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LG Tone Free T90S wireless earbuds review
By Steve May,
1 day ago
The LG T90S wireless earbuds offer a tremendous amount of tech for the cash. Not only do you get Adaptive Noise Cancelling and a Bluetooth transmitting charging case, they also support Dolby Atmos music complete with Head Tracking. Even if you don’t subscribe to a streaming service with Atmos audio (we’re looking at you, Spotify), there are unique benefits to be had.
Design
An update on the brand’s T90Q in-ears, the LG Tone Free T90S are compact and comfortable to wear. Available in black or white, they adopt an ergonomic teardrop profile, distinguished mainly by their integrated microphones - and there’s no LG branding on the buds at all.
While I like the non-gloss silk finish, they’re quite slippy to handle and I was always worried I’d accidentally drop them when out and about.
Touch control is available for all the usual playback controls and track skipping but I didn't find the sensor particularly responsive. I found this to be very frustrating when I was trying to coax more volume out of the earbuds, so it's worth bearing in mind.
The T90S come with a diminutive charging case and two sets of interconnects: a USB-C to 3.5mm lead, and USB-C to USB-C. The former allows the case to be plugged into any playback device with a compliant jack, be it an older smartphone, digital music player, or an inflight entertainment system. Flip of a switch on the side of the case, and your connected audio source is wirelessly transmitted to the buds. Voilà!
The LG Tone Free T90S also support multipoint connection and up to five unique device connections.
Features
(Image credit: Future / Steve May)
The LG Tone Free T90S earbuds's adaptive noise cancellation is potent and copes well with the usual commuting hubbub and can counter at-home distractions. ANC is selectable via the earbud’s sensor which cycles between ANC, ambient mode and off.
The earbuds' battery life is rated at five hours with noise cancelling on, but this can be extended to nine hours if you have noise cancelling turned off.
Bluetooth codec support is comprehensive, with AAC, SBC and aptX Adaptive all covered, while the earbuds are also IPX4 rated so you'll have no worries if you're caught in a downpour.
Cleverly, the charging case uses ultraviolet light to eliminate bacteria on the ear gels which is a nice touch, and 10 minutes into a powered charging cycle will see the buds zapped clean. The case also supports wireless charging if you have one of those handy little charging mats hanging around.
What’s conspicuous by its absence though is any spoken audible feedback. I’m so used to having my headphones proclaim "connected", "fully charged" or talk me through various noise cancelling modes, that the confirmation bleeps offered by these LG earbuds just sound like someone’s at the door.
In addition to a variety of sound effect presets (Immersive, Natural, Bass Boost, Treble Boost, 3D sound stage), there’s also an eight band EQ mode in the accompanying app with two custom sound slots.
Of course, the biggest addition to the T90S feature roster comes in the form of Dolby Atmos binaural rendering. If you subscribe to a premium music streaming service with Atmos, you’ll have a spatially enhanced listening experience with optional head tracking.
So should this turn your head? The answer is both yes and no.
Sound
(Image credit: Future / Steve May)
Operational niggles are soon forgotten when these earbuds are connected and that's because audio performance is excellent for the price.
LG’s all-new pure Graphene drivers are crisper than a cheese and onion 12-pack, and positively relish hi-res audio sources. Pearl Jam ’s Present Tense in 24bit / 96kHz is delivered with exquisite transparency: Eddie Vedder’s soulful vocal is raw and gritty, and as the track builds to its crescendo every instrument is given respectful space.
This brilliant articulation lends itself to complex prog and bare bones punk - Amyl And The Sniffers I Got You is authentically raucous. The good news is that while Amyl is natively stereo, you can still listen to her with 3D audio enhancement.
Currently, only Amazon Music Unlimited , Apple Music and Tidal offer Dolby Atmos music streams to premium subscribers, but everyone can benefit from the enhanced spatial presentation that the T90S earbuds offer.
That’s because they also feature Headphone Spatial Processing (HSP) developed by long term partner Meridian Audio. This is an audio upscaler of sorts that can be used with any stereo source. When engaged, the perceived soundstage gains height and width.
Is this Immersive setting gimmicky? Well, yes, kinda. But I often found myself opting for it simply because I liked the larger stage.
You can listen to Dolby Atmos with or without Dolby Head Tracking. Head tracking locks the sound source at a central point in space, regardless whether you turn your head one way or the other. It can heighten the sense of realism, as it’s more akin to listening to a fixed music source (be it a live band or loudspeakers) but when out and about, I found it mildly disorientating.
If the T90S do have an Achilles' heel, it’s their limited bass performance. Andrew WK doesn’t party quite as hard as I would have liked.
The alternatives
The Denon PerL True Wireless earbuds feature a distinctive circular design, and proprietary Adaptive Acoustic Technology that uses AI to create a personalised hearing profile - and these high performance in-ears impress. They may lack Dolby Atmos support but they do boast Active Noise cancelling and a six hour battery life.
Another great option are the bass-heavy Audio-Technica ATH-CKS30TW+ wireless earbuds. Despite the budget price tag, they boast noise cancelling and have dynamic 9mm drivers. With 6.5 hours playtime, stamina is good. They also have out of range Aaert and product locator features - very useful if you’re prone to losing things.
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