For anyone on the fence these are fantastic earbuds especially for the price. I got these $60 open box from Secondipity and even at $100 I think they outperform just about anything else in the price range.
To me nothing beats the sound of the WF-1000XM4, but those are plagued with battery issues, and the Linkbuds S have the most similar albeit “slightly less good” sound profile as those (once you EQ in the Sony app). Deep rich bass with crisp and clear mids and highs, even when you turn up the Clearbass slider to 9-10 in the app.
For reference, I think these sound faaar better than any Apple earbuds including Airpods and even Beats Studio or Fit Pros. And they sounded way crisper than the lauded Anker Liberty 3 Pro. I don’t think there’s anything under $200 that I have preferred over the Linkbuds S. I even returned my WF-1000XM5s because the sound quality was negligible unless you’re comparing side by side.
Oh yeah and the Linkbuds S are so comfortable they almost feel like wearing nothing. With ambient mode plus the lightweight and comfort it feels like your ears are wide open tbh. And the feeling of wearing nothing on your ears also makes the sound feel more like it’s coming directly to your brain vs some speakers jammed into your ears.