I thought the Apple AirPods Pro 2 were perfect – LG proved me wrong
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love Apple’s AirPods Pro 2. In fact, I love them so much that I even bought a pair for my partner so he could understand why I wear them every day – even though I would have happily picked them up myself when they were discounted, but I digress.
As a headphone reviewer, I get to listen to a plethora of headphones and earbuds, and while I’ve certainly come across some top-performing pairs like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, I’ve always returned to my trusty AirPods for their sound quality, noise cancellation and seamless connectivity with my iPhone. I truly believe they are some of the best wireless earbuds you can buy.
At least that was until LG came out with its latest set of flagship earbuds, the ToneFree T90S.
Ny Breaking’s LG ToneFree T90S review went live in August, but at the time they weren’t available in Australia, where I live. I was eagerly awaiting the details of their arrival, as our review depicted them as a truly talented set, packed with useful, innovative features and delivering “extremely balanced audio.” I was also intrigued by their ability to support Dolby Atmos – LG claims the earbuds are the first true wireless set to support 3D sound technology across all content and devices.
The AirPods Pro 2 support Dolby Atmos spatial audio when connected to an iOS device and streaming music via Apple Music, while Bose’s aforementioned QuietComfort Ultra earbuds use a proprietary Immersive Audio mode that also supports device-independent spatial audio offers, but technical no full-fledged Dolby Atmos. Personally, I’ve never been one to jump on the spatial audio bandwagon, but I was willing to give LG a chance to see if it could prove to me that it’s the next best thing in personal audio.
Size doesn’t always matter
One of the main reasons I love the AirPods so much is how well they fit in my ears (I’m a bit picky when it comes to headphone comfort, which is why I love the Sonos Ace). The whole process couldn’t be easier: just take them out of the box and put them in my ears, no fidgeting. I’ve come across other in-ear headphones that take a while to settle into the ear, or just feel uncomfortable no matter how hard I try.
Image 1 by 2
Fortunately, I didn’t experience any such issues with the LG ToneFree T90S, which surprised me considering how small they are. Both the earbuds themselves and the case are incredibly compact and to be honest, I wasn’t immediately sure we would become friends. But I found it was easy to take them out of the case, and putting them in my ears and achieving a perfect fit the first time was just as easy.
Music to my ears
The sound quality of the LG T90S earbuds surprised me the most compared to my beloved AirPods Pro 2. Personally, I never really thought of LG as a particularly big player in the world of personal audio – the company makes some of the best TVs , but it doesn’t typically make our list of the best headphones or earbuds. But boy, do the ToneFree T90S earbuds buck that trend. I’ve regularly praised Apple’s iconic earbuds for their clarity and balance, but when I first wore the LG T90S and pressed play, I was amazed at how much more engaging they sounded. Bass levels were great and the whole soundstage had a greater sense of depth.
My first listening sessions took place with Dolby Atmos turned off for third-party headphones from my iPhone, but LG’s earbuds still managed to deliver a 3D-like soundstage. The effect was subtle, but voices and instruments were clearly placed around my ears, rather than more clearly directly in my ear canal.
When I enabled Dolby Atmos via Apple Music for third-party headphones in my iPhone’s settings, it was a really pleasant experience. That! Feels good!the opening track of Jessie Ware’s album of the same name features several voices speaking the song title – with Dolby Atmos enabled, those voices came from all around me. Some were heard from outside and to my left, while others sounded as if they were coming from over my right shoulder. Turn it off, though, and while the voices still came left and right, there was little separation, to the point where it sounded a little messy.
The AirPods were still able to post votes, but not to the same extent. They sounded much closer to me, compared to the more expansive soundstage that the LG buds offer.
Listen to California soil from English trio London Grammar revealed that the LG was once again the most impactful pair. Bass beats are delivered with much more gusto compared to the AirPods, and while the sound from Apple’s flagship buttons wasn’t disappointing in any way, it sounded a little flat in comparison.
Apples are still ripe in some areas
One area where Apple still has LG beat is noise cancellation. I used both pairs during my commute on a busy train and the AirPods Pro 2 were able to cancel out more external noise, even when no music was playing. The LG duo is doing extremely well in the field of music is was playing, but as soon as there was a pause in a song or I was waiting for the next one to load, I could hear what was going on around me quite clearly.
Both have the option to let in ambient noise or turn off noise cancellation completely, although I personally never use either of these settings.
LG’s ToneFree mobile app offers a number of sound customization options, including preset sound profiles tuned by British audio brand Meridian. Immersive and 3D Sound Stage quickly became my favorites, with the latter being the one I would use the most as it was the roomier of the two to my ears. The AirPods Pro 2 doesn’t have a companion app to adjust the sound profile and instead you have to rely on the default built-in EQ options within an iOS device’s settings.
Another feature I like about LG’s earbuds – although I haven’t really had the need to try it out yet – is the ability to send audio to the earbuds from the charging case when connected to an audio source. The most obvious use for this is during a flight, as you can connect the case to the in-flight entertainment system and have the audio sent to the earbuds. LG’s earbuds aren’t the first to offer this feature – it’s also available in the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 and JBL Tour Pro 3 – but it’s great to have all the same.
And to elaborate further, there are UV lights that LG claims will disinfect the earbuds when placed in them. As far as I know, no other brand offers this feature and I really can’t say if it’s effective because I’ll need a lab to prove it works. It may even seem a bit gimmicky, but it’s good to have one more item on the features list.
Finally, if you are someone who constantly makes or calls while wearing your earbuds, the ToneFree T90S features something called Whispering mode. Once activated, you can remove the right earbud and hold it to your mouth to use as a microphone. As the name of the feature suggests, all you have to do is speak softly. The app even says that if you speak loudly, you “may experience poor audio quality.” I can see this being especially useful during the commute, as it’s never fun to have to talk loudly on a train car or bus, just so everyone around you can hear your (one-sided) conversation clearly.
LG comes up trumps
Until I received the LG ToneFree T90S earbuds, I would automatically encourage anyone with an iPhone to get the AirPods Pro 2. It’s a little trickier with Android devices, as there are many pairs to suit all budgets that will get the job done.
However, since using LG’s latest set, I’m convinced Apple has fallen a little further from its pedestal and I encourage everyone to give the T90S an audition. I guarantee you won’t regret it.