There are manyexcellent Bluetooth earbudsout there, like theSony LinkBuds Sthat broke cover last year with a mid-tier price tag. What makes the Sony product special is that the company promised to add support for the up-and-coming Bluetooth LE Audio standard in a future update. That day has arrived, sort of, as Sony is reportedly rolling out a beta update for the LinkBuds S carrying support for Bluetooth LE Audio, among other minor additions.
As perTheWalkmanBlog, Bluetooth LE Audio is making its way to the LinkBuds S through firmware version 3.0.5, though right now, the earbuds only support the new standard when paired with Sony’s Xperia 1 IV orXperia 5 IVsmartphones.
The update also includes improved Quick Settings access to Endel, a paid service that generates personalized music based on the user’s activities (working out, sleeping, etc).
If you’re eager to try out Bluetooth LE Audio on the LinkBuds S, head over to the Sony Headphones Connect app from your smartphone and tap the update button when the prompt appears, as shown in the low-res image provided by Sony below. The accompanyingsupport documentsays it shouldn’t take longer than 40 minutes to finish on Android devices.
Since Bluetooth LE Audio support is still in beta, it’s safe to assume that another update is on the way, though we don’t have a date to mark on our calendar just yet.
Sony’s track record hasn’t been great with regard to key feature rollouts through firmware updates. For instance, the LinkBuds S didn’t offer support for multipoint connection on launch day, although the manufacturer sent out a firmware update in November, finally letting users connect their earbuds to two devices simultaneously. Meanwhile, the more premium Sony WF-1000XM4received a similar updatea few months ago.
The arrival of Bluetooth LE Audio isproving to be a game-changerin the audio space. This is pretty much the standard Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) we’ve heard about on many occasions but designed for audio. Simply put, Bluetooth LE Audio is more efficient and thus easier on the battery than previous standards all while retaining good sound quality. It may seem that Sony is late to offer LE Audio to its earbuds, particularly in comparison to rival offerings like theOnePlus Buds Pro 2, whichpicked up Bluetooth LE Audionot even a month after its launch this year. However, the new standard is only now starting to get adopted more broadly, so any product that adds LE Audio support post-launch is still a win.
Sony Linkbuds S
The Sony LinkBuds S aren’t the cheapest earbuds in the market, but they might just be the best in this price segment, considering the arrival of features like Bluetooth LE Audio and multipoint connection, etc, which were absent on launch day.
