LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, and Pixel Buds Pro
Sony in February introduced the LinkBuds, a curious set of earphones that have an open design that’s not quite like any other in-ear headphone product on the market. We picked up a set of Sony’s strange LinkBuds to see how they measure up to Apple's third-generation AirPods.
Sony earlier this week came out with the WH-1000XM5 headphones, which we already checked out, and the LinkBuds S, a set of noise canceling earbuds that are similar to the AirPods Pro. In our latest YouTube video, we pit the AirPods Pro against the LinkBuds S to see how Sony’s new earbuds offering measures up.
Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s new premium wireless earbuds with similar features as AirPods Pro, including active noise cancellation, a Transparency mode that lets ambient noise in, hands-free “Hey Google” voice control, automatic switching between previously paired Bluetooth devices, integration with Google’s Find My Device app for tracking their location when misplaced, and spatial audio support starting later this year.
Of course, the best way to connect them to your Mac is with ToothFairy.
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Galaxy Bud Pros have dedicated accessibility features for ambient sound. You can adjust the ambient volume separately for both sides, and there's a feature to adjust the tone. Although I don't know if their software works on iOS.
Given the hideous failure rate of the AirPods Max (returned for replacement three times now), I am considering the newly-released WH-1000XM5s, yes.
As to AirPods Pro alternatives, well, it all depends on how my AirPods Pro survived that last tumble into the bathroom sink ...
I need good EQ, though. My hearing is failing in the upper frequencies, as it does, even without my bonus hearing impairment. Being able to use AirPods Pro as de-facto hearing aids has been really wonderful, too, despite the last firmware updates where they reduced its power, so I'd need the replacement to have customisable transparency to amplify above the predicted standard input level as well.