Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source. After unpacking them and connecting them to my Pixel 9 Pro, I fired up my favorite playlist and tapped play.
I was immediately disappointed. The sound was tinny, flat, lacked bass, had zero agility in the low end, and the highs were pretty much non-existent.
But then, I realized that these earbuds might serve a better purpose. “Hears” how that went.
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My experience
The “gimmick” with the Link 20 earbuds is a detachable, flexible mic boom, which is just under three inches long and is held in place by two magnets.
At first blush, I didn’t bother with it, but once I realized music sounded less than average, I decided to look at the Link 20 earbuds from a different angle: phone calls.
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So, I put them to the test. I called someone who knows what I do for a living and informed them that they were part of my test. I asked them how I sounded and their answer was simple: tinny but very clear. We spoke for a few minutes, and then I switched from the Link 20 earbuds to my Denon PerL Pro earbuds (which are the best earbuds I’ve ever tested – by a long shot).
Now, why would I not have written these off immediately? Midrange is where the human voice lives. It’s why any time you see EQ adjusted for things like podcasts, you’ll notice the mids are elevated. Because of that, anything with voice sounds very clear on the Link 20 earbuds.
That leads me to the other bonus with these earbuds: podcasts. They sound fantastic on the Link 20, with vocals that can be heard to perfection. At the same time, YouTube videos sound equally as good. I listened to John Oliver’s latest and was so happy to hear his voice without compromise.
The earbuds still lack bass, so there isn’t as much resonance as I prefer, but I’ll happily exchange bass for clarity when listening to podcasts and video.
ZDNET’s buying advice
If you need a pair of earbuds for phone calls or podcasts, the OpenRock Link 20 earbuds