The Sony LinkBuds Fit are wireless headphones that are meant to be less elite, more colorful and more fun than the WF-1000XM5. They sold for 199 when they were released, now they are much cheaper. In this comprehensive review, I’ll tell you why these headphones are a great alternative to Sony’s top models.
More
- Convenient semi-intra format
- Compact design and beautiful colors
- Good sound quality
- Proper autonomy
- Full of features
Less
- IPX4 certification “only”
- Decent ANC, but not much passive isolation
- No wireless charging
Sony LinkBuds Fit: All Deals
Price and availability
Sony LinkBuds Fit are available in France from the end of October 2024 at a price of 199 euros. You can currently find them for 179 euros on the official Sony store or on Amazon. Sony wireless headphones also have accessories that are sold separately. Silicone supports are sold for 10 euros each. The packaging for the charging case costs 20 euros each.
Sony LinkBuds Fit design
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Sony LinkBuds Fit are comfortable and compact. The semi-intra format with relatively short silicone tips does not block the ear canal. Sony has equipped its headphones with support ribs. But these fins are hollow. They look like tiny, ultra-flexible air cushions. Here again the advantage is to provide more comfort while providing good support in the ear without the hard edge poking into your cartilage.
Sony also sells charging case covers and mounts in 5 different colors. It costs 10 to 20 euros per unit. But it allows you to create color combinations for a little more customization.
The earphones are IPX4 certified and thanks to the supportive brackets, you can consider them a sport. The case is also very compact and I love its square format with rounded corners. With white color, it looks like a marshmallow. But I’m less of a fan of the marbled effect on the lid. From a distance I had the impression that it was dirty. But that is entirely subjective. In addition, the hinge had a little too much free will.
Sony LinkBuds Fit: Sound quality
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The Sony LinkBuds Fit have a very warm sound signature with a bit more emphasis on the bass than the rest of the musical message. This is a very classic and common rendering on the market. But Sony’s design seemed very masterful to me just by ear. In short, I did not find that the bass did not balance the overall result.
The only real flaw is the lack of passive insulation. But this is the opposite of the comfort offered by the semi-intra format. The ear canal is less clogged, you inevitably hear more ambient noise. You can turn up the volume and activate ANC, but you’ll lose detail because you’ll emphasize the bass even more. But honestly, I appreciated the sound quality of the LinkBuds Fit.
On the hardware side, we find the same “Driver X” converter and the same V2 chip as v Sony WF-1000XM5 (review)the manufacturer’s current flagship. Of course, the Bluetooth LDAC codec support is also a very good point.
Active noise reduction Sony LinkBuds Fit
| Active noise reduction |
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The active noise reduction of Sony LinkBuds Fit is purely automatic. Its intensity cannot be adjusted manually. Sony claims its “NC Optimizer” feature will adapt the ANC to your audio environment. Overall, the active noise cancellation is decent, but necessarily suffers from Sony’s semi-intra headphone format, which doesn’t offer enough passive isolation.
On the other hand, the transparency mode can be adjusted manually or automatically. Depending on the volume of ambient noise around you, the Sony LinkBuds can increase or decrease the intensity of the transparency mode. In practice it works more or less well. When an ambulance drives by or the subway door alert goes off, there’s bound to be a slight delay and it feels like the volume control is playing tricks on you.
But the transparency mode of the Sony LinkBuds convinced me overall. It amplifies relevant sounds well and I didn’t notice any hiss or distortion.
Sony LinkBuds Fit features and apps
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The Sony LinkBuds Fit are quite generous in features. The five-band equalizer is great, we have multipoint for pairing with two devices at the same time and port detection.
Die-hard Sony fans will be happy to know that Speak-to-Chat still exists. Quite frankly, I need one of the fans of this feature to explain to me why it’s useful. Am I too stupid to understand? I personally hate it when my music stops as soon as I cough or mumble a single word. Especially since you always have to wait at least three seconds for it to stop.
A little news, Sony offers the function “Music effect in the background”. The idea is to give the impression that the music you are listening to is ambient music that you are listening to in the background. Sony will artificially increase the depth of the stereo scene, making the sound source appear further and further away. You can choose from three modes: My Room, Living Room, Cafe. It’s funny, but I personally found the echo generated by this mode quite annoying in the long run. With the “My Room” mode, the least intense, the results were the most tolerable.
It’s nothing new this time, but the Wide Area Tap feature is still amazing. The headphones have built-in accelerometers. They can detect ambient vibrations. So you can tap to sleep without touching the earcups to activate the controls.
Sony has also added voice commands for the headphones. But personally, I will never encounter their daily use, and especially not in public. Especially since the supported Sony commands are only in English.
Regardless, Sony is still generous with features. And the manufacturer has completely redesigned its Sony Sound Connect app to better harmonize all of its audio ecosystems with a centralized app.
Sony LinkBuds Fit: Battery and charging
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The battery life of 5.5 hours with ANC reported by Sony for the LinkBuds Fit is within the high market average. The headphones can be fully charged three times through the case. Charging the headphones from 0 to 100% takes two hours. The case lasts for three hours and is wired only, no wireless charging is offered.
I personally used Sony headphones according to these parameters:
- 100% charged
- Port detection disabled
- No charging during my session
- Active noise reduction always on
- 50% listening volume
- Paired with an Android smartphone
- LDAC codec
And I was able to exceed 5 hours of listening without a problem. I haven’t tested it, but I’m sure if you prefer the SBC/AAC codecs, or even LC3 (LE Audio), you should easily exceed six hours, even with ANC on.
Conclusion: Should you buy the Sony LinkBuds Fit?
Do I recommend you buy Sony LinkBuds Fit for 179 euros? Yes.
While the excellent Sony WF-1000XM5 remain my favorite wireless headphones, they still retail for around €250 new online. The LinkBuds Fit have the same V2 chip and transducers.
If you don’t like intros, it’s also a good compromise in terms of convenience. And all this without sacrificing support. The case is super compact and easy to carry. And I appreciate the many customization options that Sony offers, even if the accessories have to be purchased separately and are quite expensive.
And above all, they are loaded with functions. I love the vibration control by tapping the temple rather than the headphones. The Background Music Effect is fun and the new Sony Sound Connect app is more intuitive. Add to that LDAC, port detection and multipoint and we have a very consistent headphone for this price range.
and you? What do you think of the Sony LinkBuds Fit after this full test? What else would you like to know about these wireless headphones with active noise cancellation?