It was only a matter of before open-ear audio tech made its way to Sony, and it was pretty much a given that what came out of that combination would be great. Sony unveiled the LinkBuds Clip open-ear wireless buds in January, with an innovative and comfortable clip-on design instead of the more familiar ring or donut that loops over your ears. Add the typically excellent Sony sound quality and a durable battery life, and this limited-time Amazon deal of $198 for the LinkBuds Clip gets even better.
Open-ear earbuds have gone from niche curiosity to a legitimate and fast-growing category over the past two years, and the reasons are simple: A lot of people don’t want to be sealed off from the world while they listen, and the longterm effects of overly loud in-ear audio are still largely unknown. In-ear buds with active noise cancellation are great on a plane. They’re less great when you need to hear a coworker, a car horn, your kid, or a delivery person ringing the doorbell.
Smart Modes Ready
The LinkBuds Clip sit on the ear via a lightweight clip rather than plugging into the canal, which means ambient sound comes through naturally rather than being artificially piped in through a transparency mode. You hear your music and your surroundings at the same time, the way open-back headphones work — except these weigh almost nothing and clip on without a headband.
The LinkBuds Clip’s three listening modes handle the main environments you’d use them in. Standard mode works for everyday listening. Voice Boost amplifies speech frequencies in noisy settings so you can follow a conversation or catch an announcement. Sound Leakage Reduction tightens the output in quiet spaces like a library or late-night listening so the person next to you doesn’t hear your podcast. Switching between modes is a tap on the earbud — no app required.
Clearest Calls
Sony paid extra attention to the Link Buds Clip’s phone performance. Dual microphones pair with a bone-conduction speech vibration sensor that detects your voice through physical contact rather than relying solely on air-conducted sound. The AI-powered noise reduction isolates your voice from background noise, which means calls from a busy street or a crowded café come through clearly on the other end. For anyone who takes work calls throughout the day, that’s the feature that justifies wearing these over standard earbuds.
Pack in the 9-hour battery life the Link Buds Clip enjoy on their own, which expands to 37 hours with the compact charging case, and it’s clear that Sony’s in it to win it when it comes to open-ear audio tech. At Amazons $198, the LinkBuds Clip sit at a premium over basic open-ear options, but the call quality, adaptive listening modes, and Sony’s audio tuning justify the gap.