The LG Tone Free FP9 earphones look exactly like the FN 7 version that came out in 2021 and were the first to offer UV Nano sanitisation of the earpieces, quite a big deal in the middle of a pandemic. The new LG Tone Free also has the UV Nano feature, with the rest of the design mostly the same even as the earplugs themselves have evolved to become a bit more stylish and compact than before.
Pairing is easy even though LG has used an unusual way to do this—users push the earphones inside the case for them to be available for pairing. Once this is done, and you wear your LG Tone Free it dawns on you that this is one of the best noise cancellations you will experience. And this is more natural too, offering a layer of muted ambient sound and not creating a vacuum where you can’t hear much at all.
To give more context, in my room I don’t hear the whirr of the ceiling fan, but am fully aware there are children playing below. Then you realise how comfortable these earphones are to wear. The design sort of blends into the contours of your ears and is anyway smaller than a lot of other earbuds these days. Also, these are very light. After a few minutes of wearing these, you will feel they are not there any longer.
The LG Tone Free app gives you a lot of customisation with the earphones, from the ability to lock the touchpads on them to setting what taps on each of these lead to. Also, you can switch off the noise cancellation or move to the ambient mode if you want to be a bit more aware of what is happening around you. But the feature I really loved was the ability to find the earbuds by making them produce a chirping sound, important for me as I have the habit of leaving the headphones in different parts of the house once a call is over. You can also use the app to switch to preset Meridien audio profiles or even customise equaliser modes of your own.
The LG Tone Free offers an audio profile that is more natural and without the amped up bass or other tweaks. Of course, you can tweak it to have more bass if you like it that way. This does not mean the earphones are flat by default. When I listen to a number like Stay by Amie Nathan, the bass at the back can step up when needed. When you are hearing something richer, like Philip Glass’s Opening you appreciate how different the experience is thanks to this natural audio profile.
The battery life of the earphones lasts a whole day with calls and music before it needs to go back into the case. And the case is disinfecting your earphones every time you put them there. That’s peace of mind for the paranoid.
Then there is the customisable cover for the charging case. LG Sent me one with Ganesha artwork and it really gave the Tone Free a new look. I am not sure this will catch on as a trend, especially when the cover on the top flap becomes hard to pry off once it has been glued in. At an effective price of `15,990, the LG Tone Free FP9 offers top-notch audio quality as well as a bunch of features that are unique and not really available in the market. This is one of the best truly wireless earphones money can buy.