If you're in the market for a trendy pair of true wireless earbuds that's not made by Apple this holiday season, it's pretty easy to overlook the LG Tone Free lineup. Unlike its domestic arch-rival, LG barely unveiled its first-ever AirPods alternatives around a year ago, commercially releasing those bad boys stateside at the very beginning of 2020... at a somewhat hard-to-swallow price.
The company expanded its AirPods-contending portfolio with a couple of new variants just a few months ago, and believe it or not, it's already time for yet another revision. As the HBS-FN7 model number suggests, these upcoming true wireless earbuds are an improvement over the existing HBS-FN6 version, bringing Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology to the table to "build on the already great passive noise isolation" of their aforementioned forerunners.
Naturally, that means the AirPods Pro is to be considered the FN7's direct rival, but unfortunately, we don't expect LG to be able to undercut the world's most popular high-end true wireless earbuds with built-in ANC functionality by a lot. That's because the FN6 is normally priced at $150 in the US, which probably means the newest (and greatest) member of the LG Tone Free family will set you back around 200 bucks.
Available in South Korea today, the HBS-FN7 is officially slated for a commercial expansion to "key markets" across North America, Europe, and Asia "starting in the fourth quarter", so we could see these things go up for sale in the US any day now.
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While the active noise cancellation feature is arguably the key selling point here, promising to "neutralize" environmental noises "almost completely", the thing that undoubtedly sets both the HBS-FN6 and FN7 Tone Free buds apart from Apple's industry-leading AirPods is their unique UVnano charging case.
This will purportedly eliminate "99.9 percent of E. coli and S. aureus bacteria on the earbuds' inner mesh", keeping your ears squeaky clean and providing a little peace of mind for all germaphobes passionate about these increasingly popular wireless audio accessories.
Said case can also deliver 14 hours of playtime adding to the 7-hour maximum battery endurance of the Tone Free FN7 earbuds themselves, which can deliver "premium" sound as well with the help of Meridian, a renowned British audio technology company that just so happens to be LG's "trusted partner."
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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