Sony and audio are two words that go well together, but with Sony’s expanded earbud lineup, the lines get blurred. Which is actually the best pair of wireless earbuds? today I compare these LinkBuds S vs WF-1000XM4 vs LinkBuds vs. WF-C500 earbuds in this article.
Which Sony Earbuds Are Best? Review notes
PHYSICAL DESIGN WF-C500
Physical buttons (feel a bit mushy, but great for athletes)
Very small and comfortable
Cheap feeling case
4 colors (coral/mint/white/black)
Link buds
Open design is incredibly light, breathable, and comfortable
Can be finicky with the fit
Control by tapping your jaw joint
The case has a button
2 colors (black/white)
Link buds S
The lightest, smallest ANC HiFi earbuds on the market
Extremely light and comfortable
Touchpads (customizable in the app)
Made from recycled plastic
4 colors (white/black/tan)
WF-1000XM4
Touch controls (customizable in-app)
Largest case
Premium design
The only model with wireless charging
Comes with foam tips
The foam tip problem
2 colors (black/silver)
ALL
IPX4
COMFORT
Rank: Link, Link S, C500, XM4
Which Sony Earbuds Are Best? Review notes
BATTERY
C500: 10/20
Link: 5.5/23
Link S: 6/20
XM4: 8/24
SOUND quality of LinkBuds S vs. WF-1000XM4 vs. LinkBuds vs. WF-C500
C500: constant hissing sound
Sounds claustrophobic with poor instrument separation
Muddy bass makes them sound less deep and less wide than I would like
The lively sound overall with powerful lows. Pop sounds fun with these. For the price, not a bad balance, but there is plenty of better sounding competition
Only AAC & SBC codecs
Link:
Only supports SBC & AAC
Great clarity, but lacks bass
Anything below 200Hz is significantly deemphasized
Open-back type sound, great for a quiet workspace in which you wear earbuds for many hours per day!
Link S:
LDAC support
Fun and lively
A smaller driver than the XM4, but still an impressive sub-bass performance
A bit warm and dark. I wish there was better spatial replication and it didn’t sound like it was all in the middle of my head
Still pretty decent
XM4:
LDAC support
Warmer, more powerful, and full sounding. Great detail and clarity with a wider soundstage. More natural and clear than any other earbuds on this list. A substantial improvement over the others, but an untrained ear may not notice too much difference between Link S and these.
ALL:
EQ
DEE
Connection priority choice in-app
MIC TEST
ANC Level 25 – Sony WF-1000XM4
Level 23 – Sony Linkbuds S Level 13 – Sony WF-C500
Level 1 – Sony Linkbuds
Top 4 Sony Earbuds FEATURES
Speak to chat (XM4, Link S, Link)
Transparency mode (Link S, XM4) – which is better?
Adaptive volume control on Linkbuds
Adaptive sound control on XM4 and Linkbuds S
Autoplay/pause (XM4, Link S, Link)
Tap for Spotify (Link, Link S)
