The first time we saw Sony's LinkBuds (WF-L900) they initially baffled for their choice of open ring drivers (meaning you could always hear the outside world). The new LinkBuds S, however, do a total about-turn on that design: offering a closed design and including active noise-cancelling (ANC).
Not only that, the LinkBuds S have one massive feature to boast about: they're the smallest and lightest earphones featuring ANC in the world. Now that's impressive. And it gives a really good reason to consider Sony's earbuds against, well, pretty much anything else on the market.
It's that small-and-light finish that also stands the LinkBuds S apart from Sony's top-tier WF-1000XM4 in-ears, which also offer ANC, but in a wholly different package.
Sony LinkBuds S: Spec to shout about
There are plenty of other reasons to consider the LinkBuds S as your next in-ear noise-cancelling choice. They're coded as WF-LS900N, if that helps you seek them out.
Principally it's the size and weight, of course, with each 'bud weighing just 4.8g and the charging case a further 35g. All-in that's under 45g, so not much more than a packet of crisps.
Given their small scale, it's fairly impressive that Sony has enabled the LinkBuds S to deliver 20 hours of battery life (that's 6 hours per charge with an additional 14 hours in the charging case). There's also a 5 minute charge for just 1 hour of playback feature via USB-C (although a full charge of the case plus 'buds is 3 hours).
Sony is also going big on sound quality, with 20Hz-20kHz frequency response and adoption of LDAC for Hi-Res Audio, with Sony's DSEE Extreme upscaling further helping sound quality. All the top-end features you'll find in the WH-1000XM4, then, to ensure quality.
All of which makes the LinkBuds S sound like a very good Apple AirPods Pro alternative indeed. And priced at £180/$199/AU$349 they even undercut Apple's in-ear wonders by a decent margin!
