Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?

[jant71]

They have multipoint, in ear detection, ANC, ambient mode, are using a brand new QCC. Definitely a set to watch.

Same stuff as the Noble but how will they sound? If on par it may come down to which style of case one likes and price and other things.


Wonder when we will get a Link Buds - Ambie TW01 comparison?

 

[Sam L]

Just got my olinas. My first impressions are yep, the hype is real. They're like a way better galaxy bud pros for a more common tws. When I first got into iem's and got my timeless, I was expecting it to sound like how the olina sounds. From what some reviews are saying, I think this will be my end game until monarch mk2 and variations. I'll keep slumming around the $50- level though!

I'm still waiting for mine to come in. I agree, with such awesome iems avail in the sub $100 range, it's better to just not climb incrementally up the budget ranges and just save up for totl iems.

 

[Sam L]

So decided to take LinkBuds for a long walk between hills and streets within a large city.

I was concerned that audio would not be that great between the different environments but surprisingly it worked tremendously the automatic adjustment of volume does actually work and I was able to listen to a few podcasts, write some emails by dictating them and then call a few people.
In particular the calls were interesting because I decided to do it while I was walking where there's a lot of traffic and everybody indicated that everything sounded well and that if I had not mentioned that I was next to main avenue they would have not noticed so these things actually do something well in that regards.
Listening to music is also great as long as you understand that you don't have anything inserted really in your ears.
By the way super comfortable and never felt like I had something in my ear I was able to go in a store and order a coffee with all the noise speak to the person pay for the item etc without even doing anything and continue to listen my music seamlessly.
I did disable the speech function as I don't want to stop what I'm doing when somebody comes and talk to me automatically at least

I would advise for anyone to give these a try

Agree with everything you wrote. Same, I don't feel the linkbuds in my ear at all. But I can "notice" that there is something resting near my anti tragus. A very comfortable tws for me

 

[Ceeluh7]

Another one that uses the same shell as the Noble Falcon ANC.

Yep

 

[Ceeluh7]

Just got my olinas. My first impressions are yep, the hype is real. They're like a way better galaxy bud pros for a more common tws. When I first got into iem's and got my timeless, I was expecting it to sound like how the olina sounds. From what some reviews are saying, I think this will be my end game until monarch mk2 and variations. I'll keep slumming around the $50- level though!

Dude I'm getting the Olina and the Hiby Seeds 2 in about 15 minutes... Pretty excited to write a comparison review of the olina, oxygen, and Hana 2021

 

[iscorpio71]

I'm kind of interested in the AKG N400, but not for $189 i'm seeing on Amazon U.s. What's the cheapest you've seen them fore and where?

Hi,

Check them now! they're going for 48$

https://www.akg.com/Headphones/Earb...20CYp5NIf_Qsd8F4crxoCP1IQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Ceeluh7]

Hi,

Check them now! they're going for 48$

https://www.akg.com/Headphones/Earbuds/N400NCTWS-.html?mrkgadid=1&mrkgcl=1191&mrkgen=gtext&mrkgbflag=1&mrkgcat=product&utm_content=AKG_N400NC_TWS&utm_term=n400nc_tws_Exact&utm_source=Google&utm_campaign=Text|Products|2.0|Professional&utm_medium=cpc&acctid=21700000001721167&dskeywordid=43700067833052628&lid=43700067833052628&ds_s_kwgid=58700007534442132&device=c&network=g&matchtype=e&locationid=9011951&creative=565348913429&targetid=kwd-1479687286268&campaignid=1479659641&adgroupid=134176457670&kxconfid=unnmhyek8&gclid=CjwKCAiAx8KQBhAGEiwAD3EiP15r7eM8PRWTkJ1puAGSf-TgqITqLx8mxZl20CYp5NIf_Qsd8F4crxoCP1IQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

They are a very solid pair man. I got them yesterday and wasn't crazy impressed with them... However, I let them burn in and play overnight and I gotta say... The AKG n400 tightened up... They sound better. To me at $47 it is the steal... Absolutely. Such a nice set. I did a mini lil side by side with the Soundpeats mini pro last night and they were neck & neck w eachother but after I let them play for a bit I give a greater edge to the n400.

