LinkBuds S: a new frontier for headphones

LinkBuds S is a model that enables a new concept of use and provides you with the best of both worlds. They are perfect to stay connected to your online and offline worlds all-day long thanks to the ultra small and lightweight design with natural ambient sound. They combine LinkBuds innovative ambient sound technology that lets you interact with the world around you, with high-quality noise cancelling allowing you to focus on the content you love and nothing else.

The headphones integrate Adaptive Sound Control, a smart feature that adjusts ambient sound settings depending on where you are, creating the ideal listening experience. As the ways of interacting with sound are diversifying and evolving, such as enjoying music and games through headphones or participating in conference calls, Sony will also continue to develop the LinkBuds series and its use with applications from other partner companies to ensure optimal sound experiences for customers that reflect today´s current lifestyle.

LinkBuds S New Colour: "Earth Blue"

The comfortable LinkBuds S will be available in a new "Earth Blue" colour featuring parts of the body and case made using recycled resin materials generated from recycled plastic water dispensers. ​ The material was originally developed by Sony in pursuit of a new design expression with the aim of expanding the potential use of recycled materials from water dispensers and taking advantage of the adhesive properties. The resulting material on LinkBuds S “Earth Blue” creates a beautiful unique marble pattern, with each individual product designed to have a different pattern.

In addition to the “Earth Blue” model, the entire LinkBuds series also comes with plastic-free packaging and the headphones feature recycled materials from automobile parts, reflecting Sony’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its products.

Sony Group is implementing a long-term environmental plan called “Road to Zero”, which aims to reduce its environmental footprint to zero by 2050. As part of this, Sony established the “Green Management 2025” environmental medium-term targets that take effect from FY2021 through FY2025. It aims to accelerate efforts such as the introduction of recycled plastics, the reduction of product power consumption, the elimination of plastic from the packaging of newly designed small products, and the introduction of renewable energy.

Donation program to support ocean conservation activities

In recent years, the annual production of plastic has increased approximately 20-fold over the past 50 years, while the amount of plastic recycled has remained at approximately 9%. Sony will donate a percentage of the sales of all LinkBuds S colours to Conservation International (CI), an international NGO that has worked across 70 countries to date since 1987 to empower societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature and global biodiversity for the well-being of humanity.

The amount of $2 USD of the sales price of each unit sold will be donated to support CI’s ocean conservation activities. This means every purchase will protect nearly 58,824 square meters of ocean, an area equivalent to about 47 Olympic-sized swimming pools according to Conservation International’s calculations.

“In nature, nothing happens in a vacuum – pollution in one place can impact the entire ocean,” said Anastasia Khoo, Chief Marketing Officer at Conservation International. “Plastics pollution is a problem in its own right but it also plays a role in exacerbating other stresses the ocean faces, from climate change to overfishing. Humans depend on a healthy ocean and efforts like this help drive needed funding and raise awareness and engagement with consumers.”

Multipoint connection function to become available

In addition, all models in the LinkBuds series will receive a software update to enable the Multipoint Bluetooth connection function which allows you to connect to two devices at the same time. For example, if you are playing music on your PC and your smartphone receives an incoming call, it will automatically switch to the smartphone's call and ensures you can make a hands-free call without having to switch connections.

All LinkBuds series models will receive a software update in November 2022 to support Multipoint Bluetooth connection, whilst the award-winning WF-1000XM4 headphones will also benefit from the more convenient Bluetooth function this winter.

Pricing and availability

The LinkBuds S “Earth Blue” version will be priced at approximately €200/￡180 and will be available in Europe from November 2022.

For more information, please contact your local PR manager or:

Loic Malroux, Corporate Communications, Sony Europe loic.malroux@sony.com

About Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business in the Sony Group. With the vision of “continuing to deliver Kando and Anshin* to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges,” Sony will create products and services in areas such as home entertainment & sound, imaging, and mobile communications.

For more information, visit: www.sony.net

* Both Japanese words, Kando means emotion and Anshin has various meanings such as peace of mind, reassurance, reliability and trust.

Parts of the body and case of LinkBuds S “Earth Blue” are made from recycled water dispensers.

Recycled plastic is used in multiple parts of the headphones and the case, which is subject to change depending on the time of production.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2016). "The new plastics economy: rethinking the future of plastics" - World Economic Forum

Geyer, Roland, Jambeck, Jenna, & Lavender Law, Kara L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Starting from October 25th, 2022.

This fundraising initiative with Conservation International is applicable to sales in Japan and Europe.

[7] Based on Conservation International’s calculations, $34 is the average cost of resources needed to ensure one sq. km of ocean is protected