Design and features:This Bluetooth wireless noise canceling portable ear insert model provides very good sound and very good active noise reduction. Its ear plug-like design and electronic noise canceling feature reduce both outside noise and sound leaking out into your environment. The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music, but the audio cable can't be detached to get it out of the way when the headphones are being used for noise reduction only. The TONE Free FP7C has a volume control plus an integrated microphone and player function controls. Additional features include - Either earpiece can be used alone for one ear monitoring of Bluetooth streamed audio and telephone communications. Charging/carrying case has built-in rechargeable battery that the manufacturer claims can be used to recharge the earphone batteries for an additional 8 hrs. of listening time for a total of 15 hrs. with ANC On or an additional 14 hrs. of listening time for a total of 22 hrs. with ANC Off, can be recharged via USB cable or with optional wireless charging accessories. Has UVNano charging case; when earbuds are placed in charging case mfr. claims Ultra Violet lamps built into case helps kill up to 99.9% of bacteria on speaker mesh. Manufacturer claims water resistance of (IPX4) for earphones only. The headphone noise cancellation control default setting switches between ANC and ambient sound monitor (Pass-through) modes by touch control on either earbud. ANC can be set to High or Low modes and Ambient sound can be set to Listening mode (monitors all ambient sounds) or conversation mode (monitors ambient sounds in the vocal frequency range). Has touch controls for volume, music player play/pause and next/previous track, call connect/disconnect, and ambient sound monitoring. Has power on/off and Bluetooth pairing alert tones and low battery voice announcements. Has quick charge feature: 5 min of charging will provide 1 hr. of playtime. Has Plug & Wireless mode that enables you to use the charging case with supplied mini cable to transmit Bluetooth signal to headphones from devices that do not have Bluetooth capabilities. Supports Google fast pair and Swift Pair (alternate to traditional Bluetooth pairing methods). Has auto pause feature that stops audio playback when either earphone is removed from the ears and resumes when they are replaced in the ears. Has Whispering mode, when enabled in app, the right earbud only can be held near your mouth and you can speak softly into it. Also has Game mode, when enabled in app, reduces audio latency of earbuds. Supports Google Assistant and Siri voice assistants when used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities. Bluetooth connected Apple mobile devices using iOS Version 5 and above will show the battery level. The LG TONE Free app download for iOS and Android mobile devices can be used to enabled of disabled the auto pause feature, enable and disable touch controls and customize touch control functions, toggle ambient sound monitoring on and off and switch between monitoring modes, check earphone battery level, read SMS messages, update the earphone's firmware, and provides a guide for headset button functions. The app also provides customizable EQ with several preset options and a "Find my earbuds" feature. The TONE Free FP7C comes with 3 pairs of ear pieces in various sizes, USB-C connector charging cable, USB -C connector to Aux/Mini (1/8") cable, charging cradle/recharger battery/carrying case, Simple Owners Manual/Warranty Booklet.
Sound quality: We found the TONE Free FP7C delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks and very good active noise reduction. With the noise cancelling mode engaged and set to "High" and the EQ preset in the LG Tone Free app set to bass Boost (as received state of the earphone) the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy and a touch tubby. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is somewhat grainy, hazy and congested (think sonic traffic jam), the upper midrange is a bit prominent and a touch edgy, and with some program material the bass can crowd the midrange a bit. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but is a bit prominent, smeared and sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying). The sound also has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything plugging up your ears and does a decent job of recovering room ambience. Mixed character - warm bass with coolish upper midrange and treble. The overall sound can be summarized as somewhat bassy and hazy and a bit bright. The tone settings of the app have a noticeable effect on the sound of these earphones. Noise Canceling: Very Good noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. Orientation does not changes the noise reduction characteristic. The noise canceling feature does not produce any background noise that can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort: This is a hybrid ear insert/ear bud design - the earpieces seal the ear canals but they don't insert into the ear canals as far as typical ear insert models, and they are supported by ear bowls like a ear bud model rather than the ear canals. Users with small ear bowls might find that the earphone body feels a bit bulky in their ear bowl and that they stick out too far and feel like they may lever out of place, but that they will stay in place during casual use and are stable during fairly vigorous head movement. Users with medium and larger sized ear bowls will probably find that this model stays in place with no problems for casual use and that they are stable even during vigorous head movement. Incidental contact with the touch controls can cause unintentional playing and pausing. Hitting the stem that hangs out of the ear can knock an earphone loose and cause it to fall out of the ear, but the short stems make this model less prone to being knocked loose then the longer stems of other models with this type of design.
