ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Obtainable for preorder for $200, Sony’s new LinkBuds Match are shaping as much as be a gym-goer’s new exercise buddy.
- These earbuds boast a stable ANC function and a cushty design that’s second to none.
- Their audio output, nonetheless, is not very {powerful}.
extra shopping for selections
What’s an important side of a pair of earbuds? My reply adjustments relying on the circumstances. I favor energy and quantity once I’m at house listening to music. If I am on the health club, I would like one thing rugged and able to blocking out sound. Sony’s new LinkBuds Match meets my wants.
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I had the chance to check out a pair for the previous week or so, they usually rapidly grew to become my go-to exercise buddies. I by no means left house with out them. Earlier than I get into the various explanation why I really like these buds, I wish to rapidly give a shoutout to the charging case.
I acquired the pale inexperienced mannequin with a marble lid and a comfortable rubber backside. Collectively, they appear beautiful. I do not know if these supplies assist reinforce it or something, however I’m an enormous fan of the aesthetics. Sony’s LinkBuds Match have the nicest charging case I’ve ever had the pleasure of holding.
The LinkBuds Match might be seen as an evolution of Sony’s LinkBuds S. Just like the older fashions, these are wi-fi, noise-canceling earbuds with a number of changes. Most significantly, Sony designed its new earbuds to be extra snug. The corporate informed us it made the casing shorter and coated it with a “silicone supporter.” Inside this silicone is an air cushion.
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In my expertise, this design change does two issues. It permits the earbud to suit higher inside an ear, and the silicone protecting protects your ears from rubbing towards the LinkBuds Match’s exhausting plastic casing. In brief, you get all-day consolation.
I even fell asleep with them on a number of instances throughout testing, and once I wakened, my ears did not really feel sore. That is one thing I can not say about different earbuds, which grow to be uncomfortable over time.
Noise-canceling on the LinkBuds Match is stable. It is energetic by default, so the second you placed on each, ANC (energetic noise canceling) activates. The function robotically disables itself if you take one of many earbuds out.
Double tapping on the surface of the left earbud deactivates the ANC. The auto-disable operate got here in very helpful for me, as I do not actually use gesture controls.
The ANC function blocks various quantities of sound, relying on the setting. I heard extra ambient sound in my quiet room, just like the visitors exterior my window. On the health club, issues have been a lot quieter. I might hardly hear the weights being slammed down or the music from the speaker system. This auto-optimizer function actually impressed me.
That mentioned, the ANC shouldn’t be omnipotent. Loud sufficient noises will leak by.
Sony says the earbuds final 5.5 hours on a single cost by themselves, and 25 hours with the case. Throughout my testing, I managed to get the earbuds to run for nearly seven hours earlier than I wanted to seize the charger. I had ANC turned on, and was taking part in music at a low quantity, so extending the runtime with a number of tweaks is feasible.
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The earbuds’ audio output was typically good. Instrument separation was beautiful. Acoustic songs and singers sounded fantastic. The one space by which I felt the pair faltered was the bass output. Pop and rap songs lacked that further punch.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
On the time of this writing, Sony’s LinkBuds Match can be found for preorder for $200. They arrive in 4 completely different colours: black, white, inexperienced, and violet. You should purchase further equipment, like a case cowl that goes on a key ring or completely different coloured silicone supporters.
In the event you like stable ANC and unbelievable consolation, I like to recommend the LinkBuds Match. The $200 price ticket is a troublesome promote, particularly when different nice, cheaper choices exist, just like the Nothing Ear (a). In the event you favor robust audio output, I like to recommend the Sony WH-1000XM5 wi-fi headphones.