Sony LinkBuds Open WF-L910: Very Niche Earphones

Open earbuds have always been a niche product—a unique balance between staying aware of your surroundings and listening to music. Sony’s new LinkBuds Open WF-L910 builds on its predecessor, the WF-L900, with a fresh design, an updated case, and several new features.

But while the upgrades are apparent, the real question remains: do these improvements translate to better sound quality? How is the rest of the package? Let’s dive into the review to find out.

Sony LinkBuds Open: Sound

Right out of the box, the Sony LinkBuds sound a bit muddy—which isn’t entirely unexpected, honestly. Sony tuned this pair with a good amount of treble and a seemingly flat mid-range. The bass is quite low, as expected.

Some tinkering with the EQ, yes there’s a 5-band one, you can get this pair to sound “okay.” I’d say start with the Bright or the Excited preset and then play with the frequencies a bit to find the right EQ for you. 

You can even try the Bass Boost or tweak it to get some bass but that compromises on the rest of the frequency range. The presets sound like they should but I wouldn’t recommend using Speech, Relaxed, or Mellow for most music genres.

These only support AAC/SBC, which is a bummer since there are some open earphones on the market that do support hi-res codecs. Just a disclaimer—all testing was done with Apple Music. 

Oh, and since these are open earbuds, there’s a lot of sound bleed—so it’s best to avoid listening at high volume levels in quiet environments. And, of course, there’s no ANC.

That brings me to the Adaptive Volume Control feature. It works, but not quite as well as you’d expect. There’s a slight delay between entering a loud environment and the moment the Adaptive Volume feature kicks in—something that needs addressing.

Sony also lets you do a lot of other things with these. They come with 360 Reality Audio, which, honestly, doesn’t sound great to me—but if you’re into that, go for it. You can even analyze your ear shape to adapt the sound, though I don’t notice much of a difference, and sometimes it even seems to make things worse. 

That aside, getting a good fit with these is very important; without it, they’ll sound much worse than they should. The included stabilizer fin helps, so make sure to use it. However, I do wish Sony had included an extra one, if not different sizes.

There’s also a feature called Speak-to-Chat, which automatically pauses the music when you speak, so you can hear ambient sounds. Another feature lets you simulate the background music feel. It’s not really for enjoying music—it’s just there if you’re into having background sound while doing other things—very niche.

The soundstage on this pair is really good, with excellent horizontal soundstage. Yeah, that’s one of the benefits of having an open design. Imaging is also pretty good. 

Sony LinkBuds Open: Design and Build

Sony has improved the design of these earbuds over the previous generation. They offer a better fit than the predecessor, which is nice, but it’s still tricky to get them into my ears comfortably. After two weeks of use, I still struggle to get a consistent fit each time I put them on. They have a unique donut-shaped design and are IPX4 splash-proof.

But there’s a catch—actually, two. First, the case isn’t water-resistant. Second, only the circular, spherical part of the earbuds is water-resistant, while the ring driver—the donut-shaped part—is not, which is a bit disappointing. The ring itself is housing the 11 mm driver.

The case opens like a suitcase. It’s got a glossy finish on the lid and a matte finish on the bottom. It has a Type-C port at the back, along with a pairing button, and there’s an LED on both the back and front. The magnetic closure is nice, though getting the earbuds in and out with one hand can require some finesse. Oh, and the hinge doesn’t feel very sturdy.

Sony LinkBuds Open: Fit

Comfort is great as long as you wear them correctly; otherwise, you might experience ear fatigue, and the earbuds can fall off very easily. The stabilizer fins help with fit, but it would’ve been nice if Sony included extra fins or different sizes. They do sell these separately, so you can buy more if needed—or you can buy more in different colors just to customize the look of your LinkBuds.

Sony LinkBuds Open: Sony Sound Connect App

The LinkBuds WF-L910 pairs with the Sound Connect app, which is packed with features but could use better organization. When you open the app, you’ll see LinkBuds Open’s battery status and access to settings like the 5-band equalizer, auto-play features, connected devices, and playback controls—all in one place.

Under Device settings, the app has three main tabs: Sound, System, and Services. Under Sound, you’ll find features like Speak-to-Chat, which pauses music when you start talking, the Background Music Effect, the equalizer, and a “Find Your Equalizer” feature. There’s also the toggle for DSEE and auto-play options.

In the System tab, you can enable multipoint connectivity, Adaptive Volume Control, configure playback controls, and wear detection. Software updates are also done from here. The Services tab lets you link other apps like Amazon Music and Spotify Tap.

The interface is clean and has a smooth animation when connecting the earbuds, which adds a nice touch. However, the settings feel buried within these tabs. A more accessible layout, with key features on the homepage, would make navigation easier. 

Sony LinkBuds Open: Playback Controls

The WF-L910 packs in a ton of playback controls, but they’re far from perfect. The touch controls are pre-configured, so while you can’t fully customize them, you can pick from a few presets for each earbud. 

Double-tap plays or pauses, triple-tap skips tracks, and tapping repeatedly adjusts the volume—left lowers it, right raises it. Sounds fine, but the placement is awkward (right on top), and even after tweaking the sensitivity, they just don’t work reliably.

There’s also a head gesture feature, which feels cool in theory. Nodding your head answers calls, and shaking it rejects them, but it’s hit-or-miss—it works like 5/10 times. The same goes for the auto-play feature. Nod to play, shake to stop. 

Wear detection is more reliable. Take the earbuds out, and your music pauses automatically—simple and it just works. Voice controls, on the other hand, are a mixed bag. You can use commands like “Hey headphones, play music” in English, Japanese, or Chinese, but it only works well in quiet environments. 

Sony LinkBuds Open: Microphones and Calling

The microphones on the Sony LinkBuds WFL910 are decent in quiet environments. However, in noisy conditions, the audio sounds very muffled, compressed, and unnatural due to their inability to cancel noise effectively, as these are open earbuds.

The microphone quality isn’t great, and the calling experience is average. While it performs okay in ideal conditions, it struggles in noisy settings. Overall, the microphones leave much to be desired.

Sony LinkBuds Open: Battery and Charging

On a single charge, the earbuds provide around 9 hours of playback, which is impressive. With the case, you get another full recharge, offering a total of about 18 hours. While Sony claims 22 hours, the real-world numbers are pretty close.

In my experience, charging the case from 17% to 86% took 44 minutes, meaning it charged 69% in that time. Additionally, a quick 3-minute charge can give you 60 minutes of playback. Oh, and the case uses a USB Type-C port for charging.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the Sony LinkBuds Open WF-L910?

Smartprix Rating: 7.1/10

Sound: 6/10  

Design and Comfort: 7/10  

Connectivity: 9/10  

App: 8/10  

Playback Controls: 6/10  

Calling: 8/10  

Microphones: 6/10  

Battery and Charging: 8.5/10

The Sony LinkBuds WF-L910 are clearly not for everyone. Technically, they fall short in sound quality and microphone performance. However, their open-ear design caters to a specific audience—those who want situational awareness and comfort over isolation and sound quality.

If you’re in the market for an open-ear design pair of earbuds, the Sony WF-L910 might be the earbuds for you, especially if you value features like wear detection, Speak-to-Chat, and a lightweight build. If you are looking for alternatives, you could consider the Nothing Ear (open). Notably, the Sony LinkBuds Open WF-L910 costs ₹19,990 and I believe the pricing could’ve been a little more generous. 

First reviewed in November 2024.

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