We've had LG's new Tone Free FN7 earphones for almost a week now. Are they really worth the money? Let's have a look at what we've got.
While finding a good set of fully wireless earbuds was difficult a year and a half ago, the market is now flooded with alternatives that are both affordable and high value. Earbuds like the Jabra 75t, Sony WF-1000XM3, and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro come to mind. LG's Tone Free earbuds will be up against these heavyweight challengers, as well as Apple's AirPods Pro.
Inside the casing, LG has integrated a one-of-a-kind UV-light based earbud sanitizing solution, which is a completely unique function on a wearable device that may be shared with friends or family. Given the continued focus on sanitation in the wake of the global pandemic, a function like this makes reasonable. Let's take a look at LG's Tone Free noise-canceling earbuds to see if they're worth the money.
Design
The Tone Free FN7 appears to be a luxury pair of earbuds right away; the casing is compact and round, making it easy to store in your pocket - or even a clutch, as a friend pointed out; after all, not all storage spaces are created equal. The earbuds are flat in the casing, with a small UV light emitter in the hollow near the rubber ends' tips. These earphones are so comfortable to wear that we forget we're wearing them most of the time.
They do, however, contain a stem, so take caution when removing your Covid-19 respirator or mask. Above the stem is a little touch panel, but we'll get to that in a minute. We shook the case while it was open, but the contents didn't fall out, which is a positive indicator; the lid is also snugly shut. When you open the case, the UV light emitter has a beautiful blue color.
Specifications and performance
LG Audio have a long history of collaborating on audio devices, such as soundbars and speakers, and the Tone Free FN7 earbuds continue that tradition. At the top of LG's earbuds companion app are four presets: immersive, natural, bass boost, and treble boost. As we did, you might find yourself gravitating toward the natural and immersive defaults the majority of the time.
When you're out on the road or in a crowded environment, the ambient sound option on these earbuds comes in handy. It does the job, but the AirPods Pro's Transparency Mode sounds noticeably better in comparison.
Even when tested outside, where a machine was being used to dig up the other side of a road, the Tone Free FN7's noise cancellation functioned fairly well. The earphones cut through all of the noise, and after a couple of tracks, you can barely hear anything. The Tone Free FN7 also blocked out the high notes, which was rather astonishing when listening to music with ANC on close to a violin being played at home.
When you take one of the Tone Free FN7's earbuds out, the in-ear sensor pauses your music. This is useful because the panel's multi-tap controls are notoriously tough to master. We had to press many times to find the appropriate position on these earphones, unlike the Galaxy Buds Plus, which offers a big area to tap. You'll find an option to turn off the touchpad controls in the companion app, which you might do at some point.
You'd think that for the price, these earphones would pack quite a punch. The LG Tone Free FN7 is just in the perfect area in terms of sound quality and features, with a price that's pricier than Sony's WF-1000XM3 and well within reach of Apple's AirPods Pro.
The Tone Free FN7 earbuds worked flawlessly with a Samsung Galaxy A71 and an iPhone 11 using LG's companion app. They support the Standard Bluetooth Codec (SBC) and Advanced Audio Codec (AAC). Although there is no support for Qualcomm's low-latency aptX codec, we did not experience any lag while playing demanding games.
We could clearly hear individual instruments as well as choral music on the next recording, Mozart's Lacrimosa. It truly excelled in R&B and vintage rock. We turned on Drake's Marvin's Room, which sounded incredible. Hotel California by the Eagles and Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival are two other songs where you'll likely hear small sound effects you didn't notice before.
The small ridges within the silicone tips of the earbuds may have something to do with how nicely they fit in our ears; they stayed in even when we went for a fast run, and the touchpad was not unintentionally activated.
When it comes to microphones, many truly wireless earbuds fall short, making your voice sound tinny or distant. The LG Tone Free FN7, on the other hand, is an outlier. On the opposite end of every call we made last week, people stated our voices sounded authentic. They also operate well with programs like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, thanks to the stem shape and a downward-pointing mic that easily picks up your speech.
While we appreciate LG's choice to integrate a UV light-based cleaning mechanism, we don't understand why it only works when the phone is plugged in. We only charged the earbuds once during the period we spent evaluating them. That's around four days without using the UV technology to clean the earbuds.
These LG earphones have a longer battery life than the AirPods Pro. With ANC turned on, the maker promises you'll get four hours of use; we got a little more than five. Likewise, turning off ANC and ambient sound increased battery life to six and a half hours. You can also use a Qi-charging mat to charge them wirelessly; it takes around an hour and a half to fully charge.
Verdict
Given that the AirPods Pro cost $249, these would be difficult to suggest at the original price of $299. LG's choice to lower the price to $19,999 seems logical. However, we're curious as to why LG didn't price the device cheaper to compete with the recently announced Galaxy Buds Pro (159).
The touch controls were a little finicky, but they weren't a deal breaker. The Tone Free FN7 is a solid choice at the present lowered price if you want a pair of earbuds that feature IPX7 water protection, decent battery life, good overall build, music quality, noise cancellation, and in-call audio.
However, if budget is a factor, Sony's WF-1000XM3 is a strong contender in terms of audio quality but lacks water resistance; the Jabra 75t, on the other hand, offers both and is roughly half the price of these earbuds.
If you do decide to purchase these, they will function on both iOS and Android, and the associated app will not let you down. While the UV washing feature isn't designed to eliminate the coronavirus, we found ourselves worried less about the cleanliness of our earphones, and it's definitely one of the reasons we'd choose this gadget over the competition, aside from the excellent music quality.
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