One of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn wasn’t made by JBL or Bose

What is the most important aspect of a pair of headphones? My answer varies depending on the situation. I prefer the power and volume when I’m at home listening to music. If I’m at the gym, I need something sturdy and capable of blocking out sound. New product from Sony LinkBuds Fit meets my needs.

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I’ve had the opportunity to try a pair out over the past week or so and they’ve quickly become my workout buddy. I never leave home without them. Before I get into the many reasons why I love these buds, I want to quickly introduce the charging case.

I received the light blue model with a marble lid and soft rubber bottom. Together, they look adorable. I don’t know if these materials help reinforce it or not, but I’m a big fan of the aesthetic. Sony’s LinkBuds Fit has the most beautiful charging case I’ve ever had the pleasure of holding.

LinkBuds Fit can be considered an evolutionary step for Sony LinkBuds S. Like older models, these are wireless noise-cancelling headphones with some tweaks. Most importantly, Sony designed its new earbuds to be more comfortable. The company tells us it’s made the case shorter and covered it with a “silicone support plate.” Inside this silicone is an air cushion.

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In my experience, this design change does two things. It allows the headphones to fit better in your ears, and the silicone cover protects your ears from rubbing against the hard plastic case of the LinkBuds Fit. In short, you’ll have all-day comfort.

I even fell asleep with them on a few times during the test and when I woke up, my ears no longer felt sore. That’s something I can’t say about other earbuds, they become uncomfortable over time.

Noise cancellation on LinkBuds Fit is very stable. It’s active by default, so when you wear both, ANC (active noise cancellation) will turn on. This feature will automatically turn off when you remove one of the headphones.

Double-tapping the outside of the left earbud will turn off ANC. The auto-off function is useful to me because I don’t really use gesture controls.

The ANC feature blocks varying amounts of sound, depending on the environment. I heard more ambient sounds in my quiet room, like traffic outside my window. At the gym, things are much quieter. I could barely hear the weights falling or the music coming from the speaker system. This auto-optimization feature really impressed me.

That said, the ANC is not omnipotent. Noise loud enough will get through.

Sony says the headphones last 5.5 hours on a single charge and 25 hours with the carrying case. During testing, I managed to get the headphones running for nearly seven hours before needing to reach for the charger. I had ANC on and was playing music at a low volume, so the runtime could be extended with a few adjustments.

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The audio output of the headphones is generally good. The instrument separation is lovely. The acoustic songs and singers sounded amazing. The only area where I feel these speakers falter is in bass. Pop and rap songs lack that extra punch.

ZDNET Buying Tips

At the time of writing this article, Sony’s LinkBuds Fit available for pre-order for $200. They come in four different colors: black, white, green, and purple. You can purchase additional accessories such as case cover mounted on key ring or other color silicone advocate.

If you like solid ANC and unbelievable comfort, I recommend the LinkBuds Fit. The $200 price tag is a tough sell, especially when there are other great, cheaper options, like Empty Ear (a). If you like powerful audio output, I recommend it Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones.