LG TONE Free HBS-FN6, review: LG's fully wireless headphones have comfort by default

Completely wireless headphones are in vogue. Almost all smartphone manufacturers have been encouraged to launch their own products and LG has not wanted to be left behind. Some time ago, the South Korean company launched the LG TONE Free HBS-FN6, a TWS headset that “bets on comfort and hygiene”. Because yes, the LG headphones come in a case that disinfects them with ultraviolet light, or so LG claims.

But beyond that peculiar function, interesting and complicated to test in equal parts, LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 compete against such established devices as AirPods Pro, Huawei FreeBus Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live. How do they behave? Next we will get out of doubts in this, their analysis.

Design: good comfort and a case that disinfects, says LG

We started the analysis by talking about design and construction. Like so many other completely wireless headphones, the LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 has a aesthetic AirPods type and is finished in black plastic. The headset consists of a mast where we find the charging pins, a microphone and the touch surface and a headset with another microphone, the position sensor and the speaker itself.

They are small and quite light, weighing only 5.4 grams. Their design makes them fit well in the ear canal, but it is worth stopping for a moment here. Most of the headphones in ear have some silicone rubber bands that not only serve to isolate us a little more from the noise, but also to fix the headphones in the ear. These are no exception. In the box there are different sets of ear buds of various sizes and we strongly recommend that you try them all to find the one that best suits you.

The LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 are really comfortable even when wearing them for a long time. The rubber bands fix the headphones correctly and we have not had any problems with falls or strange movements when making sudden movements or sport (about sport, it should be noted that they have IPX4 resistance). Their black finish and small size make them conceal and, saving distance, when we wear them they remind us quite a lot of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro.

We said earlier that the headphones have a touch surface. We will talk about the most advanced gestures available, but for now let’s stay with the idea that they work properly. It is necessary to give a soft touch and it is a pity that they do not detect the gesture of sliding like the FreeBuds Pro. We can change the volume of the music by giving two taps, but it is uncomfortable to give 15 taps in a row (with small pauses every two taps) to put the volume at maximum or minimum.

So, let’s talk about the case. It is circular, nice and light, but its finish is not the most optimal. Why? Because even though the matte black gives it a very elegant look, the lid fills up with prints just by looking at it. It’s not a problem either, because it’s normal for the case to go from hand to pocket and vice versa, but it’s not a bad idea to mention it to the most cleaning freaks.

On the cover we have the TONE logo, on the back the USB type C, on the left the connection button and on the front a small slot to open the cover more easily and a LED notification. This LED is important, as it is the only system to know the charging status of the case.

If we close the case, leave the headphones out and press the side button, the LED will light up in various colors. Blue means that the charge is above 80%, purple means that it is between 20% and 80% (that is, you are about to run out of battery as well as with the battery almost at maximum) and red is less than 20% left. The system is short and, as we will see later, the app doesn’t help.

The lid has a magnetic closure that helps the case does not open involuntarily. It is strong enough to keep the case closed and the bottom slot is quite useful to open the case even with one hand. But be that as it may, the most striking thing is not the design of the case, but its UV-based disinfection system.

LG calls this UV Nano technology and claims that “self-cleaning with UV light eliminates 99.9% of bacteria while charging”. This statement is based on a study conducted in October 2019 by Korea Testing & Research Institute and, according to it, “the ultraviolet LED light inside the charging case reduces Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia Coli in the headphones near the ear canals”. This system only works when the case is closed, with the headphones inside and charging by cable.

Does it work? We can’t check or lock it, but we do recommend that the earphones and ear buds be cleaned from time to time. What we can guarantee is that the blue lights we can see when we open the case are merely decorative. Very nice, but pure props. The reason is simple: ultraviolet light is invisible to the human eye.

Experience: a quite complete app

Looking at the headphones from the outside, let’s look at the experience section. In this section we look at the software options, device compatibility and additional functions included in the headset. The first thing to note is that the LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 are compatible with iOS and Android and that the management app needed to control them, LG TONE Free, is available on both platforms.

Android, however, is the one that stands out thanks to the incorporation of Google Fast Pair. This function allows just opening the case the mobile detects the headset and links it. In iOS, however, it is necessary to go through the manual synchronization process, which consists of pressing the side button for a few seconds and following the instructions. There is no loss, the linkage is very simple.

In the application we will find a good amount of options and the first one we should stop at is the user manual that teaches us how to use gestures. Because, as we said before, the headset has a touch-sensitive surface that allows us to do actions from the headphones. Positive point because they work quite well and minipunto because the app allows us to modify the gestures partially.

If we keep on going down we will find the settings of the equalizer. We have four options customized by Meridian with different objectives (boosting bass, improving voices, etc.) and the one we have liked the most has been the immersive one, which is perhaps the most balanced. It is to be thanked that LG has left two spaces in the equalizer so that the user can create his own personalized profiles.

The application also allows us to configure how much ambient sound we want the headphones to let through. It is a kind of noise cancellation via software that we will talk about later, but we can tell you in advance that it is not capable of blocking a too high noise level. We can also control the volume, block the touch panel, find the headphones and configure the notifications.

There is a curious function that is “read the notifications”. Theoretically, it allows the headset to read aloud the content of a notification, say an SMS or a WhatsApp message. It even allows you to modify the speed of speech. We, however, have not been able to make it work at any time. Maybe it is due to a software bug, but in any case, we have not been able to test it.

Finally, a few words on latency. We have not had problems of any kind during the time we have been using the headset. We haven’t noticed any obvious delay or lag between audio and image, so we’ve been able to watch movies, videos on YouTube and live on YouTube without any major problems.

All in all, the experience with the headphones has been positive, although there is one thing that is almost unforgivable: the state of the battery. In the app we can know which battery is left in the headphones (as a whole, not each one), but it’s impossible to know the remaining battery in the case. It would have been nice if LG had implemented this useful function in the app, but unfortunately we don’t have it.

Sound quality: correct, just like that

We continue with the sound quality. The LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 are not the best we have tried, but neither are they the worst. We can’t ask for a dizzying bass and perfectly defined treble because of the price they have, but for a casual user looking for the right experience they are more than enough.

We comment on the methodology in all the headphone analyses and it is not superfluous to do it again. To test the LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 we have listened to music in iOS and Android, both locally and in streaming, always at a bitrate of 320 Kbps. The selected songs are those we know best (because they are our favorites) and those with a wide range of frequencies and instruments as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, by Queen.

The sound quality is correct, always within limits. When asked if they sound good we can answer with a “yes “, but they kneel a little when we expose them to songs with very deep bass and very pronounced treble. The different equalization modes available in the app help to improve slightly the bass and treble, depending on the mode, and we can always squeeze them a little more if we know how to play the equalizer, but the six millimeter driver does not give more than yes and **the sound tends to be somewhat flat **.

Maybe some users miss quite a lot of trap and hip hop songs, although in genres like rock and pop the experience is quite positive. They are not perfect headphones (in fact, they do not support the aPtx codec, only AAC and SBC), but they are enough to listen to music, make and receive calls and watch a movie. They are, in short, a correct headset that will serve well to the most casual users.

As for the noise cancellation, they have no or at least it is not active. What the headset has is a function to increase or decrease the incoming ambient sound, but the difference between having it at maximum or minimum is not too noticeable. They also have noise reduction in the microphones, but it is not magic. Something cancels, but if, for example, you use a mechanical keyboard while making a call the headset will not be able to cancel the noise from the keys.

Autonomy: five hours and wireless charging

One of the fundamental pillars of this type of device is the battery. LG assures that up to six hours of autonomy can be achieved, but we have achieved an average of around five hours during our tests. It depends a lot on the volume we use, if we make calls or not, etc. Each user will have their own consumption, but let’s stay with the idea that it is possible to use them during a relatively long journey by car without any problem.

The charging case, on the other hand, is enough to charge the headset up to two times. The headphones are fully charged in about an hour and the case is charged in about two hours, although they have a quick charging system that allows you to get almost an hour of autonomy in 10 minutes. And speaking of charging, mini-point for LG for having incorporated wireless charging in the case, which is somewhat slower than wiring, but also more comfortable.

However, the normal use scenario for these devices is to take them in for a while, take them out, put them in the case and charge them, put them back in, and so on. Most likely, we will carry the headphones loaded or almost loaded all day long, so we can keep the idea that it will not be easy for the headphones to leave us lying around during relatively long sessions.

LG TONE Free HBS-FN6, the opinion of ToastyBits

The LG TONE Free HBS-FN6 is a headset that stresses for its comfort. Its shape, size and thickness make it very pleasant to wear for a long time without hardly noticing that we have them on. It is, by far, one of their greatest assets. They also have a good management application that, of course, has room for improvement.

The sound, however, does not stand out over other direct rivals. The sound quality is correct and valid for less trained ears, but it lacks more punch and a better representation of the nuances. The music tends to sound flat in almost all genres and although the EQ can help slightly, it stays a step below its rivals.

The launch price of these headphones is 149 euros, a figure that is perhaps too high for the features offered, even more so if we take into account that they do not have active noise cancellation. The new models, the LG TONE Free HBS-FN7, do have it incorporated, although they are significantly more expensive.

In favor

• They are very, very comfortable.
• The battery is enough to use them without fear of being left stranded.
• The application has an equalizer.

Against

• The sound is quite flat.
• Cannot tell the remaining battery in the case in any way other than by the LED.
• They have no active noise cancellation.