Owners of Sony earbuds, great news! Three of Sony’s top true wireless earbuds will receive a free audio feature upgrade.
The Sony LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, and WF-1000XM4 earbuds will soon offer multipoint audio, which enables earbuds to continue to be linked to two distinct Bluetooth devices at once (H/T Engadget(opens in new tab)).
In November, LinkBuds models will receive a new firmware update that will enable the feature, and the WF-1000XM4 will receive the same upgrade sometime between December and January.
This is significant for Sony’s wireless earbuds since it puts them on par with Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Pro models—or rather, makes them even more useful.
Since their separate debuts, the latter devices have bragged about easy-switching audio capability, although the function is limited to Apple-branded goods.
Sony‘s LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, and WF-1000XM4 earphones, on the other hand, will soon be able to work in tandem with any Bluetooth-enabled devices, irrespective of the maker. You will be able to hear notifications from your Samsung phone while, for example, watching Netflix on your Dell laptop.
Earbuds must unavoidably support both A2DP and HFP/HSP connections for audio streaming and talking in order for multipoint audio support to work. Other devices can offer simultaneous phone and computer connections, while some can only support two simultaneous phone connections (which is very unrealistic, anyway).
The latter feature will soon be available on Sony’s LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, and WF-1000XM4 earbuds, but not on the company’s less expensive wireless devices, such the Sony WF-C500.
Three great earbuds are getting even better
The Sony LinkBuds, LinkBuds S, and WF-1000XM4 are three excellent wireless earbuds in and of themselves, so it’s a pleasant surprise to find Sony giving each of them a rather considerable improvement – and that too for free.
The impending addition of multipoint audio capability will only enhance the WF-1000XM4’s claim to be our current top selection for the best true wireless earbuds money can buy, despite competition from other brands.
The LinkBuds are also some of the best-fitting earbuds for small ears that we have ever tried, and their support for multipoint audio will, naturally, make them even better from a practical standpoint (for those with tiny ears or otherwise).