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LG has just unveiled its new flagship wireless earbuds, and if they’re as good as promised they could be some of the best wireless earbuds ever made.
Last year’s LG Tone Free FP8 true wireless earbuds were a solid alternative to the Apple AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds – albeit cheaper and not quite as impressive. This year LG has seemingly kicked its game up a notch with the Tone Free T90 buds, boasting improved drivers and materials that should make its sound quality better than ever.
These drivers will be put to good use, too, as the T90s can support 24-bit/96kHz high-resolution audio. This should mean the audio quality and latency are more on-par with wired headphones than other wireless earbuds, helping to create a realistic soundstage that’s full of details that would otherwise be lost in a weaker connection.
To help further enhance the soundstage, the LG’s Tone Free T90 buds will be the first wireless earbuds to use Dolby Head Tracking. Using this feature and its built-in Dolby Atmos support, these earbuds can track your head movements and alter the soundstage of the film or video game you’re playing to keep you immersed in the scene – rivaling the AirPods’s popular Spatial Audio feature.
You’ll be able to stay immersed in this audio for a decent length of time, too, with the earbuds promising a continuous battery life of nine hours – on par with some of the other best wireless earbuds out there.
Just in case
Thanks to impressive audio features these earbuds are promising you’ll likely want to use them as often as you can, and the good news is that the T90s have a special case that should maximize the number of devices they’re compatible with.
Wireless earbuds are usually limited by their lack of a wired connection – meaning they can’t normally be hooked up to gadgets that don’t support Bluetooth. Thankfully the T90’s case can use its Plug & Wireless feature to get around this problem.
Just connect the case to the device you want to listen to using the included USB-C to Aux cable and it will automatically send the audio to your earbuds just like a native Bluetooth connection.
That’s not all the case can do. If your earbuds are getting low on charge you can pop them in the case for roughly an hour and they’ll be fully recharged, with the case storing up to 20 hours of bonus power that’ll extend the total listening time of your earbuds to 29 hours.
Last but not least, the case boasts a UV light that promises to hygienically clean your earbuds between uses just like last year’s model.
Cut through the noise
Even with all of these next-gen features, LG’s wireless earbuds don’t seem to have forgotten the basics.
The T90 earbuds will come with active noise cancellation so you can enjoy your audio free from outside distractions. Plus, LG promises the ergonomic design will ensure the earbuds sit comfortably in the wearer’s ear – because what’s the use of having earbuds that can last for nine hours if you can’t bear to wear them for longer than nine minutes?
To confirm their audio quality – and how comfortable they are – we’ll have to try these earbuds out for ourselves. That said they look set to offer an impressive suite of features.
The only downside is their IPX4 waterproof rating. This means they should be safe from splashing water, but be careful not to wear them while swimming, if you’re planning to work up a sweat, or to drop them in a puddle. If you are after audio suited to fitness, you might want to pick something from our best workout headphones instead.
LG hasn’t revealed how much the T90 will cost, but based on what we’ve seen, expect a price of at least $150 / £150 / AU$200. We likely won’t have long to wait before we find out for sure, though, as the T90 wireless earbuds are expected to launch worldwide by the end of August.
Looking to pick up something today? Check out our picks for the best wireless headphones that we’ve tested.