One minute review
In its initial attempt to create an award-winning pair of truly wireless earphones, LG wasn't very successful: last year's LG Tone Free HBS-FN6 didn't really set the world on fire with its pioneering UVnano technology. And its audio playback wasn't, well, top notch. Since then,
LG has gone back to the drawing board and has come up with the new LG Tone Free FP8, which are true rivals to the Apple AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM4 that offer active noise cancellation, aptX support for Android and improved sound quality. This is a much stronger pair of wireless earphones than the ones we saw a year ago. After testing them over the course of a month, we had a lot of time to spend with them, although they didn't pass all of our tests, especially before applying the latest software update,
we can safely say that LG offers a pair of headphones at a lower price than Sony and Apple, though they can't beat them in terms of overall performance. While we still recommend the aforementioned superior noise-canceling headphones over the LG Tone Free FP8, LG's latest true wireless headphones are a great alternative at a slightly lower price point and are a great option if you find the idea of them cleaning up. again attractive end caps.
Price and release date
The LG Tone Free FP8 is scheduled for release in late August 2021 and will cost $179.,
around €130, AU$250, although international prices have not yet been determined. In the very crowded true wireless earphone market,
this price is a little higher than average, but still significantly lower than other flagship headphones from Apple and Sony. For reference, AirPods Pro are $249 / €249 / AU$399, and the Sony WF-1000XM4 is $279 / €250 / AU$449.
This means that LG offers many of the same features at a fraction of the cost.
Having said that,
there are some cheaper options that also offer active noise cancellation and great sound quality that are worth mentioning. Among them are the new Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 and Beats Studio Buds; they're a bit cheaper and we think they offer around the same value as the LG Tone Free FP8.
The LG Tone Free FP8 in its case. (Image credit: Avenir)
Integrated
In terms of design, the LG Tone FP8 borrows some cues from the Apple AirPods Pro. Both sets of
Earbuds use silicone tips that fit comfortably in the ear canal by means of a shell that conforms to the ear and extends to a small tip that passes outside the ear. Cosmetically, there are many similarities, but not enough for them to be exact replicas of each other. One thing that sets them apart is the choice of cases: the AirPod Pro comes in a rectangular-shaped case with rounded corners, while the
the LG Tone FP8 has a circular case. Both are small and slip easily into a pocket, but LG's case has a trick that Apple doesn't and that's the
ability to clean tips between uses with ultraviolet light.
According to LG, the case kills around 99,9% of the bacteria on the earphones between uses, Which is a bit comforting if someone in your house, say a girlfriend, likes to borrow your headphones without telling you and never letting you know clean. For us,
the heads were the perfect size, they fit perfectly in the ear and create a perfect passive seal without any effort. Should you need a larger or smaller mouthpiece, LG includes both in the box, but we bet most people should be fine with the average pair that comes with it. Like previous Tone headphones,
the FP8's touch controls are located at the top of the earrings; you can use them to play/pause your music, adjust the volume, answer phone calls, and activate ambient sound mode, which allows certain ambient noise to pass through the headphones.
(Image credit: Avenir)
Features
While the standout features of the headphones are their active noise cancellation and bacteria-killing UV light, these aren't the only tricks up the FP8's sleeve.
Besides everything else,
the headphones are IPX4 waterproof, making them great companions for the gym or a pinch of light and delivering premium spatial sound, similar in some ways to Creative's Super XFi technology. We'll talk more about weeds in a minute, but the effects are fun, if not as immersive as we'd like.
The good news is that the headphones support aptX, something that is becoming increasingly difficult to find as more manufacturers try to implement their own high-definition codecs. Since aptX is superior to Standard Bluetooth (SBC) in terms of bandwidth, you'll get richer, more detailed sound, but only if you're using an Android device that supports aptX. If you're looking for customization options, you'll find them in LG's Tone Free app. You'll find an EQ balancer and control settings, as well as an option to check for new updates, something we highly recommend you do before trying out the heads. The app is intuitive and easy to use, which makes it much better than some of its competitors. Finally,
the app has a Find My Earbuds feature that will make the earbuds play a loud tune that should help you find them. It's not exactly on par with Samsung's or Apple's version of the Find My Earbuds feature, which will show you where you left your earbuds on a map, but this is useful if you've left them somewhere in the house and can't find them. . So what is the bad news?
