Sony LinkBuds Clip vs Sony LinkBuds Fit: Open vs idiosyncratic

Now that Sony has expanded into clip style earbuds, where does that leave the previous high-end option in Sony’s LinkBuds line? We pit the Sony LinkBuds Clip vs Sony LinkBuds Fit to compare the most-different earbuds in this product line to help people weighing the pros and cons.

What’s it like to use the Sony LinkBuds Clip compared to the Sony LinkBuds Fit?

Because both the Sony LinkBuds Clip and Sony LinkBuds Fit are of the same line of earbuds, both function in very similar ways. However, the main difference is the fact that the Sony LinkBuds Fit is able to gently seal to the outside of your ear canal, while the Sony LinkBuds Clip cannot. This might make some feel like it defeats the purpose of open earbuds, but it does grant the Sony LinkBuds Fit the ability to cancel noise when you want to, or use the excellent transparency mode and/or virtualized listening settings when you don’t. However, the seal is made at the very outside of your ear canal, and held in place so gently that it almost feels as though the earbuds aren’t even there.

The Sony LinkBuds Clip, on the other hand, clips onto the back of your outer ear, and acts more like a tiny speaker that sits near your head than a true set of earbuds. Consequently, the sound quality is poorer, you can’t avoid outside noise, and the heavier earbuds may be a bit more fatiguing to you depending on your tolerance level for things hanging off your outer ear. But you might not care about that so much — especially if the idea of open earbuds is attractive to you.

Both products can handle a little moisture with an IPX4 rating, and both have a similarly cubic charging case. Only the Sony LinkBuds Fit’s charging case supports wireless charging, but both should be able to fit into most larger pants pockets.

Finally, both earbuds both have a similarly-bizarre control scheme, where you whack the front of your tragus a number of times instead of touching the earbuds. Though the controls are finicky and limited, they are still useful. It’s also a plus that you don’t risk dislodging your earbuds every time you want to change a song or up the volume.

Do the Sony LinkBuds Clip or Sony LinkBuds Fit have more features?

Both the Sony LinkBuds Clip and Sony LinkBuds Fit have a similar featureset — unsurprising given they use the same app — but they’re different enough that there’s a fair bit to unpack here. Both have access to Sound Connect’s multi-band equalizer, Multipoint, and more. Each can make use of extra Sony accessories sold to customize the charging case and fit of the earbuds, which will cost extra.

The Sony LinkBuds Clip comes with all the standard features granted by the Sound Connect app, but users of the Clip will have access to scene-based listening — a software feature that allows the earbuds to automatically toggle behavior based on where you are and what you’re doing. Additionally, the Sony LinkBuds Clip has bone-conduction sensors to help the microphones reject noise when you’re on calls.

The Sony LinkBuds Fit, on the other hand, can seal to your ear. This unlocks several capabilities, including active noise canceling (ANC), a wider array of virtualized listening modes, and far better sound quality. The earbuds also have a very good transparency mode to allow you to choose between listening to your surroundings or not.

How do the Sony LinkBuds Clip and Sony LinkBuds Fit connect?

Since the Sony LinkBuds Clip is built to allow sound from your surroundings in, it doesn’t waste a lot of effort into making high-bitrate codecs available. The Clip uses Bluetooth 5.3 via SBC or AAC to connect to source devices, while the Sony LinkBuds Fit adds LDAC and LC3 for power users.

While it doesn’t seem like much, the Sony LinkBuds Fit’s inclusion of LC3 offers improved battery life over SBC by a notable margin, while LDAC allows for near-lossless listening. Additionally, if you find yourself in a venue with Auracast broadcasting, or if you like to share music from one phone, the Sony LinkBuds Fit’s inclusion of Auracast is a notable plus. If you’re hoping for earbuds that can handle both ends of the spectrum here, the Fit is the better choice. If you’re set on open earbuds, though, the codecs really don’t matter all that much.

In our standardized lab tests, the Sony LinkBuds Clip was able to last 7 hours and 10 minutes, while the Sony LinkBuds Fit was able to last 6 hours and 46 minutes with the ANC on. While that sounds significant, it really isn’t — especially when you consider the Sony LinkBuds Fit was not using LC3 under the test, and ANC can make battery life shorter. You should be perfectly fine with either product here.

