LinkBuds Open Truly Wireless Earbud Headphones with an Open-Ring Design for Ambient Sounds and Newly Developed Air Fitting Supporters, Black

i have small ears and these dont hurt my ears at all. they fit just fine! its really more about your ear shape tbh. people who complain about sound quality are silly. the quality is just fine. of course its not going to be as good as sound isolating or sound cancelling ear buds. and yes it is going to be harder to hear at low volumes in noisy environments. these are designed for a very specific use, and its kind of a niche product. but its perfect for what i need it for and im quite happy with it. i couldnt go with anything that clips over the ear because of my piercings and glasses and these solved my problem. i need to be aware of my surroundings at work and now i can do that while also listening to music and audio books privately.

So, the fit is both good and bad. They stay in my ear (surprisingly) well, considering there is just a tiny nub holding them in place, but after a couple hours of wear, they can irritate my ears (I may be spoiled, because I normally wear BOSE open ear buds, that don’t even go into your ear, they clip onto the outside, but the volume and mic leave a lot to be desired). Sound quality is above-average; volume level is above average for an open ear bud, mic is above average for an open ear bud; there is no ANC because it’s an open ear bud, but the whole point of an open ear bud is you want to have pass through sound available, and it’s decent at this (again, I may be spoiled coming from the BOSE open ear buds, because you LITERALLY forget you’re wearing those, when not in use, it’s like you’re not wearing ear buds). The app has some great functions, but they have been buggy for me. For instance, they have a “voice recognition” setting, where the buds will pause your music if they hear your voice, so you can talk without sound blaring in your ears. Problem I have is, if I cough, or clear my throat, it will detect my “voice” and pause my music. Likewise, the voice detection allows you to control the ear buds and even link with your phone assistant (like SIRI). Problem here is: to direct the ear buds you literally say “headphones…” and then something like “play music.” This works well. But for your phone you say “assistant…” and then it links to your phone for you. The issue is, if I’m listening to a song, video, or even phone call and a lyric comes up that says “assistant” or even “insist,” “assist,” “this,” etc. the headphones pause and activate my phone. It’s not a huge deal, it actually had me laughing once I realized what was happening and I just disconnected the service, but it’s one of the unique things offered by the app, and I can’t realistically use it without getting frustrated. I’ve only had them a couple days, and they’re better than my air pods, or my Between 3AN’s, and are much louder than my Bose, with better sound quality so, while they’re not perfect, they’re currently the best I have.

I really wanted to like these. After going through 2 pairs of the first generation LinkBuds and having several issues with the fit and comfort of them, I hoped these would improve on that aspect because everything else is fantastic, but that is not the case. The sound quality is terrific given the tiny size of the driver and the fact that it's an open design. They can also get impressively loud when placed correctly in the ear. The open design lets in the perfect amount of sound and is such a great idea. I would love to be able to keep these in all day and forget about them, but sadly that is not the case. Even though the battery life is good enough to last several hours, I can't keep these in my ears for more than 2 before they begin to hurt. Despite the very well made instructions and confirmations in the app making the fitting process easy to do, they didn't make wearing the earbuds comfortable. Even if I could keep these in, they shift slowly out of their original placement in my ears. After 10-15 minutes, the sound quality is noticably worse and the volume itself drops by at least half. Once I notice this I have to try re-adjusting them, but they inevitably work their way out again. I'm sure these work great for people whose ears can accommodate these, but after 3 pairs and months of troubleshooting and testing with different tips and ear positions, I just have to give up on these entirely.

I’m so heartbroken to write this because I desperately wanted to make these work but they hurt. They definitely fall out, they are not snug where it needs to be and too rigid where it should be soft. I am thoroughly disappointed in this product! I enjoy the sound where the environment is quiet but even just grocery shopping or the gym can be too loud to hear the music. Open ear headphones ought to be LOUDER than typical in ear because they have to still be HEARD. The quality seems well enough but I definitely wouldn’t say these are worth the value. The design is a compelling concept but execution is downright disheartening. I’m going to take these back in the morning and look for another option in the same price point. I bought these at full price and noticed the return was $10 less… so another piece for weary buyers…

These earbuds are a significant upgrade over the previous model. The build quality is better. The audio quality has been improved. I've used these earbuds daily since I purchased it and they consistently last 10 hours+ on a single charge. This mostly due to the newer LE (low energy) bluetooth technology which lowers power usage, decreasing latency which is great for gaming all while maintaining solid audio quality. The charging case is quite fast as well and will charge up to 80% within 30 minutes. The previous model was known to lose charging capability after a while. This issue seems to have been improved due to a revised magnetic connection for the earbuds and the charging case. It's far more secure now than before which should correct this from happening again. Highly recommended for active users and for using at work.

I’m only wearing these at home because I’m certain one will get lost if I take them outdoors. I get them in and they feel secure but they slowly work out. I’ll probably try them for an indoor gym while weightlifting but not for a class. They are very comfortable and sound great. Also they haven’t broken from the many times they’ve dropped out of my ears onto a hard floor…which is more than I can say for SoundCloud. Because they are a perfect fit for me but still slowly rotate out. I wouldn’t recommend them until you want them for working at a computer or something else stagnant at home. Update: run time is shorter than listed. I can’t eat with them in or the chewing will pop them out. With my ear shape, they aren’t quite ‘open ear’ since the speaker does into the canal. The sound isn’t bad but it seems to exaggerate a lisp in audiobook narration. I wouldn’t buy these again. Jlab is better for cheaper. Bose is better if you are willing to spend more. Anker/soundcloud 30i I’m ambivalent about…it probably depends on your ears whether or not it fits. Update: lowered star rating again. One earbud intermittently buzzes. Tried three phone calls…it hung up on two of them. Also depending on your ears or how you define ’open ear’ these don’t really qualify. For my ears the open ring fits into the canal like a regular earbud, just not a proper seal.

These are great. For naturally open ear buds the sound is very good. There isn't a lot of bass which is preferred by me. Connected easily to my android phone. Only reason i returned and took off a star is the fit of the donut part. It's hard plastic and altho not that intrusive they did start to annoy me after 30+ minutes. If sony can figure out a silicone outer ring while keeping the core sound quality and function then i'll be 100% back in. But keep it low profile. No one needs these to have insane bass like every other dumb bud on the market. These are for awareness of your surroundings naturally over artificially which would also make them perfext for sleeping with too. The size of these were fine for sleeping with. No bigger please.

I primarily listen to Audiobooks, followed by YouTube and podcasts and often want to hear what is going on around me or to easily converse with others without having to remove the earbuds. These allow me to do that and the quality is perfectly fine for what I use them for. While other earbuds have "pass-through" options, I don't like the sound when using that feature, so this open-ear design is really great. I also have the original version, and these are a little nicer - the sound is a bit crisper and the wing really helps hold the earbuds in the ear better than the original ones. I'm happy that I upgraded to these.