Sony's clip-on LinkBuds Clip earbuds just hit $158, their lowest price yet.
The open-ear buds normally list at $229.99, but Amazon's October Prime Day sale knocks $71.99 off, matching price-tracking tools' record low. Unlike typical earbuds, the LinkBuds Clip sit outside the ear canal rather than sealing it, so you still hear traffic, announcements, or a coworker talking. PCMag praised the audio quality and battery life in its review. Sony rates them IPX4 for sweat and light rain, and multipoint pairing keeps them connected to multiple devices without re-pairing hassles.
The real number here is battery life: up to 9 hours of continuous playback and 37 hours total with the case, versus four hours with ANC on for Apple's AirPods 4. For anyone who finds noise-canceling buds isolating (dog walkers, cyclists, open-plan office workers), that tradeoff between blocking the world out and staying plugged into it is the actual decision, not just price.
They won't out-bass a sealed in-ear design, and no $158 purchase is risk-free, but it's a bet that Sony's open-ear format and app tuning beat Apple's tighter seal and ecosystem pull for the right use case.