Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip vs Sony LinkBuds Clip

Sennheiser announced their new ACCENTUM Clip in June 2026, competing against Sony’s LinkBuds Clip. I was going to post this right after the announcement, but it took Sennheiser 6 weeks to reply to my questions.

So how does Sony’s LinkBuds Clip compare to the new ACCENTUM Clip? I compare the design and specifications to see if Sony will need to respond to Sennheiser’s entry.

Design

The Sony and Sennheiser Clip models share a similar design, 2 sections, a ball and a bean, connected with a flexible bridge. Both use shiny plastic on the main bodies, and the flexible bridge is a matte silicone material. The Sennheiser buds design looks more bulky, but that does not mean they will be uncomfortable.

The weight difference is negligible, but the Sony has a slightly smaller charging case.

	Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip	Sony LinkBuds Clip
Earbuds	6.8g x 2	6.4 g x2
Charging case	43 g	42 g
Case dimensions	65.5 x 48.0 x 31.2 mm	50.4 x 50.4 x 32.6 mm

The Sony LinkBuds Clip come in 4 colours, black, green, greige, and lavender, with various custom silicone covers. The Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip is offered in black, cream, and ice blue.

Specifications

	Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip	Sony LinkBuds Clip
Driver Size	12 mm	10 mm
Codec Support	LDAC, AAC, SBC	AAC, SBC
Equalizer	5-band	10-band
Bluetooth	6.0	5.3
Multipoint	Yes	Yes
Microphones	2 per earbud (MEMS)	2 per earbud (MEMS)
Call AI noise reduction	Yes	Yes
Battery life	up to 9 hours, case 36 hours	up to 9 hours, case 37 hours
Weather resistance	IP54	IPX4

The Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip based of these specifications, looks to be like the better option. The model features a larger driver, LDAC support, and Bluetooth 6.0. The battery life rating for both is on AAC. A larger driver does not always mean a better sound, but the battery life is identical, so the larger size is not a detriment, and could offer a better sound.

No LDAC battery life is provided in the press release or product page, and when reaching out to Sennheiser PR, I was told they cannot provide any specific battery life as LDAC battery life can vary wildly, depending on many factors like the bitrate for example.

Both models lack LE Audio and LC3 support. Sennheiser PR stated there is no plan on adding LC3 support to their Clip model. Considering both the LinkBuds Open and Fit support LC3 and LE Audio, Sony should push a firmware update to the Clip model to add the codec.

Here are the battery details for both models.

	Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip	Sony LinkBuds Clip
Earbud battery	49, 55 mAh 3.85V	54 mAh 3.85V
Charging case battery	500, 545 mAh 3.85V	500 mAh 3.85V

The Sennheiser has 2 suppliers, MBT and Highpower for the earbuds, and VDL and Highpower for the charging case. This is why there are different capacities for Sennheiser.

The Accentum Clip FCC internal photos will not be available until September, but another certification website did have some internal photos. The photos are not great, but do reveal that the Accentum Clip uses an Airoha chipset. Sennheiser switching to Airoha for the Clip also explains the lack of aptX support. as that requires a Qualcomm chipset.

Digging into the FCC filing, we have this table below, which does reveal a possible chip model, either AB1585 or AB1588. The only difference between the 2 models is the memory capacity.

The Sony LinkBuds Clip use the same chip, AB1585, which was revealed by the FCC teardown analysis post. Both models feature Voice call AI noise reduction, which is a feature of the Airoha AB1585 SoC.

With almost identical battery capacities and chipsets, the identical battery life figures make sense.

We can try to estimate a possible LDAC battery life with all the details we have right now. The LinkBuds Fit has support for LDAC, and uses the same battery as the Sony LinkBuds Clip, and a similar Bluetooth SoC (MT2833). The LinkBuds Fit LDAC battery life is up to 4.5 hours with NC off, which could suggest a similar 4-5 hour LDAC runtime in the Sennheiser.

I am still not convinced that a user could tell the difference between LDAC and AAC in open earbuds.

Frequency Response

Thanks to the folks at RealLab, we can compare the frequency response curves of both models.

I am not an expert in interpreting frequency response curves, so my analysis could be wrong. Considering open earbuds do not seal the ear canal fully, there is a significant bass drop off in both models. The Sennheiser does appear to have a slightly higher output up to 100 Hz, with the Sony model offering a richer bass frequency above 100 Hz and up to around 500 Hz. Both models are similarly tuned in the mids, and upper mids, with the Sennheiser dropping off around 10k Hz.

While there are differences in the tuning between the 2 models, overall the difference may be minimal outdoor environments, and in scenarios with lots of noise. Perhaps indoor where it is quieter, could a difference be heard. That is my theory at least. If anyone with more insight and knowledge would like to drop their thoughts, please leave a comment.

Availability

The Sennheiser earbuds should be available in most regions right, either at local retailers or on Sennheiser’s website. There is one major exception, the US market.

Pricing

Depending on the region, the Sony LinkBuds Clip could be less expensive, and a better deal. But in Canada, the Sony model is $30 more expensive. There was a discount on Amazon Canada in the past, where the price dropped to $198 CAD, so much less than the Sennheiser.

	Sennheiser Accentum Clip	Sony LinkBuds Clip
United Kingdom	£149.00	£149.00
EU	179,00 €	169,00 €
Poland	769 PLN	628 PLN
Japan	35,200 yen	27,500 yen
Canada	$269.95 CAD	$299 ($198 discount)

 

The Accentum line may not be Sennheiser’s top of the range line, but neither is the LinkBuds line for Sony. The Sennheiser does provide a larger 12mm driver, LDAC support, and Bluetooth 6.0, but the trade off is a 5-band equalizer.

The price is variable, and depending on region could be the more expensive, the same price, or cheaper.

Should Sony be worried? Perhaps, but the LinkBuds Clip is not a bad offer when priced right, and the 2 models are matched rather well. I am not convinced that LDAC support in open earbuds will be of much benefit, but even if it is, battery would be reduced, and could easily be half of AAC playback.

While Sony could add LDAC to the LinkBuds Clip, I think adding support for LE Audio and LC3 would be a better decision, considering both the LinkBuds Open and Fit support LC3. Sony has in the past brought LC3 support to their LinkBuds S model, so a firmware upgrade is possible. Of course the LinkBuds Open and Fit use the Mediatek MT23833, and not the Airoha AB1585 in the Clip model, so perhaps this once reason we have no LC3 support in the Clip?

Here is a review from kajetblog.com