Products
Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless
Beats Solo Buds
Tested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Jun 11, 2025 03:32 PM
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Tested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Nov 20, 2025 01:59 PM
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TypeIn-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeIn-ear
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureSemi-Open
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Our Verdict
Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless
Beats Solo Buds
The Beats Solo Buds and the Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless are similar in-ears, but the Sony are better in a few ways. The Sony have active noise cancellation (ANC), which does a great job blocking out ambient conversations and engine rumble. Sony's companion app includes a graphic equalizer and presets to customize your audio experience. On the other hand, the Beats boast superior continuous battery life but lacks extra charges from the case.
Variants
- LinkBuds S (Black)
- LinkBuds S (Desert Sand)
- LinkBuds S (Earth Blue)
- LinkBuds S x Olivia Rodrigo (Violet)
- LinkBuds S (White)
- Solo Buds (Arctic Purple)
- Solo Buds (Matte Black)
- Solo Buds (Storm Gray)
- Solo Buds (Transparent Red)
Check Price
Black
LinkBuds S
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Arctic Purple
Solo Buds
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Desert Sand
LinkBuds S
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Matte Black
Solo Buds
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Earth Blue
LinkBuds S
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Amazon.com
Storm Gray
Solo Buds
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Violet
LinkBuds S x Olivia Rodrigo
SEARCH
Amazon.com
Transparent Red
Solo Buds
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Amazon.com
White
LinkBuds S
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Amazon.com
Main Differences for
Neutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.0
7.3
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
4.3
6.8
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.6
7.0
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
In-ear
In-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Semi-Open
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.02 lbs
0.03 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
0 lbs
Controls
7.6
5.2
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Decent
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
No
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
No
Talk-Through
On/Off
No
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Breathability
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
Portability
9.5
9.5
Portability Picture
L
1.2" (3.1 cm)
1.5" (3.8 cm)
W
1.0" (2.6 cm)
1.2" (3.0 cm)
H
0.9" (2.4 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Volume
1.18 in³ (19.30 cm³)
1.18 in³ (19.38 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
7.5
7.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
2.4" (6.0 cm)
2.6" (6.6 cm)
W
1.7" (4.3 cm)
0.9" (2.4 cm)
H
1.1" (2.7 cm)
1.4" (3.5 cm)
Volume
4.25 in³ (69.70 cm³)
3.38 in³ (55.44 cm³)
Build Quality
7.5
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
7.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
700 Hz
700 Hz
Bass Amount
2.0 dB
0.4 dB
Treble Amount
-4.5 dB
-0.5 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
9.1
9.1
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.19 dB
0.19 dB
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
9.5
9.7
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.1 dB
1.4 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
1.19 dB
1.39 dB
Mid Bass
2.38 dB
0.53 dB
High Bass
2.69 dB
-1.35 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.6
7.0
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.42 dB
2.87 dB
Low Mid
-0.23 dB
-2.35 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.52 dB
-0.01 dB
High Mid
1.58 dB
4.06 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
4.3
6.8
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
5.7 dB
3.42 dB
Low Treble
-2.29 dB
1.93 dB
Mid Treble
-7.33 dB
-3.65 dB
High Treble
-12.75 dB
-9.45 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.7
8.2
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.23 dB
0.97 dB
Dips
1.99 dB
1.69 dB
Imaging
8.6
8.8
Group Delay
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.1
0.23
Weighted Phase Mismatch
2.83
2.07
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1.66
0.91
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.11
1.24
Passive Soundstage
0.5
0.9
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
N/A
Openness
1.4
3.3
Acoustic Space Excitation
0.8
0.7
Virtual Soundstage
4.1
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
On/Off
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
360 Reality Audio
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.6
7.8
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.378
0.316
WHD @ 100
0.130
0.111
Test Settings
Firmware
4.2.1
3A130
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 44.1kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Off
No EQ
ANC
On
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Silicone (medium)
Silicone (small)
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
8.5
6.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
No
Overall Attenuation
-22.18 dB
-17.05 dB
Bass
-14.69 dB
-4.58 dB
Mid
-24.27 dB
-20.11 dB
Treble
-28.97 dB
-28.78 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
8.1
6.1
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-18.56 dB
-14.43 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-18.56 dB
-15.54 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-21.04 dB
-16.21 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Leakage
9.3
9.4
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
25.17 dB
24.75 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
5.4
5.7
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
257.68 Hz
530.46 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
4.44 dB
2.94 dB
HFE
7,896.12 Hz
3,368.2 Hz
Weighted THD
1,274.475
0.971
Gain
-46.22 dB
0.88 dB
Noise Handling
6.3
6.1
SpNR
SpNR
31.81 dB
8.08 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
6.5
6.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
6.0
5.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
7.3
8.2
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
7.1 hrs
18.5 hrs
Additional Charges
2.3
0.0
Total Battery Life
23.4 hrs
18.5 hrs
Charge Time
1.7 hrs
1.25 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Auto-Off Timer
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
8.0
6.0
App Picture
App Name
Sony| Headphones Connect
Beats
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
No
ANC Control
On/Off
No
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
Yes
No
Button Mapping
Yes
Yes
Surround Support
Yes
No
Connectivity
Wired Connection
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
No Wired Option
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
N/A
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
No Wired Audio
N/A
Bluetooth Connection
7.9
8.8
Bluetooth Version
5.2
5.3
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
2 Devices
Quick Pair (Android)
Yes
Yes
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
233.92 ft (71.30 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
304 ms
182 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
255 ms
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
LDAC
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
Yes
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
2.2
2.2
Type
Charging Case
Charging Case
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
Yes
Yes
Power Supply
USB-C
USB-C
Check Price
Black
LinkBuds S
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Arctic Purple
Solo Buds
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Desert Sand
LinkBuds S
SEARCH
Amazon.com
Matte Black
Solo Buds
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Earth Blue
LinkBuds S
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Storm Gray
Solo Buds
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Violet
LinkBuds S x Olivia Rodrigo
SEARCH
Amazon.com
Transparent Red
Solo Buds
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White
LinkBuds S
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
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Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless
Beats Solo Buds
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Sony LinkBuds S Truly Wireless vs Beats Solo Buds: Main Discussion
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