Sony LinkBuds Clip review: Comfortable clip-on earbuds that struggle to impress

Open-ear buds are everywhere these days. One of the fastest-growing categories of headphones, open-ears are especially popular among runners and other athletes who prefer to hear what’s going on around them while they exercise. These types of headphones can also work in office environments and for commuting.

Sony isn’t new to the open-ear game. 2022’s LinkBuds WF-L900 tackled the concept well, generally attracting positive reviews from publications and users alike. The brand’s latest foray into open-ear headphones is the LinkBuds Clip, reminiscent of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, which are among my favourite running headphones.

Sadly, Sony’s latest attempt doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Even though the buds feel as premium as you’d expect from the company, the sound is far from amazing. It’s also hard to distinguish the left and right buds, which is a surprising oversight from the audio stalwart, especially considering that some models, such as the Huawei FreeClip 2, can be used in either ear.

Luckily, they are on par with other open-ears on the market in terms of price, but still, I expected better from Sony. Even after years of testing headphones, I got very excited when the brand offered me headphones to test. My high expectations probably didn’t help, but in a crowded field such as open-ear headphones, Sony might have to try a bit harder. Or return to LinkBuds WF-L900’s (or LinkBuds Open WF-L910’s) form factor.

Sony LinkBuds Clip review

Price and availability

The Sony LinkBuds Clip was launched in January 2026 and is available now at Sony UK, Sony US , Sony EU and Sony AU in four colours for £179.99 / $229.99 / €199 / AU$329.95. The brand sells case cover tops and bottoms, as well as Air Fitting Cushions, small silicone pads that are said to improve fit and stability.

The Sony sells for the same price as the Huawei FreeClip 2 and the Shokz OpenDots one, and a lot cheaper than Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds, the latter of which carry a price tag of £299 / $299 / €349 / AU$449.95.

Design and build quality

The Sony LinkBuds Clip use a distinctive clip-on design, with each earbud weighing approximately 6.4g. Instead of sitting in the ear canal, the buds use a C-shaped “ear-cuff” clip that gently wraps around the outer ear.

The bridge connecting the speaker and the control unit at the back is flexible, although not as much as the one found on Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds. The LinkBuds Clip offer a more secure fit, especially in workout conditions, than your standard noise-cancelling in-ear buds.

The earbuds combine hard plastic and silicone elements, and carry an IPX4 water-resistance rating, meaning they can handle sweat and light splashes, making them suitable for commuting or casual workouts.

Controls are handled via touch input on the connecting loop, allowing you to play or pause music, adjust volume and switch listening modes with taps. You can change the function assigned to each bud in the Sound Connect app. I kind of liked the continuous tapping for volume control.

The compact charging case measures roughly 50.4 × 50.4 × 32.6mm and weighs about 42g, making it pocket-friendly but not the sleekest around. It’s certainly thicker than the cases of the Apple AirPods Pro 2 and the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5.

Sony offers several colour options, including black, greige, green and lavender, with additional coloured cushions and case covers available for further personalisation.

Audio performance

Due to their open-ear design, the LinkBuds Clip’s sound quality isn’t comparable to standard ANC buds. The 10 mm dynamic drivers in the buds would be more than powerful enough if they provided a passive seal, but since they let in plenty of ambient noise, the buds only really sound good in quieter environments.

Even there, I usually listened to them with the volume cranked up almost to the maximum, which is unusual for me. I rarely raise the volume over half to protect my hearing, relying on ANC to quieten the world around me. That said, even open-ear buds often produce a more robust sound than the Sony LinkBuds Clip.

I found the best place to test the Sonys was the quiet office I sometimes work in. With hardly any ambient noise around, I could finally appreciate the nuances of the LinkBuds Clip. Clarity and midrange details are excellent, with vocals, podcasts and acoustic instruments coming through clearly.

Bass is lacking, as expected, but some of the blues songs that I listened to during testing sounded okay. Sony offers four listening modes via the Sound Connect app, but I found only the Standard mode usable. Voice Boost enhances the midrange to comically pronounced levels, while Sound Leakage Protection and Background Music modes sound boxy and distant.

(Admittedly, Background Music mode is supposed to have that effect.)

The in-app equaliser provides a more subtle way to optimise sound, and indeed, ‘Hard’ mode made the songs sound a lot more well-rounded without pushing the buds to their limits.

The LinkBuds Clip perform well in situational listening scenarios. The open design allows environmental sound to remain audible, making them useful for walking, cycling or office use. At the same time, it means performance drops in noisy environments where ambient noise competes with music. I tried them on the tube with disastrous results.

Battery life and charging

Sony claims the LinkBuds Clip offer up to 9 hours of playback on the earbuds, with the compact charging case extending total listening time to around 37 hours (9 hours from the buds plus roughly 28 hours from the case).

For quick charging, three minutes of charging delivers about one hour of playback, which is useful if you forget to top them up before heading out. Charging is via USB-C, and there’s no wireless charging support.

In testing, the battery drain appears fairly consistent. Starting at 90% at 10:09, the earbuds dropped to 58% by 12:10, suggesting a steady discharge curve that broadly aligns with Sony’s roughly nine-hour estimate under moderate volume and mixed features.

Compared with similar clip-on open earbuds, Sony’s numbers are competitive but not class-leading. The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are rated for around 7 hours per charge, while newer open-ear rivals like the Shokz OpenDots One claim 10 hours from the buds and up to 40 hours total with the case.

Verdict

My initial excitement about the Sony LinkBuds Clip quickly turned into disappointment during testing, but I suspect my assumption that they would deliver stellar audio performance played a role. It’s hard – nay, impossible – not to expect only the best from Sony, and on this occasion, that wasn’t the case.

The buds’ mid-range price strategy would work, but only if they deliver equal or better sound performance to similarly priced open-ear headphones. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here, and with strong alternatives from Huawei and Shokz at the same price point, the LinkBuds Clip are harder to recommend.

I can imagine the price will fall soon enough, and once the LinkBuds Clip shed 30% of their asking price, which might happen in November, around Black Friday, it will be a lot easier to recommend them.