This is why I like the Sony LinkBuds S earbuds more than the flagship WF-1000XM4

Sony is wasting no time expanding its LinkBuds family of wireless earphones. The company had a huge hit earlier this year with its oddly shaped open-ear LinksBuds, and it recently added a new Model S with a much more traditional design. Sony places the Linkbuds S earbuds lower than the WF-1000XM4, which means you don’t have to shell out as much as you do with the flagship pair.

That’s also why I wasn’t expecting the LinkBuds S to come close to the quality of the $180 WF-100XM4 earbuds, but I was wrong. Not only have the Linkbuds S earned a spot in my earphone rotation, but I use them more than any other pair, including the WF-1000XM4s that sit right in front of me on my desk.

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  Sony Linkbuds S.

  Sony’s LinkBuds S earbuds will only cost you $130 right now. It has come close to matching the WF-1000XM4’s audio performance, and even offers some better features including Bluetooth Multipoint support, which the main pair has yet to get.

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  Sony WF-1000XM4

  The Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones are among the best pairs you can buy right now, and they come with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a flagship pair.

Sony LinkBuds S vs WF-1000XM4: Pricing and Availability

Sony’s LinkBuds S earphones are relatively new to the market but are already available at discounted prices. You can get them for under $130 right now, which makes them much cheaper than most of the other premium wired earphones on the market. On the other hand, the WF-1000XM4 earbuds are over a year old but will still cost you $180. You may find them at discount prices, but you’ll still be looking for a price difference of about $50 between the two, if not higher.

The LinkdBuds S earphones are available for purchase in black, white and blue colors, while the WF-1000XM4 is only available in black and silver.

Sony LinkBuds S vs. WF-1000XM4: Specifications

Before we get started, here’s a quick look at some of the important specs and features of these earphones to see what they bring to the table:

Design: Linkbuds S earphones are smaller and more comfortable to wear

Unlike the original pair, the Linkbuds S have a much more traditional design. I tested the black LinkBuds S, which have a slightly rough-hewn finish that reminds me a bit of the sandstone texture on the original OnePlus One. Both the earpads and the case have this texture, which is often impervious to fingerprints and feels better to hold than the matte finish on the WF-1000XM4.

But more than the finish itself, I like how small the LinkBuds S earbuds compare to the WF-1000XM4 earphones. Sony’s slogan for the LinkBuds S earphones is “never turn off,” touting the lightweight design that makes them comfortable to wear all day. And Sony was right. The LinkBuds S earbuds are surprisingly light, and are very comfortable to wear for hours. This is one of the main reasons I’ve been spending more time listening to music on the LinkBuds S than on any other pair over the past few weeks. Each earbud weighs 4.8 grams, which means they are about a gram lighter than the WF-1000XM4, which weigh 7.3 grams each. The LinkBuds S earbuds are also smaller and have a more rounded shape, which makes them stay firmly in my ear for hours.

Compared to the WF-1000XM4 earbuds, which usually start to strain my ears after just a couple of hours, the LinkBuds S sound like almost nothing. There are times I even forget it’s in my ear. But that doesn’t mean they don’t offer a firm, snug fit to block out ambient noise. Yes, the WF-1000XM4 does a better job of blocking out noise with the included foam tips, but I find the LinkBuds S to be more comfortable. If you have smaller ears, and find larger earbuds like the WF-1000XM4 or the Sennheiser Momentum earbuds a little too tight, you’ll love these.

Both pairs of earbuds in this comparison support tap functions to switch between ANC ambient mode, and pause and skip tracks, but I prefer using those functions more on the LinkBuds S since they don’t fit as tightly in my ears as the WF-1000XM4 earbuds. The latter also stick out of my ears when I wear them, while the LinkBuds S sit perfectly inside without making me want to dig deeper. The charging case that comes with the LinkBuds S is also slightly smaller than the one you get with the WF-1000XM4.

Features: LinkBuds S are just as feature-rich as the WF-1000XM4

Both the LinkBuds S and WF-1000XM4 earphones are pretty much identical in terms of features. Both connect to your smartphones via the Sony Headphones Connect app, which offers adaptive control, talk-to-chat, EQ settings, and more. All of these options work the same way on both earphones. The adaptive control, which I like a lot because it can tweak noise-canceling settings automatically, works very well with both earbuds. On the other hand, the speak-to-chat feature is equally annoying and easy to operate with both earbuds, which is why I turned it off. You also get the same set of EQ settings for both earbuds, and I love how you can adjust their sound depending on the music you want to listen to.

