The Sony LinkBuds were just released and Sony may have accidently created the best cycling ear buds ever…
I like to listen to music while riding. I have made articles about this in the past but I also realize this can be a controversial subject. There are riders that get really annoyed with other riders listening to music on the trail. This is actually for some pretty good reasons.
- If you are blaring music in your ears, you can’t hear other riders coming up behind you. This can be EXTREMELY frustrating on climbs especially.
- No one wants to hear your music. So if you are going to hang speakers off your pack or bike…just don’t. There are riders that want to get out and enjoy the outdoors without hearing that. Even riders that do like to listen to music while riding don’t necessarily want to hear your music.
So what is the answer?
The ear bud industry has tried to tackle this for people that need to hear ambient sound. The most common way is to have a “transparent mode” that uses microphones on the outside of ear buds to pipe in the ambient sound. If you have ever used this…you know it is not perfect.
It can have a very hollow sound to it and you can have the mics actually pick up some weird noises. Also, if you just want to have the ear buds off for a period of time, the transparent mode eats up battery and the in ear, more plug like design can be uncomfortable over time.
Enter the Sony LinkBuds…
The Sony LinkBuds might just be the perfect balance you are looking for in a set of ear buds that will actually work for riding and not annoy the riders around you.
Thanks to their donut like hole design, these ear buds are designed to be an open air set of ear buds. The driver is in the shape of a donut and that hole allows for all of your outside noise to make it through. While you would not want a design like this for scenarios like an airplane, it is perfect for riding, office situations where you have to have conversations or any other time when plugging your ears is just not a good idea.
The other brilliant thing around the Sony LinkBuds design is that if you want to turn off the music, you do not feel like you have to remove the ear buds. All of the sound passes through and you do not feel like you have protective ear plugs in. That gets rid of the need to take them out when you are not actually listening to music. There is even a feature that will pause the music when they start to hear you talk. And unlike transparent mode with other ear buds…you are not using battery power when you turn off the music.
So whether you are road our mountain biking, you will be able to hear the riders behind you, cars coming by or any other audible alerts that would previously annoy everyone around you or just be plain unsafe while riding.
Four additional features of the Sony LinkBuds that are attractive for riders?
- They are not crazy expensive at under $200.
- They stay put due to their in ear design that is also lightweight.
- The Sony LinkBuds have 5.5 hours of listening time.
- IPX4 rating. Good for sweat and if you get stuck in some rain.
Overall Thoughts on the Sony LinkBuds
Overall the sound quality is definitely passable for most uses. You are not going to get booming bass thanks to the design but the vocals and midrange are very clear. Let’s also be honest…when you are riding you are not thinking about audiophile quality music when your brain and the world around you are so loud.
Sony did not intend for the Sony LinkBuds to be designed for cyclists. They were thinking of office environments where you don’t want to have to take your ear buds in and out all of the time. It just happens to be that those features line up perfectly with what cyclists would be looking for in a perfect set of ear buds as well. These LinkBuds really do solve all of the problems that we run into if you are trying to enjoy some music while you ride.