Sony's New LinkBuds vs. Apple's AirPods 3

[stiligFox]

Air pod pros are the way. I have no idea why anyone would buy plain AirPods when the pros exist. Seems like a stupid buy. Just save the $250 and get something good. All these other buds are just wasting your money on trash. And Samsung?!?! Ick. They could charge 5K for a phone or buds and it would still look cheap…..

I tried the Airpods Pro for about three weeks… I couldn’t wear them for long as they would start slipping out of my ears, have uneven pressure, and made my ears ring *a lot* - no explanation for the later, I know it happens to quite a few people and is the main reason I returned them. The ANC was nice but wasn’t worth the discomfort I felt from them.

Meanwhile the AirPods 3 were SO comfortable, had almost the same level of sound quality, and as I used them, my ear ringing slowly went away. Definitely far happier with them.

 

[44267547]

I tried the Airpods Pro for about three weeks… I couldn’t wear them for long as they would start slipping out of my ears, have uneven pressure, and made my ears ring *a lot* - no explanation for the later, I know it happens to quite a few people and is the main reason I returned them. The ANC was nice but wasn’t worth the discomfort I felt from them.

Meanwhile the AirPods 3 were SO comfortable, had almost the same level of sound quality, and as I used them, my ear ringing slowly went away. Definitely far happier with them.

I suspect the inner-ear pressure is caused by the AirPods being more inserted into the ear canal -versus- the standard AirPods that rest on the outermost portion of the year. I experienced the same thing, and it’s because air is trapped, and when it can’t escape, it causes that buildup of pressure and it makes it uncomfortable after about 30 minutes of usage. In order for ‘Active noise cancellation’ to be effective, you have to have that closed system with the inner ear design, but that wasn’t important to me either.

 

[sdz]

Is the battery serviceable?

 

[EntropyQ3]

I suspect the inner-ear pressure is caused by the AirPods being more inserted into the ear canal -versus- the standard AirPods that rest on the outermost portion of the year. I experienced the same thing, and it’s because air is trapped, and when it can’t escape, it causes that buildup of pressure and it makes it uncomfortable after about 30 minutes of usage. In order for ‘Active noise cancellation’ to be effective, you have to have that closed system with the inner ear design, but that wasn’t important to me either.

Yup. And even without noise cancellation, that style of earphones need a good seal to provide their bass response and (hopefully) a balanced sound. And they achieve that by being inserted into the ear canal and putting a certain amount of pressure against the sides. Which in turn stimulates ear wax production. Which you push into the ear as you insert your ear buds, as opposed to the natural outward flow.
This is not great.
I happen to both own and really like the sonic performance of the airpods pro, (they measure great too, so it’s not surprising), but I use them sparingly. Indoors, over-the ear headphones are preferable IMHO, and the older I get, the more I seem to appreciate an environment that is simply quiet.

 

[bill38]

It is so strange that this article is comparing this Sony athlete- and activity-focused product to regular AirPods. They aren’t competitors and are made for entirely different purposes. Which is obvious when reading the piece, despite the callbacks to AirPods AirPods AirPods, which makes the piece seem like clickbait.

 

[skous]

I’ve never had any of these issues. Sounds like you got a lemon or perhaps are using the wrong size tips. I’m in customer service and use my pros everyday for professional use - I do hundreds of calls a week and have never had a problem. Noise cancelling is superior in an open environment. H1 chip is amazing. I would recommend getting with Apple and getting a different pair or new tips.

Apart from the part where they are uncomfortable after some hours, all other issues are well known and discussed in many forums.
Personally I have many tips (as well as memory foam ones which are for me way better), but I can't handle the part that when there is a call, the quality that get rhgouth to the other side is just the noise of the environment where I am. Done variosu checks in an Apple authorised service point, they said it's normal behaviour

And that was the main reason why I moved for calls to the Airpod 3s

 

[xilonic]

I have been using LinkBuds for about a month and they are excellent for office/work for the very reason of their design: if there is a sudden noise around me while I am on call I can hear it clearly and do not feel startled and wondering what just happened. They give me ability to hear clearly both my work calls and the surrounding simultaneously. No longer do I have to take off my earphones to talk to my coworkers around me.

