New Sony LinkBuds tipped for 2024 launch, WF-1000XM6 and WH-1000XM6 might wait until 2025
While Sony isn't exactly the most successful smartphone vendor in the world right now, the company's true wireless earbuds and high-end Bluetooth wireless headphones are definitely among the best and most popular we can think of. One problem with these product families is that they're not refreshed and expanded quite as often as the Xperia handset roster, which makes it hard to keep sales numbers nice and steady for 18, 24, or even 36 months in a row.
The extremely well-reviewed Sony WH-1000XM5, for instance, are already two years old, but instead of preparing for the impending arrival of a sequel to these over-ear bad boys, we're left discussing potential new LinkBuds and LinkBuds S versions today.
The teeny-tiny Sony LinkBuds S, mind you, have themselves made a very good impression in our in-depth review back in 2022, so it's certainly nice to hear that a second edition is (probably) around the corner. This news comes from a Weibo leaker that's been right about a number of things in the past, building a pretty solid reputation as an insider with reliable sources regarding unannounced Sony products.
According to "Zackbuks", the company is gearing up to release upgraded LinkBuds and LinkBuds S models sometime this year while only planning to unveil "updates" for the WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM5 in the "first half of next year." That's basically the textbook definition of bittersweet news, with the bitter part being amplified by the complete lack of details, specs, and features on all of these upcoming Sony audio products.
Unlike the noise-cancelling and light as air LinkBuds S, the first-gen Sony LinkBuds didn't exactly wow us with their decidedly unconventional design and underwhelming sound quality shortly after their early 2022 launch. As such, we're extremely curious to see how their second generation will materialize and whether or not the open-ring style will return for another attempt at mainstream popularity this year.
Of course, many wireless earbuds fans might be inclined to snub both the LinkBuds 2 and LinkBuds S2 (or 2S?) and instead wait for the undoubtedly spectacular WF-1000XM6 follow-up to the already very good WF-1000XM5. In the absence of any word on upgrades or improvements of any sort, however, it's hard to say whether that will prove to be a wise decision or not.
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