However, the LinkBuds S do support Bluetooth Multipoint, allowing me to connect the earbuds to more than one device at once. This particular feature comes in handy if you’re like me who’s constantly switching between phone and laptop for audio. The fact that I don’t have to switch the earphones’ Bluetooth connection to listen to a different audio source makes it more convenient, and I can’t do that with my WF-1000XM4 earphones yet. Yes, they will be “coming soon” with a firmware update, but they’re not here yet, and I can’t recommend a product based on what they promise to deliver in the future.

Both earphones also support Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and high-quality LDAC Bluetooth codec. The LinkBuds S also adds some additional new features and can start playing music as soon as you put them in or after you end a work call. The LinkBuds S and XM4 earbuds both have an IPX4 resistance rating, which means they can shrug off some water and are good for workouts.

Sound: The WF-1000XM4 is a step above

Sony had to use a smaller 5mm driver to make the LinkBuds S earphones even smaller and lighter. This is a definite downside compared to the 6mm drivers used in the WF-1000XM4 earphones. The size of the drivers doesn’t paint the full picture, but the LinkBuds S earphones aren’t sound-heavy. It has powerful bass that doesn’t sound muddy or long in the sound field, but the WF-1000XM4’s bass hits better in the sub-bass areas of the track. This is especially noticeable in the hip-hop and pop music that makes up most of my Spotify Wrapped playlist.

However, the LinkBuds S do justice to the mids and vocals. Joji’s Die for You and Portor Robinson’s “Goodbye To a World” demonstrate how well these earbuds can handle tracks with tons of layers. You get smooth mids that aren’t overpowered or lost thanks to good bass separation. It is on par with the WF-1000XM4 and even the OPPO Enco X2 in this regard. The highs sound like they have a bit of a rough texture or grain to them, but they’re not particularly noticeable and didn’t stop me from enjoying the higher tones and instrumentation in Hozier’s “Movement.” I was also satisfied with the left and right shooting, but I have to admit that the WF-1000XM4 has a wider sound range to give you a better sense of where the instrument is sounding from.

The WF-1000XM4 earbuds offer better ANC, but the LinkBuds S also did a pretty good job of cutting out a lot of ambient noise. I recently used it during a two-hour flight, and it was able to suppress the hum of airplane engines and other distractions. Transparency mode on the LinkaBuds S also works exactly as it does on the WF-1000XM4 earphones, so there are no differences there. I just wish auto-detection worked as well as it does on the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, but I think I’ll save that rant for another day.

Battery: The LinkBuds S have good battery life, but there is no wireless charging support

Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds can last up to 8 hours on a single charge. They can last longer than all the wireless earphones I’ve tried lately, including the LinkBuds S, which can easily last about 6 hours before needing a quick recharge. You can get more out of them by turning off the ANC, which isn’t a bad thing considering how small they are compared to the WF-1000XM4 earphones. You can always use the charging case to quickly charge the battery, so I had no issues with battery life during my use. The charging case that came with both the LinkBuds S and WF-1000XM4 has a USB-C port, but only the latter supports wireless charging.

Sony LinkBuds S vs WF-1000XM4: Which Should You Buy?

I wasn’t expecting much when I started testing the LinkBuds S, but they have become my go-to earphones mainly because of their comfort. The fact that I can barely tell when I’m wearing these earbuds makes me want to use them more than any other pair I’ve owned. The WF-1000XM4 will, as I mentioned earlier, get slightly better ANC, audio, and battery life, but that doesn’t mean the LinkBuds S earbuds can’t keep up in these areas at all. They’re almost there with similar noise cancellation, powerful bass, and a very similar-sounding mic for voice calls.

Sony currently sells the LinkBuds S for $130, while the WF-1000XM4 will set you back $180. It’s not a huge difference in price for all the major benefits the WF-1000XM4 earphones bring to the table, but I’ve been leaning more towards the LinkBuds S lately. It’s the one I’d recommend, especially to those still on the quest to find a comfortable pair of earphones to wear all day. If this sounds like you, and if you think the WF-1000XM4 earbuds are a great fit for you, you might want to save the extra cash and buy the LinkBuds S.

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  Sony Linkbuds S.

  Sony’s LinkBuds S earbuds will only cost you $130 right now. It has come close to matching the WF-1000XM4’s audio performance, and even offers some better features including Bluetooth Multipoint support, which the main pair has yet to get.

• 

  Sony WF-1000XM4

  The Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones are among the best pairs you can buy right now, and they come with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a flagship pair.