Sony Linkbuds S (WF-LS900N) Review: Mini Buds to take care of all your audio needs

Sony LinkBuds S TWS Review Summary:

Editor’s Rating- 4/5

Sony is one such brand that always keeps working to make your personal audio experience even better. Following its habit, the company has launched a new mid-range called Sony WF-LS900N TWS in the Indian market. The Sony WF-LS900N is nothing but a relabeled version of the globally available Linkbud S. It comes with some important flagship-grade features, that too for a price of under 15k. These buds offer a tough fight to other major TWS buds in this range with a premium compact design and features like ANC, fast charging, adaptive sound, and more. Are these buds worth spending almost 14,000 rupees? Let’s find out.

Sony LinkBuds S Unboxing

The Sony WF-LS900N box includes – earbuds, a charging case, 4-size earbud tips, USB-C charging cable, a user manual, and other documents.

Sony LinkBuds S: Design & Fit

The Sony WF-LS900N comes with a traditional roundish design and silicone ear tips that sit comfortably in your ear. The buds come with 4 different-sized ear tips so one can choose the tip which best fits his/her ear. The ergonomic design makes the buds comfortable inside the ear and also seals the ear allowing no sound to disrupt your listening experience. The buds are lightest and smallest from Sony weighing a mere 4.8 grams each, so you won’t even realize they are nestled into your ears for hours. I wore these TWS for long durations without feeling any discomfort or pain. Also, the buds being small in design, they are hardly noticeable to the onlookers around you. The buds come in black, white, and beige colorways and I received the white color variant that looked sharp and elegant. The buds are IPX4 rated so one doesn’t have to worry about them getting wet.

Coming to the charging case, has a smooth, pebble-like finish and is very compact and pocketable. The case has an LED light indicator on the front that flashes different colors to show battery levels. There is a USB Type-C charging port at the bottom with quick charging. There is no wireless charging support in these TWS. The case feels good in the hand but is always at risk of slipping from the grasp. Just like the buds, the case is also light in weight with the weight being around 36 grams.

Sony LinkBuds S Review: Connectivity, Controls & Features

The Sony WF-LS900N comes with Bluetooth 5.2 and supports SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs. Sony has included Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift pair for instant pairing with android and windows devices. As soon as you open up with the lid, a notification will pop on your phone or laptop and you just have to click on it to pair the device. The buds will need a Headphones Connect app installed on your device to work smoothly. The app lets you customize the earbud controls and monitor battery levels continuously. There are EQ options to set a custom EQ and here you can also set up quick access to Spotify and Sony 30 Reality Audio.

Coming to the touch controls on the buds, they are quite intuitive and straightforward. Tapping on the exterior of the buds while wearing them allows you to perform all the important tasks. You can handle ANC, transparency mode, volume levels, playback, and more just with certain taps. The Sony WF-LS900N comes with an awareness mode which helps you stay in touch with the surroundings while listening to something via the buds. The noises around don’t get blurred out completely when awareness mode is activated. You can modify these controls in the app, but you can’t set individual controls for the buds. Also, the buds don’t identify taps very quickly, especially triple taps lead to pauses for a few seconds before the buds realize what they need to do next. So, taps have to be slow for them to be recognized. This can be a nuisance when you are in a hurry to attend a call and the tap is not getting activated. Here is a list of touch controls-

• Pause/Play- Tap Right
• Skip Forward- Double Tap Right
• Skip Back- Triple Tap Right
• Virtual Assistant- Hold right
• ANC/Transparency mode- Tap left, hold for attention mode
• Quick Access- Triple tap and double tap left

ALSO READ: Best 5G phones under Rs 30,000 in India

Sony LinkBuds S Review: Sound Quality & Call Quality

The Sony WF-LS900N comes with effective ANC. The V1 chip does its job well as I could enjoy listening to music without any disturbances even while I was walking in a crowded place full of noise. Low and mid-frequency sounds were completely silenced and people speaking around me too did not disturb my listening experience at all. While in traffic, the noises of car horns and engines do not blur out completely, but they are audible only if you pay attention to them. Loud-pitched sounds easily leak in while the ANC is on. High-pitch sounds like whistles or ambulance sirens were all clearly audible which clarifies that the ANC might be good, but not the same level as the Sony WF-1000XM4 had.

The Buds come with Adaptive ANC as well. This tech learns from your usage what kind of environments you frequent and adjusts the performance accordingly to minimize background noise interference. There are 20 levels of Ambient Sound attenuation to adjust the amount of noise you want to let in. You can choose what you want to hear and at what level. The wind Resistance feature makes sure that the sound of harsh winds or thunderstorms doesn’t affect your listening experience. This feature work well for me as I found that the sound of rough winds clearly didn’t interrupt the track I was listening to.

The most important aspect of any audio device is the sound quality. In that aspect, the Sony WF-LS900N gives you no reason to be disappointed. The sounds of the music are accurate, crisp, and rich with details. Songs like Sawar Loon from Lootera and Fitoor from Shamshera sound soothing. If you like heavy bass music, the buds might not fulfill your expectations. The bass is good but it is meant for those who like pleasant, warm sounds. The buds are good for attending audio and video calls as the microphone is quite good in fact better than Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.

Sony LinkBuds S TWS Review: Battery

Sony claims that the WF-LS900N can last for about 6 hours with ANC activated and along with the case, the buds get an extra 14 hours of playback time, which makes it a total of 20 hours of life. This is when the ANC is on so the time is quite reasonable. During my usage, the battery did last for about 6.5 hours with ANC on. Though it might not be the best battery life in the class, but it is better than many others as even Apple AirPods Pro has a battery life of 4.5 hours per charge using ANC.

The buds can be charged using a USB Type-C cable and there is no wireless charging which is a turn-off considering the price tag. Coming to fast charging, the buds when charged for 5-7 minutes easily give a playback time of over an hour, which is impressive.

Review Verdict: Should you buy Sony LinkBuds S?

For a price of under 15k, Sony WF-LS900N offers many premium features in high-end TWS devices. The buds have a compact and lightweight build and an ergonomic design that is comfortable for ears. The sound quality is good and 5 minutes of charging provides a battery life of 1 hour. Although there is no wireless charging, and ANC is also not as good as previous Sony TWS devices, for the price point they are decent. The buds come with an IPX5 rating and smart features like ambient noises as well. For those who want to own a good-sounding TWS for, under 15,000, Sony WF-LS900N can be a smart choice.