Our resident ‘Uncle’ reviews the LG Tone Free Fit TF8

Our resident Uncle, for those who don’t know, is a rather cantankerous fellow with an unfortunate condition: he’s ‘old before his time’. Uncle is not Jordan Schlansky weird but does have his quirks that are mildly entertaining. So he gets to try out new things that are a little unusual and give half-boomer takes that can be fun and insightful–we hope. Also, Uncle is the only one among us who gets to use all caps. — Ed.

The LG Tone Free Fit markets itself as a pair of workout wireless earbuds. But if you delve a little deeper into its feature set, you realise that there is nothing that is super workout specific. But outside of workouts, the feature set is actually pretty thicc. (Ed: why unker know how to use the word thicc? This is very sus) There are a few features which provide real utility and I will miss them when I use other wireless earbuds. Let’s get to it. 

Fit for Purpose

Back to the Free Fit TF8 (gosh that’s a mouthful). It creates a positive first impression when you first hold it; the textured case feels grippy and feels properly durable. The case size is OK, not offensive. Now, Sony WF-1000XM3 case: that’s a size that should require a legal conceal carry license. On the exterior, you get a USB-C port as well as a slide switch. More on the slide switch later, but take it from me, it is magik. 

Opening the case is a two-handed affair. This can probably be attributed to some strong magnets used and how the clamshell is designed. This is a slight quibble, I’d rather the case stay closed than open at the most inopportune moments. Overall for the build quality, it’s no Bowers & Wilkins, but it is fit for purpose and it feels and looks nice. 

When you open the case, an acid-green colourway greets you. That’s right, Acid-green colour. That’s polarising. Uncle’s wife thinks it looks damn uncle. But anyway, when you remove the earbuds, a bright blue light shines on your face. This is actually a UV light inside the case that serves to disinfect your earbuds. To be frank, it might sound gimmicky, but hey, any help to keep ear infections at bay is greatly appreciated. 

The earbuds themselves are large-ish but still acceptable. The buds are controlled via capacitive touch. I do find them a tad sensitive, but it’s a minor complaint. One nice thing is that you can wear these buds on just one side–either side–if you wish. There is no “master” bud like some other brands.

As fitness buds, there are some included fins of different sizes. Getting the right size fin will get you a secure fit while you pound the pavement. You just gotta trust the instruction manual on this because Uncle did not pound the pavement. On the other hand, if you want to pound meat, these buds work well (Ed: I’m assuming this is SFW). 

And oh, it’s water resistant, but not waterproof. Rain, sweat and other bodily fluids are ok, but the jacuzzi is no bueno (Ed: what did you do to the real Uncle?)  

The Tone, tuned by Meridian?

On the inside, there is printing that says “with Meridian” in a funky font. If you google, you will see that Meridian is a well-known name in the audiophile world and according to the marketing material, they were involved in the tuning of the sound signature. 

So how do they sound? Well, they sound good. They don’t sound as excellent as the best earbuds out there, just below Sony’s XM2 and XM3 and AirPods. But for music and movies, they are more than ok–they are good. There is also an LG Tone app where you can tweak the sound signature to your liking; there is even a movie mode if you want to watch some shows on your devices. The app is surprisingly full-featured and intuitive. I took these buds on a four-day trip and did not really miss my Sonys and Sennheisers. 

That being said, the noise cancellation is clearly a step down from the Sony and Airpods. With these buds, you can still hear some ambient sound around you. It’s not terrible, but the noise floor is noticeably different from the top dogs. And oh, the passthrough feature is pretty rubbish compared to Airpods.

Travel Hack

On my trip, I discovered my favourite party trick: remember the slider that I mentioned early in the article? Flick that slider and fish out the short 3.5mm-to-USB-C cable in the box, and tada! The case doubles up as a transmitter.

What does this mean? This means you can plug one end of the cable into the aircraft seat audio jack, and you can now enjoy in-flight movies and in-flight announcements with the TF8 earbuds. With NOISE CANCELLATION. 

So yes, some of you might tell me that I can buy a Bluetooth transmitter and yada yada. My argument is simple. You gotta shell out extra cash for the transmitter AND you gotta remember to charge it. 

Of course, on longer flights, headphones will yield much better battery life. The Sennheiser Momentum, for example, will probably last you an American return trip with just one charge. 

I did not do any battery stress test during my trip, but with moderate use of around 2 hours a day, I managed the 4-day trip without having to charge the headset once.

Well-rounded easy recommendation

To sum up:

• This thing is built solid. Also, not ugly.
• This thing sounds good. Not excellent, but good.
• This thing got two gimmicks which are actually damn useful. UV Light and the case as a transmitter.

These earbuds are not cheap at SGD309. But a quick search shows discounts are available for these, which brings the price down to just slightly above 200 bucks. For 200 bucks, this presents excellent value when it comes to braving your workouts and travel needs. And in this climate where things are getting more expensive while consumers are getting less, the Tone Free Fit TF8 is my recommendation for a value-packed experience. 

Disclosure: We were given a pair of LG Tone Free Fit TF8 earbuds to keep but being the ass that I am, Uncle didn’t know anything about this until he was done with this review, after which he was told he could keep them. But in all honesty, Uncle doesn’t give two ***** either way. (Because he has better stuff)