Although still a very niche market, open-ear headphones have a feature that is highly sought after in certain contexts — they allow you to listen to music without isolating you from the world around you.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip are part of Sony‘s bet in this type of product, offering a simple, functional, and very lightweight design.
Even though they are designed to let all external sound through, the Sony LinkBuds Clip still need to deliver good sound quality — which is more challenging with this type of headphone, but not impossible.
A design built for comfort
Compared to other products of this type that we have tested or used in day-to-day life, one point stood out from the start: comfort is genuinely guaranteed with these headphones.
With a very compact size and an adjustable clip that wraps around the ear, the headphones sit in place easily without weighing much and without blocking external sound.
Moreover, even though the part that sits behind the ear is slightly larger than the sound-emitting section, they never become uncomfortable — quite the opposite, there were moments when we forgot we were wearing them at all.
The fit applies no pressure whatsoever, and the headphones settle very naturally against the entrance of the ear canal.
In this way, the Sony LinkBuds Clip manage to direct sound towards the ear while keeping the user comfortable throughout the day.
If the headphones are small and comfortable, the carry case is not the slimmest. Although very simple and elegant — something we appreciate — the case is a little thick, making it less than ideal to carry in a pocket or a small bag. However, its very rounded design gives it an appearance that feels smaller than it actually is.
Battery life to last the whole week
Despite their compact size, the Sony LinkBuds Clip have a battery that holds up very well throughout the day.
With Sony claiming up to 9 hours of continuous playback, this seems entirely achievable in practice — during roughly two hours of playback per day, battery consumption was no more than around 20%.
On top of that, the case provides several additional charges, meaning that throughout the week there was no need to think about charging the Sony LinkBuds Clip — there was always plenty of battery to spare.
A very present sound
Moving on to the main focus of the Sony LinkBuds Clip: the sound quality achievable in headphones that let all external sound pass through.
One of the biggest challenges with this headphone format is making the bass feel as present as it does in traditional models — something that very often does not happen. In this case, Sony managed to deliver very good sound quality, to the point where the bass is almost as present as in a conventional pair of headphones.
Every beat felt as though it was happening right there beside you, without the muffled sensation that in-ear headphones sometimes produce.
Beyond the bass, the treble is very well handled with excellent vocal clarity, and there is room in the mix for some midrange tones that add a little more body to each track listened to.
Impressively, all of this happens without blocking external sound — though if the volume is turned up high enough, it can almost completely drown out the surrounding environment, letting through only genuinely loud sounds such as an ambulance or police siren.
That is not the intended way to use the Sony LinkBuds Clip — they are designed for the opposite of total immersion — but it is always good to have both options available.
In terms of controls, the familiar tap gestures on the headphones were the chosen approach and they are intuitive and very responsive. A double tap on one side for play/pause, multiple taps to raise or lower the volume depending on which side you tap, and further taps to switch playback mode.
Sony | Sound Connect app
The app for connecting the Sony LinkBuds Clip is well designed and very intuitive, with simple menus and interactive tuning options that allow anyone to get a personalised sound even with little knowledge of audio.
With Sony | Sound Connect you have access to general information about the Sony LinkBuds Clip — such as battery level and connection status — but you can also fine-tune the headphones.
For those who do not know how to use an equaliser, the app offers a way to configure the sound to your preference through a series of guided options to choose from until you find the sonic profile that suits you best.
The overall look and animations of the app are very clean and attractive, making the experience of using it genuinely pleasant — even if it is an app you only really open at the beginning and then leave installed in the background.
Headphones for every scenario
The Sony LinkBuds Clip proved to be open-ear headphones that offer comfortable use in any situation.
Without compromising on sound quality — where Sony did an excellent job, to the point where there was no need to touch the equaliser to adjust anything — these are headphones with bass you can feel, clear treble, and present mids, all without isolating external noise and without disturbing the person sitting next to you.
In practice, it takes a very quiet environment and a slightly elevated volume for anyone nearby to hear any sound coming from the headphones.
Even so, Sony offers a Leak Reduction mode that helps dampen the outward sound a little further, allowing use in very quiet spaces without disturbing anyone around you.
In terms of battery, the Sony LinkBuds Clip hold up perfectly throughout the day, and in our case — with around 1 to 2 hours of playback per day — we still had plenty of charge left by the end of the week.
Charging is done via USB-C and takes around an hour and a half, which is an acceptable time given the battery life on offer.
Even though these are headphones for a more specific audience and use case, Sony did not overlook a single detail, delivering an open-ear format with near top-tier sound quality and incredible comfort — to the point where it almost feels like you are wearing nothing at all.
The Sony LinkBuds Clip are available at an RRP of €200 in four colours: green, greyish beige, black, and lilac.
- Very comfortable to wear
- Generous battery life given the size and lightweight build
- Very good sound quality for open-ear headphones
- Charging case is a little bulky
We thank Sony for providing the Sony LinkBuds Clip for review.
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