Sony LinkBuds S: US pricing and availability leaks for ANC-capable earbuds

Jon Prosser has provided pricing and availability for the LinkBuds S, the second product in the LinkBuds series. To recap, Sony announced the inaugural LinkBuds in February 2022 with an open-back design. Sold for US$149.99, the original LinkBuds features Sony's new 'ring-type driver unit', allowing you to listen to music and hear background sounds simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, the LinkBuds' design prevented it from providing active noise cancellation (ANC) and resulted in more sound leakage than the WF-1000XM4 does.

In comparison, the LinkBuds S resembles the WF-1000XM4 and the WF-C500, rather than its namesake. According to Prosser, the LinkBuds S will debut on May 18, less than a week after the WH-1000XM5. Given that Sony has only just started teasing the WH-1000XM5, we would not be surprised if it waits until after May 12 before it announces another hardware launch event. Presumably, the LinkBuds S will launch globally, as appears to be the case with the WH-1000XM5.

Moreover, Prosser claims that the LinkBuds S will retail for US$199.99, US$20 more expensive than the LinkBuds but US$70 cheaper than the WF-1000XM4's launch price. For reference, Sony now sells the WF-1000XM4 for US$249.99, despite there being no WF-1000XM5 on the horizon. Purportedly, the LinkBuds S will support ANC too, so it will be interesting to see how Sony distinguishes these earbuds from the WF-1000XM4.

Purchase the Sony WF-1000XM4 on Amazon