With our increased consciousness on hygiene standards, it’s quite intriguing that LG has included a self-cleaning feature to the TONE Free FN6 TWS, LG’s first foray into the crowded TWS market.
The TONE Free FN6 earbuds are small ‘hockey stick’ style earbuds with a rounded body and stem, and come in a small charging case that has a UVnano LED light located in the docking well of each earbud, ‘aimed’ at the ear tips and inner mesh. The LEDs emit pulses of blue ultraviolet light to kill up to 99.9% of E.coli and S. aureus bacteria, which is pretty handy if you aren’t the sort to give your earbuds a weekly clean with an alcoholic wipe. But as I mentioned, the UVnano LEDs are focused on zapping germs in the inner portion of the earbuds, not remove dirt, so you still need to clean out any ear gunk you’ve left in them.
Physically, these earbuds are small and very light, and I found that the ear gels fit well and were quite stable, so during my commutes they rarely needed to be readjusted and were comfortable to wear for a couple of hours at a time. 
LG’s long-standing partnership with Meridian Audio has meant that the TONE Free FN6 was able to incorporate Meridian’s HSP (Headphone Spatial Processing) technology that creates greater depth to a sound stage, so you have better separation of instruments and vocals, though bass is comparatively lacking. LG has also added echo cancellation and noise reduction processing to eliminate unwanted noise, while the Tone Free app includes four audio presets and a customisable EQ.
Nevertheless, I did feel that these earbuds handled London Grammar’s latest single “Californian Soil” well, especially the emotive contralto of the band’s singer, Hannah Reid.
S$268
Rating 4 / 5
We Say
LG’s TONE Free FN6 are good sounding TWS earbuds that are pretty easy to wear, with a neat germ zapping feature, but the market is now pretty crowded.
Technical Specifications
Driver Size 6mm
Wireless Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth codecs SBC, AAC
Water Rating IP4
Battery Life 6 hours playback, up to 18 hours (with charging case)
Weight 54g charging case, 3.9g each earbud
Dimension Case 54.6 x 54.6 x 27.5mm
First published in NXT Magazine November 2020. A digital edition can be purchased from Magzter.
