LG’s true wireless Tone Free FP8 earphones are yet another pair that couple wire-free audio with active noise cancellation, but they aren't exemplary or unique in any way. They deliver quality bass depth and bright highs, but their active noise cancellation (ANC) is merely average and their companion app didn’t work well in testing. If you can find them on sale for significantly less than their $179.99 asking price, they might be worth a second look. Otherwise, both the $80 Anker Soundcore Life P3 and the $130 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro offer better overall performance for the price.
A Compact Build and Decent Battery Life
The Tone Free FP8 earpieces (available in dark gray) are tiny, but they have a stem-style build that fits very securely. You get three pairs of eartips (small, medium, and large) in the box. An IPX4 rating means the earpieces can withstand light splashes—wearing them in light rain or getting them sweaty shouldn't be an issue. The charging case isn't waterproof, however, so you need to fully dry the earpieces before docking them for charging.
Tap on either earpiece to control playback or answer a call. A double tap on the left earbud lowers the volume and a double tap on the right earbud increases it. A double tap on either earbud ends calls, while a triple-tap on either earbud skips forward a track, which makes little sense; track navigation should follow the volume control setup (skip backward with a triple tap on the left earpiece and forward with a triple tap on the right). Touching and holding either earpiece switches between Ambient and ANC modes. You can customize the controls via the app.
The charging case is compact and circular, with a clamshell-style flip-up lid revealing the charging docks. Also on the interior is a UV nano light for killing bacteria on the eartips. The surface has an eggshell-like finish that provides a bit of grip, which is a welcome departure from the trend of slippery and glossy charging cases. A USB-C port sits on the rear of the case for charging. You can also charge the case wirelessly with a Qi-compatible charger.
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LG estimates the earphones will last up to 10 hours, with 24 more hours in the charging case—but that is with ANC off. With ANC on, the earphones can run for up to 6 hours on battery, with an extra 15 hours in the case. Your results will likely fall somewhere in between these two numbers, depending on your volume levels.
The earphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.2 and support the AAC and SBC codecs.
App Customization Options
The LG Tone Free app (available for Android and iOS) offers various EQ presets designed by Meridian, a British audio manufacturer, in addition to several user-changeable presets. You can also toggle the AutoPlay and Find My Earbuds features, as well as customize the on-ear controls. Unfortunately, the app didn't work well in testing—multiple times, it couldn’t find the paired earphones, for instance.
When we were able to connect the earphones to the app, the EQ presets didn’t seem to work, either—tapping on any resulted in a spinning wheel that ultimately timed out. The app also constantly needs to reconnect to the earphones after you navigate away from it, a process that, as mentioned, doesn’t work reliably. Although the app seems to offer plenty of useful features, we couldn't get them to work well enough to comment on the value they add.
We reached out to LG for comment regarding the app's issues, but it declined to respond.
Average ANC Abilities
The earphones deliver decent noise cancellation. That effectively cut back the intense, low-frequency rumble you might hear on an airplane. They have a little more difficulty with mids and highs—in testing they dialed back the lows and some mids in a recording of a loud, busy restaurant, but the high-mids and highs still came through. They also clearly add some high-frequency hiss to the signal (think faint white noise), which is a telltale sign of less-than-stellar ANC.
Unfortunately, you can toggle only between Ambient and ANC modes from the earbuds themsevles. In other words, you can't switch off ANC entirely without opening the app; this is problematic because we couldn't rely on the app for much in testing. Both modes also affect sound quality; neither mode makes audio sound particularly bad, but this variability isn't a hallmark of excellent ANC.
Sound That Would Benefit From a Better App
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver powerful low-frequency depth. At top, unwise listening levels, they don't distort, and at more moderate volumes, the lows still sound quite powerful.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the sound signature. The drums on this track get an extra helping of bass depth, but nothing over the top—the result is a heavy, rounded thump that never veers into unnaturally thunderous territory. Callahan’s baritone vocals get some added low-mid richness, but they could use a little more high-mid presence and crispness. The acoustic strums retain some brightness. The earphones boost the lows, low-mids, and top frequencies, but don't sculpt the high-mids as much. A custom EQ could help you customize that sound...if the companion app's EQ worked.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain some of its punch, but again, we’re used to a bit more high-mid presence than we hear through the default setting. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat get decent depth, with some sense of the powerful bass, but keep your expectations in check. Again, the earphones seem to dial up the high frequencies, in effect pushing some of the vinyl crackle and hiss forward in the mix. And while the vocals on this track sound clear, a smidge more high-mid presence would bring out a little more definition.
On orchestral tracks, such as the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the earphones produce boosted lows and dialed-back high-mids. They don't sound muddy, but this signature does take some of the edge away from the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals.
The built-in mic offers solid intelligibility—in testing it with the Voice Memos app on an iPhone, we could understand every word we recorded. We didn't notice many Bluetooth audio artifacts, but the signal does seem a little weak, which is a common issue for true wireless earphones.
Average All Around
The LG Tone Free FP8 earphones deliver fine audio performance, but their active noise cancellation isn't stellar, and we encountered many problems with their companion app in testing. Ultimately, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earphones deliver a better user experience and ANC for $50 less. For truly inexpensive, decent ANC, meanwhile, the $80 Anker Soundcore Life P3 earbuds are hard to beat. And if you’re looking for the best ANC true wireless earphones regardless of price, the $280 Sony WF-1000XM4 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds won't disappoint.
LG's true wireless Tone Free FP8 earphones offer decent audio performance and noise cancellation, but they don't stand out from many more capable competitors.
About Tim Gideon
Contributing Editor, Audio
