Review Verdict: The Sony LinkBuds S for this review in the Philippines is a fantastic choice when it comes to premium wireless earbuds. The lessons learned from the pricier but legendary WF-1000XM4 carry over here; featuring splendid ANC, all-day comfort, terrific sound, and an application full of customization options. 

Pros

• Light and comfortable for all-day use
• Loads of configurations for sound and other features in the app
• Brilliant sound after tuning
• ANC blocks out most outdoor noises

Cons

• Sound out of the box is just ok

Design

The shape of the LinkBuds S can be described quite simply: it’s like the Sony WF-1000XM4 went on a diet. Gone are any semblances of shiny bits or accessories, replaced by matte hues. This may be more appealing to those who aim for the minimalistic vibe, like if IKEA made a pair of TWS buds. The curvatures of the LinkBuds S form three-quarters of a circle near your ears, then converge into what can only be described as a wheel.

Only one logo, SONY, is embossed into the side of each bud. Minute details such as the ear designation, voltage, country of production, and model number can be spotted on the inside part that comes into contact with your ear. The wear sensor is also located here. On the other hand, the opposite side of the aforementioned wheel is a touchpad for all necessary controls and shortcuts.

Situated as well on each LinkBud S are two microphones, one on the inside and a considerably more sizeable one facing the outside.

Moving on to the case, it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that there is nothing remarkable about it.

The finish is the same matte as on the buds, with a single indicator light in front and a button and a micro USB Type-C port facing the rear. Once again, SONY is embossed on top with some minor labelling underneath.

User Interface and Fit

The moment we opened up the case to the Sony LinkBuds S in this Philippines review, a 3D rendition of the device immediately popped up on our mobile device. This isn’t something you’d find on a lower-range TWS earbud and is indicative of the time and effort placed into convenience features.

As expected from Sony, the Bluetooth 5.2 technology is top-notch. Never did we experience any bugs or stutters from the buds, which is what we would expect from a major industry player hailed for their wireless audio gear.

Thankfully, these are paired to the same Sony Headphones app as all their other pieces of audio gear do. There is a vast multitude of configurations you can select from within the application, something we’ve come to expect from higher-end Sony peripherals.

One can customize the touch shortcuts, activate power settings, audio presets, voice assistant activation, wear-fit testing, and so much more.

We were fine putting these on the usual way you’d plop a pair in your ears, but our LinkBuds S-owning friends immediately gave us some advice: put them in and twist them a bit. This tidbit of advice bumped up the fit from a 9 to an outright 10. Despite the sizing down of the XM4 from the notoriously-chunky XM3 buds, those still felt somewhat bulky in the ears. These manage to strike the perfect balance between fitting like a glove and having mass in your ears. Of course, ear shapes and sizes vary.

Hours after placing these in our ears and we just forgot about them. No constant readjustments are needed here – they’re natural to wear and aren’t fatiguing. If you aren’t a side sleeper, you could probably keep these on while dozing off.

Working out with these should be fine, considering their IPX4 certification.

Audio Quality and Battery Life

Placing the Sony LinkBuds S in our ears during this review gave us high expectations that it might just be a commercial hit here in the Philippines. After all, they’ve been touted as a comfortable everyday earbud for the musically inclined packing 5mm driver units with high-compliance diaphragms.

Out of the box, the targeted level of clarity is immediately apparent. Sony has done some safe tuning here by choosing to give equal attention to all the aspects of music. As a result, performance across the board is solid but nothing really stands out over the other. The only little gripe is with the highs – it chokes out a bit with a handful of songs, which could also be a result of the fact that the audio graphing out of the box mostly matches that of the Bass Boosted setting. Overall, the Sony LinkBuds S in its default configuration is a jack-of-all-trades that performs adequately with most, if not all genres, and is a workable baseline.

The magic happens when you open up the Sony Headphones app. Fiddling with the EQ settings just flexes how versatile these earbuds are when it comes to sound. Props to Sony for allowing users to switch EQ presets while playing music, as you can really hear the differences between each one. Some prioritize bass, others are vocal and treble-oriented, while the another exists solely for podcasts. We personally recommend the “Excited” preset since it’s the closest you can get to the signature warm sound often preferred by listeners.

If none of these work for you, then you’re given the option to tweak the sublevels yourself. This is where personal preference comes into play. The image above shows our chosen setting after minutes of adjustments. This particular configuration pushes the vocals forward, maintains clarity, but also remains energetic with adequate warmth and bass response. It also addresses the minor issue we had with the original settings regarding highs.

Audio enhancements also come courtesy of intelligent software such as 360 Audio and DSEE Extreme – an AI that smoothens up the audio for you by upscaling the resolution on mediocre sources. It fills in the blanks left behind by streaming apps such as Spotify and then pushes quality to high fidelity standards.

Needless to say, we are impressed with the Sony LinkBuds S.

Tapping once on the left earbud or scrolling through the app will bring you to its Active Noise Cancellation functionality. Unlike what we’ve seen on even the previous-generation WF-1000XM3, ANC here is just a switch between on or off. It’s not as big of a deal since users who want lighter ANC usually just turn the feature off altogether. On the LinkBuds S with a long-lasting snug fit, the passive isolation is more than good enough anyway.

Once the ANC is on, the difference becomes very noticeable. Your surroundings get shut out with consistent sounds such as whirring deleted from existence. The superiority of ANC quality here is obvious, blocking out a wider range of frequencies compared to its competitors. Despite this, this all feels natural and never emanates that vacuum-like nauseating sensation experienced with some other brands.

Sony is renowned for its ANC technology now; being the first company to ever employ it in the earbud form factor and leading the industry in terms of sheer quality. ANC on these buds aren’t quite up to the flagship WF-1000XM4 just yet, but they’ve achieved something amazing here either way.

The Sony LinkBuds S are rated for 6 hours per charge with 14 additional hours in the case. With our testing, the buds lasted around 5 hours and 40 minutes on 65% volume, with a realistic 13+ hours of extra battery.

Wrap Up and Conclusions

The Sony LinkBuds S in this review for the Philippines tech market immediately cements themselves as one of the top contenders. With superb audio quality, stellar ANC, and all-day comfort, this pair of buds is worth every penny.

Keep in mind that even compared to the XM4s that are now on sale, these still hold their own and even best its older sibling in certain departments.

Sony LinkBuds S Review Philippines Price

The Sony LinkBuds S costs PHP 10,999 in the Philippines. Check it out now on e-commerce websites like Shopee. For more details on these buds, check out the Sony PH official site.