Given that the Sony LinkBuds Clip is a set of open earbuds — and doesn’t even try to isolate you from the outside world — it’s not surprising that a noise-canceling set of earbuds has far superior isolation and ANC. However, it should be noted that the transparency mode of the Sony LinkBuds Fit is actually quite good if you’re hoping to use it in your daily life. Though open earbuds have their appeal, sometimes you really want noise cancelation, and it’s good to have that option if you want it. This is especially true if you’re hoping to keep your noise exposure down to avoid hearing loss.

Many people will elect to increase the volume of the Sony LinkBuds Clip to drown out their surroundings, and that increases your exposure significantly. If there’s a tradeoff with open earbuds, this is generally accepted as the biggest one.

Do the Sony LinkBuds Clip sound better than the Sony LinkBuds Fit?

The Sony LinkBuds Fit trounces the Sony LinkBuds Clip in every metric possible when it comes to sound quality, but that’s really not a surprise. Earbuds that can make a seal to the ear have little difficulty with bass reproduction, while open earbuds struggle mightily. After all, these products should be viewed more as a tiny speaker pressed to your ear rather than “true” earbuds, so it’s no wonder that there are some performance tradeoffs.

Objective Measurements

As you can see above, the response from Sony LinkBuds Fit is far more likely to be satisfying to most people. This is because a sealed ear canal means better bass response, and fewer difficulties surrounding noise making your life annoying. Not only will the reduced noise ingress make for earbuds that sound better to your ear, but it will also allow you to listen to a softer volume.

The Sony LinkBuds Clip, on the other hand, will sound much more like small speakers do. While the chart looks quite off, it’s not as bad as it looks. But you will have to deal with a huge dropoff in sub-bass, and some rather strange highs.

How would most people rate the sound from 1 to 5?

Most people will vastly prefer the sound of the Sony LinkBuds Fit over the Sony LinkBuds Clip, and a machine learning simulation reflects this. The below scores are derived from a machine learning algorithm by HEAD acoustics. It uses mountains of data from real people’s listening tests to project how a group of a couple hundred folks would rate an audio product on a scale of 1 to 5.

Sony LinkBuds Clip

Low scores here represent a mediocre projected opinion score from a simulated panel of hundreds of listeners. It’s not really surprising, but you don’t buy open earbuds for the sound quality.

Sony LinkBuds Fit

The Sony LinkBuds Fit, on the other hand, nets top marks in most categories, as the sound is far closer to what most people would prefer to hear. High marks reflect that most people would rate the Sony LinkBuds Fit’s sound positively.

Do the Sony LinkBuds Clip or Sony LinkBuds Fit have a better microphone?

Though both products hold their own, the Sony LinkBuds Clip is the only set of earbuds in the LinkBuds line that has bone conduction sensors. In the lab, we noticed that these are not quite bone-conduction pickups, but merely sensors to help the microphones decide when to capture voice, and you’ll be able to hear some noise making it through your calls. However, when you’re not talking, the earbuds will mute themselves, which is nice, if a little jarring to only hear extra garbage you don’t want only when you’re talking. You can compare how each sounds below:

Sony LinkBuds Clip microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Because the Sony LinkBuds Clip is brand new, you’re likely not going to be able to find it for less than sticker price at $229. Conversely, the Sony LinkBuds Fit has been out for quite a while now, and should be on sale come holiday time — or even at unexpected intervals to make way for new stock. Though not every brick-and-mortar place will have both products on sale, you should be able to find them online no sweat — or at larger retailers. You’ll likely never find the Sony LinkBuds Fit to be more expensive than the Sony LinkBuds Clip, as it debuted even at a lower price of $199.

Sony LinkBuds Clip price history:

Should you get the Sony LinkBuds Clip or Sony LinkBuds Fit?

Whether you want the Sony LinkBuds Clip or Sony LinkBuds Fit will depend largely on whether you’re okay with using something that’s not truly open, or if you absolutely must have open earbuds. If you’ve been hesitant to take the dive into open earbuds because you commute a lot and don’t want to give up occasional isolation or ANC, then the Sony LinkBuds Fit is the easy winner here. Otherwise, the Sony LinkBuds Clip will be more enticing. For the vast majority of people, the Sony LinkBuds Fit has more to offer users, but sometimes a single feature can make or break a potential purchase.