinkBuds Fit hands-on early impressions

Truth be told, in some ways, I like the new LinkBuds better than Sony's flagship WF-1000XM5 noise-canceling earbuds. They don't sound quite as good or have noise-canceling that's as good as those buds, but they're lightweight (4.9 grams) and fit my ears comfortably and securely. And their sound, noise canceling and call-quality performance are all very good. 

Like the LinkBuds Open, they're powered by Sony's Integrated Processor V2, which Sony says "optimizes noise canceling in real time according to the user's environment for optimal audio performance." Plus, its dual noise sensor technology "filters exterior sound using multiple microphones, for greater immersion." The WF-1000XM5 has the same V2 chip but pairs it with its HD Noise Canceling Processor QN2e, which is supposed to further enhance noise-canceling and sound quality.

Of course, if you can't get a good fit and tight seal with your earbuds, sound quality and noise-canceling performance will suffer, no matter what chips the buds have. More people will be able to get a better fit with the LinkBuds Fit than the WF-1000XM5. Part of that is due to those new Air Fitting Supporters, but Sony's also redesigned its ear tips and included a wide range of sizes, including XL tips that fit my ears well. (While I can't get a tight seal with any of the tips that Sony includes with the WF-1000XM5 earbuds, I use Sennheiser's large ear tips to get a tight seal.)

Out of the box, the LinkBuds Fit feature Sony's signature sound profile. It's a tad warm (bass forward), but the sound is open and dynamic. If anything, it lacks a touch of clarity, but the profile works well with a variety of music genres, and most people should be pleased with the LinkBuds Fit's sound quality. You can tweak the sound a bit with the equalizer settings in Sony's new "renewed" Sound Connect app, which replaces the Sony Headphones app. Sony has streamlined the app a bit in an effort to make it seem less confusing to users. (It does seem a little more user friendly but there are still plenty of settings to choose from.) 

Sony says it's also improved the ambient (transparency) mode from the LinkBuds S, making it sound more natural, and I do think that's the case from my early testing. As I said, the noise canceling doesn't seem quite as good as that of the WF-1000MX5, which features some of the best noise-canceling out there. But it's still very good overall. 

I thought the voice-calling performance was impressive. Callers said they could hear almost no background noise when I spoke to them from the noisy streets of New York. And they said my voice sounded pretty clear with minimal glitches. 

I'm not going to get into all of the LinkBuds Fit's features, but like the LinkBuds Open, they feature built-in voice controls, Sony's Speak-To-Chat feature that pauses your music when you start a conversation with someone. They also have the gesture controls of the LinkBuds S (you can nod or shake your head to accept or reject calls).

Battery life is rated at 5.5 hours at moderate volume levels with noise-canceling on, and the charging case gives you an additional three charges. The charging case does not have wireless charging. 

• Compact, lightweight design (4.9 grams per bud)
• 8.4 mm driver unit
• Active noise canceling and ambient (transparency) mode
• New Air Fitting Supporters (optional colors available as post-purchase accessory for $10)
• Integrated Processor V2
• Ear-detection sensors 
• Support DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine)
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Audio codecs supported: SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3
• IPX4 splash-proof
• Up to 5.5 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels (additional 3 full charges in charging case) 
• Compatible with Sony's "renewed" Sound Connect app for iOS and Android
• Multipoint Bluetooth pairing
• Built-in voice controls
• Available in black, white, green and Olivia Rodrigo's violet color
• Price: $200

LinkBuds Speaker first impressions

Sony has also introduced a new $180 LinkBuds Speaker, that comes in gray or black. At first glance, it seems a little weird that it's in the LinkBuds line because it's a speaker, not earbuds. But Sony's developed a new Auto Switch feature that swaps playback between your LinkBuds earbuds and LinkBuds Speaker automatically, depending on the situation. One example is that if you come home and are listening to your buds as you walk in the door, the music you're listening to will automatically switch over to the speaker, and you can remove your buds without stopping playback.

I only listened to the speaker for a short time, but it does sound good for its compact size. Sony says it has best-in-class call quality of any of its wireless speakers (I'll be testing that in the coming days), and I did like that it comes with a dedicated charging dock. 

• Compact design
• Quick Access allows for one-touch listening
• Auto Play plays music according to your routine
• X- Balanced Speaker Unit with a tweeter and passive bass radiators
• Top call quality of any Sony wireless speaker
• Detachable strap
• Dedicated charging cradle
• IPX4 splashproof
• Up to 25 hours battery life at moderate volume levels and quick charging
• Compatible with Sony Sound Connect app for iOS and Android
• Available in light gray and black
• Price: $180

Sony LinkBuds Open and LinkBuds Fit final first impressions

I think Sony's done a nice job moving the LinkBuds line forward with both design and performance improvements. The customizable accessories are a bit of a gimmick (I'm not sure how great the earbuds look when you mix and match colors), though it's understandable that Sony would want to open a new post-purchase revenue stream. It's also too bad that Sony's raised the price for the buds by $20 from their predecessors. But that type of price hike seems to be the case with a lot of premium earbuds these days, including new models from Samsung and Google. 

Unless you're someone who just can't stand having ear tips in your ears, the LinkBuds Fit are probably going to be the better option if you're trying to choose between the two models. They sound better overall and also feature active noise canceling. The LinkBuds Open are certainly improved -- and very good open earbuds -- but they just may not be everybody's cup of tea.