 

[Ceeluh7]

Just got my olinas. My first impressions are yep, the hype is real. They're like a way better galaxy bud pros for a more common tws. When I first got into iem's and got my timeless, I was expecting it to sound like how the olina sounds. From what some reviews are saying, I think this will be my end game until monarch mk2 and variations. I'll keep slumming around the $50- level though!

Okay... Ummmm.... I can absolutely say that the hype is justified here. I'm kind of blown away. What HBB did for $100 is silly. These are better than the Oxygen. This is still Honeymoon but, why aren't these $400. So resolving, male/female vocals... The entire soundstage is wonderful. This is single Dynamics at their best. For..... $100.

 

[Tenlow]

Alright, let's see what it is then.

 

[regancipher]

First thought on the LinkBuds:

Sound is really nice, much better than the Buds Live. Far more depth and warmth to the overall sound, and almost like wearing normal TWS on higher volumes.

Calls are not as impressive as I thought they would be. Your voice sounds a little muffled even with no ambient sounds to confuse them. They deal with ambient sounds such as cars and wind pretty well though.

Touch controls on the skin is mad, doesn't work every time but works most of the time.

Comfort - jury is out. When I smile they seem to come a bit loose even with the largest wings. Actually, the largest wings make my ears feel a little sore over time. With smaller wings they feel less stable. The Buds Live are definitely much more comfortable and much less prominent, at least for me. EDIT - the second largest (same length as the longest, but thinner) seem to be the sweet spot. Secure and comfortable.

I'll post full review in due course. I also recently reviewed the Apesonic Mist which try to achieve the same thing. Don't buy them, they're awful!

 

[darveniza]

First thought on the LinkBuds:

Sound is really nice, much better than the Buds Live. Far more depth and warmth to the overall sound, and almost like wearing normal TWS on higher volumes.

Calls are not as impressive as I thought they would be. Your voice sounds a little muffled even with no ambient sounds to confuse them. They deal with ambient sounds such as cars and wind pretty well though.

Touch controls on the skin is mad, doesn't work every time but works most of the time.

Comfort - jury is out. When I smile they seem to come a bit loose even with the largest wings. Actually, the largest wings make my ears feel a little sore over time. With smaller wings they feel less stable. The Buds Live are definitely much more comfortable and much less prominent, at least for me. EDIT - the second largest (same length as the longest, but thinner) seem to be the sweet spot. Secure and comfortable.

I'll post full review in due course. I also recently reviewed the Apesonic Mist which try to achieve the same thing. Don't buy them, they're awful!

I did a combination of wing tips. You may want to disable the speak pause option on the app as I found this impacted call quality.

Also on tapping your skin, I tested like a radius around the ear and found the zone . In your pic they do seem to protrude a lot , I wonder if that could be creating a contact issue with ear

 

[regancipher]

I did a combination of wing tips. You may want to disable the speak pause option on the app as I found this impacted call quality.

Also on tapping your skin, I tested like a radius around the ear and found the zone . In your pic they do seem to protrude a lot , I wonder if that could be creating a contact issue with ear

Yeah I changed to the second largest. Much better. Still protrude a little more than, for example, Linus in his video, but they're OK. I like.

 

[erockg]

I just spent about four hours with the Sony Linkbuds outdoors, at my kids T-ball, grocery shopping you name it and I did not turn them off at all. Had conversations with my wife, listened to music. They were quite awesome. But one major gripe is the Bluetooth dropped more than a few times while outdoors. iPhone 13 Pro was in the left front pocket. Not awful, but definitely makes you assess. Curious if any of you other Linkbuds owners have similar issues.

 

[Tenlow]

I just spent about four hours with the Sony Linkbuds outdoors, at my kids T-ball, grocery shopping you name it and I did not turn them off at all. Had conversations with my wife, listened to music. They were quite awesome. But one major gripe is the Bluetooth dropped more than a few times while outdoors. iPhone 13 Pro was in the left front pocket. Not awful, but definitely makes you assess. Curious if any of you other Linkbuds owners have similar issues.

It's been mentioned in a couple of reviews as well. Signal strength and distance doesn't seem to be the best. Maybe they can improve it with some future firmware updates.

 

[regancipher]

I've had no signal issues at all interestingly. I'm on Android 12, OnePlus 8T