My initial thoughts on the LG Tone headphones were: these are decent looking. Nice shiny all black plastic finish, not to heavy, but enough weight to let you know they’re there. Having the earbuds tucked up into the plastic housing when not in use was a nice touch. Included in the packaging were several sizes of ear buds. The smallest set was installed out of the box and I didn’t bother to change them.
Definitely easy to wear, when you put them on the ‘arms’ slip around your neck to rest on your collarbones. When walking they did move around a bit, causing me to pull them back around my neck to keep if I wanted to keep them centered.
The buttons were simple, and I think with use you would get familiar enough with their placement that you wouldn’t have to think or check before using them. Thankfully, the manufacture chose a high contrast silver color for them, so I was able to see them at a glance while I was getting acquainted with the placement.
To me the sound was pleasing, I could hear vocals, bass was there but not overwhelming. I was definitely able to enjoy my music. Some of the songs I listened to to test out the sound were:
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Orinoco Flow – Celtic Women
Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
Video Games – Lana Del Ray
When pairing with my phone (Android) and tablet (iOS), the setup was quick and easy. I had some concerns about the Bluetooth specifications for the LG Tones Ultra, seeing it listed online as compatible with 3.0, but not 4.0. Pairing a second device requires you to turn Bluetooth off on first device for initial pairing then first device can have Bluetooth turned back on an both are activity paired. Once you get to this point it’s a snap to switch between devices and it’s fairly convenient. I had fun listing to music on my tablet then swapping to my phone to answer a call. Which, by the way, you will know when you get a call. The motors in this deceptively light headset are attention getting. The first time I got a call while wearing it the vibrations on my collarbone made me jump.
Charge time was quick, battery life was generous. When I left the store I let the headset charge for (roughly) my hour long drive home and began using them once I arrived. Called my dad first off an was talking for about 10 minutes or so before I asked him how I sounded on his end. He said I was coming through great and I also had no difficultly hearing him. That one hour charge lasted all weekend with moderate use and finally needed charged when I was using them at work the next week. This time I gave them about 30 minuets and when I turned it on (with earbuds already in place) I got a voice in my ear telling me “battery status high”. So that was a nice feature and cool to know that it charges quick.
Other ‘voice notifications’ I experienced were when I would turn the headset off, on, or got a call. Basic, informative, but other than battery status I can’t say they were all that useful.
Overall these were solid headphones and effective headset. Sadly not Bluetooth 4.0 and I did notice more of a drain to my phone’s battery than I notice with my other Bluetooth 4.0 devices. Now, this extra drain could also have been caused by having multiple bluetooth devices connected to my phone. However, there were some fairly major changes between 3.0 and 4.0, mainly the Low Energy or ‘battery sipping’ properties. I did not end up keeping the LG Tone Ultra, mainly because I did not feel that the price tag of about $60 was worth what you got. Instead I purchased the BT Nova headset, another around the neck headset of similar specifications that only cost about $30. Which I will be posing a review of.
~K.
Vendors Site – LG Tones Ultra