The LG Tone Free T90S are true wireless earbuds with a selection of features that make them stand out from the crowd. They take things a step further than most of the best noise-cancelling headphones with a UV light to clean them when in the case, Dolby Atmos surround sound, Dolby Head Tracking, and you can even use a wire to connect them to devices that don't have Bluetooth.
It all sounds compelling, but it’s pointless without great sound quality. So, how do these LG earbuds perform and is it worth buying a pair? I’ve been trying the LG Tone Free T90S out for a number of weeks – here's how I got on with these feature-packed earbuds.
LG Tone Free T90S review: price & availability
Launched in May 2024, you can buy the LG Tone Free T90S now directly from the LG online store. At the time of writing, they cost £229.99 in the UK and $179.99 in the US.
LG Tone Free T90S review: what’s new?
Following on from the LG Tone Free T90, the latest T90S add Dolby Atmos surround sound and Dolby Head Tracking, they also feature an improved fit, a smaller charging case and enhanced sound quality.
LG Tone Free T90S review: design & features
As soon as I started using them, I was a fan of the LG Tone Free T90S. They’re tiny, the case fits into small pockets, and the round earbuds are super lightweight (5.7g each) with no stem, so you can barely feel them in your ear.
Each bud has a tiny plastic wing which helps to keep them in place, and three sizes of gel eartips to help you find the right fit. They felt secure whether I was navigating the London Underground or running through the park. At no point did they feel like one might fall out.
Thanks to IPX4 water resistance, the LG Tone Free T90S can be used in any weather condition, rain or shine. Both earbuds and the included case feel well made – as the opening mechanism on the case is firm, and the plastic doesn’t feel flimsy.
Touch controls allow you to pause the music, skip songs, switch active noise-cancelling (ANC) modes and call your smartphone’s voice assistant, all without needing to reach your handset. I found them to be very responsive and easy to get used to.
Bluetooth connectivity is reliable here, as the connection was stable even when I wandered away from my handset. There’s also multipoint connectivity to hook them up to multiple devices at once and quickly switch the audio between them.
On the case, there’s a little switch to enable Plug & Wireless+ – which allows you to connect the earbuds to gadgets which don’t have Bluetooth using the USB-C port on the black. That will be particularly handy on flights.
UVnano+ is built into the charging case, which LG claims kills 99.9% of bacteria on speaker mesh and ear gels when you aren't using them. Truthfully, bacteria on my earbuds has never really bothered me. But if you’re likely to share them with other people or are particularly conscious of germ buildup on your earphones then it’s a great feature to have.
The LG Tone Free smartphone app goes alongside the earbuds and is available for both iOS and Android. You can use it to manually pick an ANC mode, choose a preset sound mode, create custom sound settings, turn on the Dolby Head Tracking feature, enable multipoint connectivity and find your earbuds by playing a loud chirping sound.
From a single charge, you’ll be able to listen to music for up to nine hours, and the charging case will give you a total of 36 hours of music. But when you switch ANC on, that drops to 5 hours per charge and 20 hours in total. While that's plenty of time for most, the best earbuds out there last a lot longer with ANC activated.
When the battery does eventually run out, the case takes about 2.5 hours to recharge from empty to 100%, and the earbuds take about an hour.
LG Tone Free T90S review: sound & performance
I really enjoyed listening to the LG Tone Free T90S. The audio performance on the default settings was bold and bright, with plenty of detail across the entire soundstage. Rarely did I notice any distortion. In fact, I was impressed by how accurately they delivered the music.
Listening to bouncy garage tracks like Flowers by Sweet Female Attitude and Sunship, the earbuds provided plenty of depth through an impactful, punchy bass performance.
Slowing things down a little, the vocals in What’s Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner are textured and precise, these earphones handle the subtleties of the track just as well as the more powerful notes.
And for those who listen to a lot of instrumental tracks, you can hear every element of the song precisely. I listened to The Herald by Ezra Collective and could easily make out everything from the horns to the drums. Nothing gets missed on the LG Tone Free T90S.
As mentioned above, the app gives you lots of control over the sound. You can either choose from several preset sound modes including Immersive, Natural, Bass Boost, 3D Sound Stage, or you can create your own custom sound across an advanced eight-band equaliser.
When you switch on Dolby Head Tracking, the earbuds detect where the music should be placed in relation to your head movements, making the audio sound more natural. You will need to be using a compatible device, though. I liked this feature when I was watching TV shows on my phone, but having the sound move so obviously was a little annoying when I was listening to music out and about.
The LG Tone Free T90S's ANC does a solid job of cutting out distracting sounds from your environment. It certainly dulled a noisy train and the builders knocking about in my house, but didn't cut out those sounds entirely like some of the most effective ANC I’ve tried.
There’s also an Ambient Sound mode which allows you to hear what’s happening around you, so if you need to chat to someone at the supermarket checkout or hear an announcement on the train, I don’t need to take the earbuds out.
LG Tone Free T90S review: verdict
There are lots of earbuds available that cost about the same as the Tone Free T90S, but LG's pair stands out thanks to a couple of unique features, like Dolby Head Tracking and that UV cleaning technology.
Granted, Dolby Head Tracking is best used at a standstill, and the ANC won’t totally cut you off from the outside world. I also would have liked a slightly longer battery life for the times when I’m travelling long distances.
Overall these are a very capable pair of ANC in-ears. I like how small the case is, how comfortable the gel ear tips are, how detailed and balanced the sound is, and the general effectiveness of the ANC. If you've not considered LG as your earbuds-maker of choice then those extra features are good enough to make them stand out in a crowded market.
Also consider
Another similarly priced pair of ANC earbuds to consider is the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Both the earbuds and the case are a lot bigger than the LG, but they have a similar round and stemless design. The audio quality is a huge win for the QCE, they sound fantastic, and the ANC is very effective – although there’s no spatial audio like you get here.
For workouts, you should take a look at the Jabra Elite 8 Active instead. Like the LGs, they have Dolby Audio with spatial audio and adaptive ANC, although there’s no head tracking. They’re officially protected against salt water so they won't get damaged by sweat (or, indeed, the sea). The battery life lasts a little longer than the LG, at eight hours of ANC music at a time – with an additional 24 hours provided by the case.
