Sony's perforated earbuds that don't block your ears LinkBuds WF-L900 review

Sony has released LinkBuds WF-L900, a completely wireless earphone with a unique design with holes. By adopting a ring-shaped driver and making it a doughnut-shaped unit, it is possible to take in external sounds and prevent stuffiness, so it is less stressful even when worn for a long time.

There are 5 types of fitting supporters from XS to XL, and it is said that many people will achieve high wearability.

The case and housing, like the company's WF-1000XM4, seems to be made of matte resin and recycled plastic (recycled plastic may not be used depending on the time of production).

Uses the same V1 chip as the WF-1000XM4 for a high-quality music environment

LinkBuds WF-L900 is equipped with the integrated processor "V1" adopted by WF-1000XM4.

As for the performance of the V1, if the WF-1000XM4 is used in the direction of "I want to enjoy the best music in my daily life", the LinkBuds WF-L900 has a unique shape and a new driver with many restrictions. I felt that the performance was allocated to calculations such as realizing high-quality sound with high-quality sound and "high-precision voice pickup technology" that extracts only your own voice from environmental noise.

In addition, Sony's high-quality sound technology "DSEE Extreme", "Speak to Chat" that detects conversation and automatically stops playing music, and "Adaptive Volume" that adjusts the volume according to external sounds. Control (automatic volume adjustment function)", equalizer adjustment, tap function assignment, 360 Reality Audio setting, automatic pause of music when headphones are removed. These functions can be turned ON/OFF by the app.

How effective is the ring driver?

When I first saw the hollow ring-shaped part in the leaked image on the rumor site, I thought it was a mechanism for transmitting sound, but it was actually a donut-shaped driver unit, so I thought, "That's the driver! "I was surprised with. It has a unique shape, but when you actually wear it, it fits well and is inconspicuous to the outside.

On the other hand, people with small ears may find the unit with the Sony logo to be too large. Rather than the size of the unit itself, I think that the unit, which is arranged in a figure 8 shape to make use of the hole in the ring-shaped driver, does not fit the shape of my ear and feels large as a result. This point is difficult to solve with a fitting supporter, so if you are worried about it, it may be better to try it on before purchasing.

Regarding how the external sound is heard when actually playing music, etc., it is audible compared to other completely wireless earphones, in-ear earphones, etc. It was an impression that I didn't know what I was talking about.

On the iPhone that I tried this time, I can understand the content even if the volume is up to about 1/3, but when the volume is over half, I can't hear clearly. .

However, in the actual usage scene, it would be nice to turn on "Speak to Chat", which detects conversation and automatically stops playing music. If you realize that you have been spoken to and reply, you will be able to move smoothly into the conversation.

I got the impression that the sound quality, which is important, is good for songs with a rich mid-high range, such as violin solo songs and piano accompaniment. I think some people play music or Youtube videos instead of BGM while working, but I thought it was the best environment for listening to BGM for such work.

In addition, if you are humming along with the BGM, please be aware that if you do not turn off "Speak to Chat", the conversation will be detected and playback will stop.

Another useful function is the "wide area tap function". You can operate the earphone by tapping around the face near the earphone, and you can perform operations according to the tap function. The settings can be customized with the app, and when you assign the left unit to play/pause music with a double tap, skip songs with a triple tap, and volume up with a double tap and volume down with a triple tap on the right unit, you can do it without problems. I was.

The LinkBuds WF-L900 are quite small and have very little exposed area when worn on the ear. , sometimes without touching the body itself. Even in such a case, it will work without an accidental tap, and it will respond even if you tap the ear ring or cheekbone (near the ear hole), so the impression is that you can operate it more intuitively. Also, when a tap is detected, voice feedback is provided, making it easy to understand.

On the other hand, the wide area tap function may be activated when you touch your face or near your ears, such as removing your bag strap from your shoulder or taking off your knit hat. to turn the function ON/OFF.

Regarding sound leakage, it changes depending on the external sound conditions. In the case of domestic sound levels, my impression was that the volume at which the other person's voice could be recognized was about the same as the volume at which sound leakage to other people was not noticeable. When using the "adaptive volume control", the playback volume may increase according to the external sound environment, so there is a possibility that the sound leakage may become severe unintentionally.

I wore the WF-L900 almost all day long to listen to music, hold online meetings, and make calls. There was almost no feeling of being sweaty or damp. Since the ear holes are open, there is no feeling of pressure or blockage, there is no sense of discomfort, and it is comfortable to wear.

"High-precision voice pickup technology" that can be used considerably

This time, in order to test one of the functions implemented in the LinkBuds WF-L900, "high-precision voice pickup technology that utilizes AI", the sound of TV programs and movies was played at a normal level. I tried a test to talk in front of the speaker.

As a comparison, we also tried calling with the speakerphone and with the iPhone itself. The results are audible. When the speaker is not speaking, it picks up the audio of the video (especially the voice of a person), but when the speaker begins to speak, the other sounds disappear and the speaker's voice stands out.

Also, in a test where I made a call near the air purifier's blower (air outlet) (with the air blowing on my face), wearing the LinkBuds WF-L900 eliminated the blower noise the most. Even if you talk in a strong wind, you can expect that you will not be disturbed by wind noise while you are speaking (the other party can hear the wind noise while you are not speaking).

In the current state of the spread of the new coronavirus, the LinkBuds WF-L900 can respond to family calls while working remotely at home, and seamlessly go back and forth between real conversations, calls, and online meetings while wearing the device for a long time. I think it matches the new life and way of working.

Even if you mainly commute to the office, it is expected that there will be more frequent switching between real and online, so I think it will be highly effective in such usage scenarios.