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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a featherweight open-ring earbud that keeps you aware of everything around you while you take calls and listen, choose Sony LinkBuds Truly; if you need a work-first open-ear headset with a USB dongle, multipoint switching and a charging case that stretches listening across a full day, choose NEARITY MemPod Fit 2.
• Sony LinkBuds Truly — biggest strength: the open-ring driver design, which pipes sound in while leaving your ear canal completely open, so ambient noise comes through naturally instead of being blocked or faked.
• Sony LinkBuds Truly — biggest trade-off: there is no noise cancellation at all, and battery life tops out at 20 hours total. If you want to shut the world out, this is the wrong earbud.
• NEARITY MemPod Fit 2 — biggest strength: the bundled USB-C dongle plus Bluetooth 5.3 and multipoint, which makes it a genuinely reliable headset for PCs, Macs and calls rather than just a phone accessory.
• NEARITY MemPod Fit 2 — biggest trade-off: it weighs 9.9 grams and uses soft silicone ear hooks, so it feels more like a headset than a discreet earbud, and its bass is deliberately tuned rather than deep by in-ear standards.
• Pick Sony LinkBuds Truly if you want a tiny, barely-there earbud for commuting, walking, gaming and everyday phone use.
• Pick NEARITY MemPod Fit 2 if you want one device that covers meetings, calls and long listening sessions across a phone and a computer.
The LinkBuds Truly are built around one idea: you should hear the world. Sony's ring-type driver leaves the centre of the diaphragm open, so real ambient sound passes straight into your ear instead of being piped in through a microphone. That's a different philosophy from most earbuds, which try to seal you off or digitally re-inject the outside world. In my opinion, this is the single most interesting thing about them, and it's the reason to buy them.
The rest of the package is engineered around being unnoticed. Each earbud weighs 2.86 grams, and Sony ships five sizes of fitting supporters to cover different ear shapes. Controls are tap-based: you double or triple tap the area in front of your ear rather than touching the bud itself. There's an integrated V1 processor for what Sony describes as balanced, high-quality sound, a 20Hz–20,000Hz range (extending to 40,000Hz with LDAC at 96kHz), Bluetooth 5.2 with a 32-foot range, and Precise Voice Pickup for calls. Multipoint — two devices connected at once — is available via firmware update, and Alexa is built in with voice control.
Battery is 20 hours total, charged over USB-C, and a five-minute quick charge buys up to 60 minutes of playback. The IPX4 rating handles sweat and splashes. There's no noise cancellation here — Sony lists noise control as "none" — and there's no headphone jack, so this is wireless only. Volume also adjusts automatically to your environment, dropping in quiet rooms and rising in noisy ones.
NEARITY MemPod Fit 2: Who It's For
The MemPod Fit 2 is an open-ear headset that clearly has productivity in mind. The headline feature isn't the earbud itself — it's the Type-C dongle in the box. Plug it into a phone, PC or Mac and you get a wired USB audio path that sidesteps wireless interference entirely, which matters for meetings, gaming and recording. It's plug-and-play, and the listing notes it provides continuous power for extended use. Alongside that you get Bluetooth 5.3, so you can go wireless when you want to.
Comfort is the second pillar. The earbuds are made from skin-friendly soft silicone with a silky surface treatment, shaped into ergonomic ear hooks that follow the natural contour of your ear. At 9.9 grams they're light for an open-ear hook design, and NEARITY's pitch is all-day wear without pressure — sports, travel, meetings. The ear hooks are there to keep things stable during movement.
Audio leans on a HiFi4 DSP with a bass-enhancement algorithm. NEARITY is refreshingly honest in its own material: the bass is improved, but it still won't match an in-ear design like AirPods. What you do get is ENC noise cancelling on the microphone side, so the person you're calling hears you clearly against background noise rather than hearing the room you're standing in.
Battery is the standout number: up to 10 hours of playback on a single charge at 50% volume, plus roughly 35 more hours from the charging case — three to four recharges, about 45 hours combined. A full charge takes 2 hours. The case, cable, dongle and manual all come in the box, and there's a one-year warranty.
Who should buy it? Anyone who lives in video calls and wants one headset that handles a laptop and a phone at the same time — multipoint lets you take a call on one device while staying connected to another. Remote workers, students on long lecture days, and gamers who want low-latency audio without a wireless dongle of their own. Who should skip it? People who want something invisible. The ear-hook form factor is visible, silicone sits against your ear all day, and if you want punchy bass or total silence, an in-ear sealed design will serve you better.
• Best for staying aware of your surroundings → Sony LinkBuds Truly. The open-ring driver is designed specifically for audio transparency, and IPX4 covers sweat and splashes on the move.
• Best for calls and meetings on a computer → NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. The bundled USB-C dongle removes wireless interference for meetings, gaming and recording.
• Best for battery life → NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. Up to 10 hours per charge and roughly 45 hours combined with the case, versus 20 hours total for the LinkBuds.
• Best for all-day light wear → Sony LinkBuds Truly. At 2.86 grams per bud with five sizes of fitting supporters, it's the lighter, less intrusive option.
• Best for long sessions without charging → NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. A 2-hour full charge and a case that carries three to four extra recharges.
• Best for stable fit during movement → NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. Ergonomic silicone ear hooks are built to keep the buds in place through sports and travel.
• Best for low-latency audio while gaming → NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. The dongle is the point here; Sony's LinkBuds are aimed at movies and gaming but connect over Bluetooth only.
• Best for connected-home voice control → Sony LinkBuds Truly. Alexa is built in and the control method is voice.
• Best for keeping your ear canal open with nothing inside it → both, but differently. Sony leaves the centre of the driver open; NEARITY uses an open-ear hook that rests outside the canal entirely.
If I had to pick one, I'd take the NEARITY MemPod Fit 2. The dongle, Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint and the roughly 45 hours of combined battery make it the more useful object across a whole working day, and ENC on the mic means the people I talk to get a clean version of my voice. That's the job I actually need done. I'd only switch to the Sony LinkBuds Truly if my priority were being as close to invisible as possible — 2.86 grams, an open ring, and Alexa on tap — and I didn't care about blocking out noise or charging often. For most people reading this, the Fit 2 is the safer buy.
It depends on what you're doing. If you want the smallest, lightest open-ring earbud with voice control and don't need noise cancelling, the LinkBuds earn their place. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since the two sit in different parts of the market.
It has ENC — environmental noise cancelling on the microphone — so callers hear you clearly against background noise. It does not cancel noise for you; the open-ear design deliberately lets sound in. Sony's LinkBuds also have no noise cancellation.
The MemPod Fit 2, clearly. It runs up to 10 hours per charge with about 45 hours combined via the case. The LinkBuds Truly offer 20 hours total, though a 5-minute quick charge gives up to 60 minutes of playback.
Yes, but the Fit 2 does it better. Its Type-C dongle gives a wired, low-latency connection to PC and Mac with no wireless interference. The LinkBuds Truly connect over Bluetooth 5.2 and support multipoint for two devices via a firmware update.
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