LG announces wireless earbuds with case that should prevent bacteria

LG has announced its first wireless earbuds. The Tone+ Free can last up to six hours on a battery charge, while the supplied box is good for another 3.5x charging of the batteries in the earphones themselves. The box also prevents bacteria on the ears.

The case exposes the earbuds to UV radiation during charging, which should prevent the growth of bacteria on the tips that go into the ear canal. The earphones support fast charging, LG claims. As a result, users can listen to music for an hour after five minutes of charging, says the South Korean manufacturer. The earbuds have an ipx4 rating and must therefore be able to withstand light rain.

The earphones support fast pairing and have two microphones on board: one for voice input and the other for filtering out the ambient noise during telephone conversations, for example. The earbuds do not have active noise canceling. LG will release the Tone+ Free this month in South Korea and the United States, among others. Nothing is known about a release in Europe yet, although previous Tone products were also released here. The earphones cost $199 in the US.