Open design for awareness of the immediate environment
Good sound for the category
Comfortable on the ears and almost imperceptible
Good phone call quality even in noisy environments
No proximity sensor
Wearing headphones requires skill
No wireless charging
Sony has been pushing the open headphone category in its catalog for 4 years. In 2022, it introduced the first-generation LinkBuds and more recently, it launched the LinkBuds Clip, which continue to offer its users the ability to listen to music while being aware of their surroundings.
Design and control: Sony Clip – a look reminiscent of earrings
The idea behind open-back headphones, in this case the Clip design, is to enjoy your music/phone calls while still being aware of the world around you. Sony describes the Clip design as a “social design” that allows you to continue listening to music while talking to people, with less ear fatigue, made possible by improved airflow and no pressure in the ear canal.
The Clip comes in a design inspired by Ear Cuff earrings that does not penetrate the ear canal, and therefore should fit a wide range of ear structures. The main body and upper strap provide stability to the headphones when worn. Adjustment pads are included and allow you to adjust the fit according to personal preference by changing the position of the pad on the strap. I personally did not have the opportunity to use them. The headphones themselves are indeed comfortable and do not interfere with the ears and also allow you to talk to people, without feeling like there is something stuck in your ears. What is more, it takes a few seconds each time to arrange them on your ears when assembling them.
Another design detail to pay attention to is that they look like earrings that are worn on the ears, and not everyone will like this style.
The Clip is IPX4 sweat and rain resistant and comes in several colors: beige, black, lavender and green, and there is also the option to purchase a case cover and pads in different colors. The case itself is relatively chunky, it looks like an earring box in a clamshell shape, which means that if you put it in the front pocket of your jeans you will feel it.
In terms of operating the Clip, it's not a natural control, and Sony understands this and even offers a video that helps you learn the (relatively simple) method. The middle part of the arc is the touchpad, with operation performed from the right earbud with a double tap for play/pause and a triple tap to skip forward a song. Tapping four times increases the volume.
On the left earbud, a double tap is used to switch between sound modes, there is no option for a triple tap and a quadruple tap to lower the volume. The touch controls can be adjusted. What's a shame is that there is no proximity sensor that detects when the headphones are inserted/removed from the ears, for automatic recognition of play/pause. The ability to increase/decrease the volume is also not really convenient.
Sound and Calls: Sony Clip – Surprisingly Good Sound
No matter how much freedom a headset allows for conversations with people, whether in the immediate vicinity or on the phone, what will be most important to most users is the sound. I have to say that the sound surprised me in a good way here, especially for open-backed headphones, which are a significant challenge.
In announcing the Clip, Sony promised that its headphones offer natural and spacious sound that remains true to the source, in addition to Sony's DSEE technology used to restore compressed music files, a 10-band equalizer that can be customized via the app, and support for 360-degree sound.
The headphones come with 10mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.3, support for connecting to two devices at the same time (multipoint), and support only basic codecs: SBC and AAC. Forget about a high-quality audio codec like Sony's LDAC.
Sony offers three listening modes here: Standard mode, which emphasizes vocals and details, but sounds a little weak. In contrast, Voice Boost mode, which the company aims for listening in noisy places, amplifies voices and sounds better, but also suffers from a slightly unclean sound that borders on being a little distorted.
There is also a Sound Leakage Reduction mode that mutes the sound in terms of audio and also reduces the volume for the people next to you.
Ultimately, in terms of the sound you get here, you need to understand that these are open headphones that cannot be compared to regular headphones, especially those with active noise cancellation. This is a good sound that sounds natural, relatively clean, but with less emphasis on bass.
The Clip excels in the phone call category, hearing me well in a noisy environment while I was walking around outside. They do this thanks to a bone conduction sensor that helps the headphones better capture the user's voice, while an AI-based noise reduction system helps remove background noise, thus maintaining clear and natural sound even in noisy environments.
Battery: Long playtime
The battery life here is 9 hours through the headphones and a total of 37 hours with the case. What's a shame is that there's no wireless charging here.
The bottom line is that open-back headphones are a category that is becoming increasingly popular with manufacturers, and Sony offers a product here that is comfortable to wear on the ears, has relatively good sound quality (relative to the category), excellent phone call quality, and long battery life.
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