The Sony WF-LS900N or LinkBuds S were unveiled last year in India’s mid-range true wireless earbuds segment. The WF-LS900Ns are a step down from Sony’s flagship WF-1000XM4 but still maintain a feature-rich package.
The Sony WF- LS900N price in India is set at Rs 13,990 in India. The WF- LS900N are available in Black, White, and Ecru colours. So without any further delays, let’s see if Sony’s WF- LS900N can live up to their sub-15K price tag.
Design
In terms of design, the LinkBuds S go the standard route with silicone ear tips that sit inside the ear. The overall build quality was average at best, but this resulted in a lighter pair of earbuds that sat extremely comfortably in my ear. Apart from the comfort, the snug fit also ensured that I had no worries uses the buds while cycling and running.
A lot of the comfort here is part due to the buds’ lightweight construction, weighing a meagre 4.8 grams each. Additionally, Sony includes four pairs of silicone tips in the box to suit your ear size. I had no problem using the WF- LS900Ns for long periods (three to four hours) and did not experience any ear fatigue.
The touch controls on the WF- LS900Ns sit on the outer surface of each bud and are quite responsive. You can check the touch controls on the app and customise them to your liking. The controls are quite responsive and can be used for everything from switching between modes and adjusting playback.
The Sony Link Buds S use relatively small 5mm dynamic drivers that tend to deliver more balanced sound. The soundstage is on the wider side, although it didn’t feel all that immersive. The treble performance was not up to the mark and felt a bit muted, although bass response was clean, no matter the genre of music.
The earbuds also tend to nail all elements of a track, although the drums lack a bit of thump. Vocals and instruments had a natural tonality. Overall, the sound maintained its clarity throughout the spectrum and offers plenty of detail. If I had to describe the listening experience in one word, it would have to be ‘pleasant’.
We did a bit of manual audio tuning with the custom EQ that can be accessed through the Headphones Connect app. Sony also has preset options to choose from including Relaxed, Vocal, Treble Boost, Bass Boost, and more. The earbuds also support DSEE Extreme, an AI-based upsampling feature that reconstructs data from compressed audio to deliver near hi-res audio quality. Another feature on the Link Buds S is Sony's 360 Reality Audio feature which aims to deliver a more immersive listening experience, although support for the format is limited, although you can test it out on apps like Tidal and Deezer.
The WF- LS900N also supports ‘Speak-to-chat’ which pauses playback whenever you speak and switches the buds to ambient mode, so you are aware of your surroundings without removing the buds. The feature does have a frustrating delay as it is only triggered after you speak. The Speak-to-chat speaker wasn’t triggered by a cough or sniffles but let out some words while lip syncing, and you’ll find yourself activating the feature. You can also head on over to the app to prioritize between sound quality and connectivity. Additionally, you also get Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants via the Headphones Connect app.
The Link Buds S allows you to switch between active noise cancellation, transparency, or turning the two off, which gives you passive noise cancellation. For a pair of true wireless earbuds under Rs 15,000, the noise cancellation here is top notch. The buds can cancel out noise up to 35dB, easily tackling low frequency sounds. While high-frequency sounds that come in from horns, car engines, during takeoff, and more will still come in, their impact is drastically reduced.
While listening to music with ANC turned on, the Sony WF- LS900N buds offer an immersive listening experience. You can also turn on the ambient mode to get a better understanding of your surroundings. The ambient mode here isn’t as good as earbuds with an open-ear design, although this is the next best thing. Sony also allows you to control the level of ambient noise you want to let in and allows you to focus on voice over other ambient noises.
The Sony WF- LS900N true wireless earbuds offer great connectivity performance with Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. The buds also support default SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs. The LinkBuds S also supports Google Fast Pair on Android. They also support High-Res Wireless Audio. Throughout our testing, the earbuds offered stable connection without any playback issues. The WF- LS900Ns also offered good latency performance with audio and video playback always in sync.
Sony claims that the WF- LS900N buds can deliver up to six hours of battery life on a single charge with active noise cancellation turned on. The case offers an additional 14 hours of battery life that takes it up to 20 hours. During my testing, I found Sony’s testing to be more or less accurate with the buds taking little over a 60-minute charge to deliver the promised six hours of battery life.
There is no wireless charging here as the case has a USB-C port on the back. Additionally, Sony also says that the earbuds support fast charging, capable of delivering an hour of playback with a 5-minute charge.
On balance, the Sony WF- LS900N true wireless earbuds are an excellent addition to the segment. The buds deliver good sound and even better noise cancellation. And these are backed up by excellent battery life and a rather comfortable design. Everything here is tailored towards making the listening experience convenient and immersive. Add to that, the earbuds pack a ton of features and are above-average when it comes to calling. Moreover, the touch controls are quite responsive with zero connectivity hurdles.
However, the Link Buds S aren’t without their faults as sound quality isn’t the best in the segment. Some features here can also be a double-edged sword, while others aren’t quite useful in most scenarios. I also found the app to be cluttered and could use from redesigning. Overall, the Sony WF- LS900N are among the best we’ve tested and is a major contender for the title of best true wireless earbuds under Rs 15,000 in India.
