LG's Tone Free T80 Earbuds Debut With Head Tracking And A Free Portable Speaker

LG Electronics announced a new addition to its Tone line of earphones. The Tone Free T80 can be had for under $200 and is touted as "the world’s first Dolby Atmos earbud series designed to enhance listening with Dolby Head Tracking." Let's take a quick look to see what that actually means for consumers.

Earphones might not the first thing you imagine when you think about LG (it's better known for TVs and soundbars), but the brand's been churning them out since 2020 with the original Tone Free complete with one of the world's first UV sanitizing storage cases. This time around, the T80 is purportedly focused on audio quality, with LG tossing around terms like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Head Tracking, and graphene-strengthened drivers in its marketing materials. 

Graphene-coated drivers have benefits such as higher speed and precision thanks to a lighter weight design. With that, the diaphragm can move more easily, requiring less power. Additionally, less weight means a lower tendency for distortion, especially if tuned right.
Using head tracking technology, the Tone Free T80 provides users with immersive Dolby Atmos audio, allowing users to feel like they're in the middle of the sound space while instruments or sound effects move around them.

For the price, the T80 is rather decked out with flagship features. LG's latest rocks active noise cancellation (ANC) processed through four onboard mics, along with features like Whisper Mode (for having discrete phone calls by speaking softly into the right earpiece), Conversation Mode for vocal clarity, and Listening Mode, which is similar to passthrough mode in other devices. It's worth noting that the mics used for calls are MEMs units that are great at voice pickups.
There's also IPX4 dust-water resistance (a little on the low side), wear detection, Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, Windows Swift pairing, and Qi wireless charging. Battery life is rated at a measly five hours with ANC activated, but that's the price of the small, svelte design of the earpieces. It's also roughly on par with Apple's AirPod Pro earbuds.

The LG Tone Free T80 is available right now in either black or white for $199.99. If you buy now, LG is throwing in a free XG5 10W portable Bluetooth speaker (MSRP $130) as a bonus—just be sure to scroll down to add the free speaker to your cart.