The LG Tone Free FP8 does not come with a built-in assistant like Apple AirPods or Google Pixel Buds. It's not a compromise, but it's certainly a great convenience that you can simply say "Hey Google" to get your assistant's attention anywhere, anytime.
(Image credit: Avenir)
The only area LG needed to improve was its audio playback, and with Meridian's help, it absolutely did.. While previous versions of LG's Tone headphones had muddy sound, harsh highs, and a case of low hiss, the FP8 now has a livelier sound that really focuses on boosting the mids and bass with better overall balance. Unfortunately, there's still a lot to ask for in terms of clarity, especially if you're using the SBC or AAC codec, and the width of the soundstage. Things get a bit better when you upgrade to the aptX codec on Android, which has higher data bandwidth, but you're largely left with the same smaller soundstage wherever you go. It's disappointing because LG and Meridian have set out to create the widest soundstage yet with their new analog spatial processing technology that simulates spatial audio. In theory this should take any audio source and apply a 3D filter to it, but in practice it just makes the audio track more open and airy, but less refined. If you've heard of Dolby Atmos before, you'll know what immersive 3D audio looks like, and you'll recognize that LG isn't quite the sweet spot yet. When it comes to noise cancellation, we were very impressed with the performance of the LG Tone Free FP8. While they still can't cancel out as much noise as, say, Bose QuietComfort headphones, the LG Tone Free FP8 can cut out a lot of outside noise. Paired with the music, background conversations around you all but disappear, and using them with a lawn mower means a near-silent backyard experience.
It remains to be tested how they will withstand higher decibel sounds like an airplane engine- another unfortunate downside of the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic - but so far we've been relatively impressed with the FP8's noise-canceling bumps alongside our overworked air conditioner - second best environment for a noise-canceling test .
Headphones can not only block soundInstead, if you press and hold the capacitive touchpad on either earbud, you can activate pass-through mode that plays external sounds. Why would you want this? Well, it's useful if you're in an airport waiting for a call or need to have a quick chat with someone and don't want to take off your headset.
Speaking of conversations, call quality is another weak point of the FP8.. Friends and family we spoke to said they sound echoy and less crisp than other headphones, but said they're louder than traditional speakers. The result makes us reluctant to use them as the reference pair for business calls and they are probably best suited for short phone calls when possible. The other problem you will run into is that the buttons can break the connection from time to time. This has happened less often after upgrading to the latest software, but right out of the box, the buttons can occasionally interrupt you if you decide not to upgrade.
Battery duration
According to LG, you can expect 10 hours per charge on the buttons and around 24 hours in total for the case with ANC turned off. When it's on, we get around 6 hours of battery life and 18 hours with the case on, which seems like the average noise-cancelling headset.
The case has a USB-C charging port and also supports wireless charging. if you have a Qi compatible charger. Charge times are pretty fast, but definitely take an hour or two before you board a flight to get them fully charged. Our biggest issue with the LG Tone Free FP8 is that its magnetic charging pins are a bit fickle. On at least one occasion, our headphones failed to charge because they lost connection to the pins on the case. In LG's defense, they're magnetized to prevent this from happening, but it still can be and it's a bit disappointing when it does. Other headphones may have better battery life and charge times, but the LG Tone Free FP8 came in at half of what we expected, which is absolutely fine.
Should you buy the LG Tone Free FP8 True Wireless Earbuds?
The LG Tone Free FP8 in its case. (Image credit: Avenir) A simple and concrete answer is yes, if you should buy them for all the benefits, advantages that these headphones have to offer you, in addition to being one of the best on the market since it perfectly keeps the quality ratio price.