They also have excellent outbound noise cancellation, meaning my coworkers on call can hear me clearly without the noises around me. Gone is the bubbling of the coffee maker on morning calls and even on noisy NYC streets the noise cancellation is remarkable.

And lastly I much prefer their discrete design and subtle color to AirPods blaringly white "ear rings" appearance - LinkBuds just look more professional.

 

[svish]

Unique design, but I think AirPods are better for sound quality.

 

[stiligFox]

I suspect the inner-ear pressure is caused by the AirPods being more inserted into the ear canal -versus- the standard AirPods that rest on the outermost portion of the year. I experienced the same thing, and it’s because air is trapped, and when it can’t escape, it causes that buildup of pressure and it makes it uncomfortable after about 30 minutes of usage. In order for ‘Active noise cancellation’ to be effective, you have to have that closed system with the inner ear design, but that wasn’t important to me either.

Exactly! I think the same thing is what is what was happening to me. Apple talks about, if I remember correctly, there being a special vent design to alleviate that in the Pros and while it did work most of the time when I would start wearing them, my ears quickly would get clammy/sweaty while wearing them and I think kind of block the system, or something.

Often it would just be one ear too, which was super disorienting!

 

[Zachari]

AirPods Pro are great — until they develop the death rattle.

And they absolutely WILL develop the death rattle. Mine have been replaced seven times under Apple's official AirPods Pro Death Rattle Service Program. And the eighth pair, which I've only had for about five weeks, just started rattling.

The MacRumors forum thread about the death rattle is now 34 pages long.

AirPods Pro: Rattlegate

So there appears to be a widespread issue with the AirPods Pro: they seem to eventually develop a rattling noise when Noise Cancellation or Transparency is in use. It is believed to be a hardware problem at this stage and fairly widespread. Apologies for the use of yet another "-gate", but no...

forums.macrumors.com

Here's a link to the AirPods Pro Death Rattle Service Program:

AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues - Apple Support

AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues

support.apple.com

I’ve had OG AirPods Pro since day one, never heard a death rattle, never had to replace. So your statement is not accurate.

 

[hybrid_x]

Really interesting design.

I noticed on the mic test that the Sonys seemed to pick up a LOT of room ambience, whereas the AirPods were very "dry" sounding. Voice quality on both was mediocre, but I think the Sonys would be terrible if you were trying to make a call in a noisy environment.

 

[iGeneo]

Is the battery serviceable?

Sure.. it's about the same difficulty as open heart surgery on a cricket

 

[japanime]

I’ve had OG AirPods Pro since day one, never heard a death rattle, never had to replace. So your statement is not accurate.

Thanks for letting me know that you've never heard the death rattle. I've edited my post.

 

[j_maddison]

Cause the pros are more expensive?
Cause the pros have this horrible silicon tip? Which gives you a headache when you have them on for hours.
Cause the pros isolate sound BUT you can feel your footsteps when there is no music?
Cause the pros are so hard to place on ears quickly for fastly reponsing to calls?
Cause the mic of the pros is just awful, and amplifies to the other caller the ambient sound rather your voice?

I don't know...
Maybe cause the pros just suck

Btw I do have Airpods 2 (for my laptop), Airpods 3 (for calls and walking around), and Pros ONLY when taking a flight due to the ANC (but for no other use anymore).

You for got to mention the inferior battery life. I have both, I pretty much never touch the pro's unless I've picked up the case by accident

I don't get why the reviewer is still pretending the feature of your AirPods auto connecting to the device you'r'e using works, in my experience it's terrible. I typically have to employ a manual intervention.

 

[foliovision]

Really interesting design.

I noticed on the mic test that the Sonys seemed to pick up a LOT of room ambience, whereas the AirPods were very "dry" sounding. Voice quality on both was mediocre, but I think the Sonys would be terrible if you were trying to make a call in a noisy environment.

Nope. The Linkbuds have excellent atmosphere noise cancellation on your outbound voice. I tested against Jabra 45 Elite and Sony MX5 and the Linkbuds had great microphone sound for a headset without a front or lavalier microphone, even in a noisy environment.