LG’s Tone Infinim are snazzy looking earphones with long battery life, but this Bluetooth device lacks head banging sound quality.
I tend to be a bit of a traditionalist when its comes to headphones. I mean, as I see it, they should have a long wire to connect them to a music player, big soft foam ear pads and lots of bass boom. But with time I have got used to the new age ear pods, but I still remain sceptical over the sound quality of wireless earphones. So one can imagine my concern when we got our hands on LG’s latest Tone Infinim, which is a wireless bluetooth stereo headset and has an interesting design. It is shaped much like a neck band. Before I start dissing it, I must state that sound engineers from renowned audio products brand Harmon Kardon have tuned the acoustics, so maybe the Infinim could be a game changer for products of its kind. Well, there was only one way to find out.
The design of the Tone Infinim isn’t for everyone, as at first impression it feels like a horse shoe sitting on your neck. Initially, I was hesitant with the design and tried to hide them beneath my collar. But I can’t deny that when it comes to convenience, the Infinim’s take top honours with its retractable cables, which eliminate tangles. There are two buttons on the sides to retract the wire. The ear plugs do a very decent job in eliminating any outside sound and the pods fit well and are comfortable. Also the Infinim is a completely hands-free device as it comes with a wire option to plug into a music gadget. What is impressive are the number of buttons LG has managed to put on the headset. The left side has volume adjust and call receive buttons, while the right features a play/pause option with skip button. It can get slightly confusing but still LG has managed to put in all the required functions on the device. And, of course, there is the on/off button that also activates Bluetooth. According to LG, the battery life lasts from 14 to 17 hours, which is very impressive.
Now comes the acid test. Music from the Infinim is clear and the audio is not muffled in any way. So it starts off with a positive note. If you are more into acoustic and pop music, the sound quality is fairly good. But if you are more into rock or electronic music, the Infinim lacks the pounding bass punch. This became more evident and disappointing when I was listening to Dualist Inquiry’s Specter. It was all treble and tinny sound. Also it fails to catch each and every note of the instruments and the music note variations. But for a Bluetooth device headset, it is a vast improvement over its counterparts. Infinim’s audio really does stand out when you are answering or making a call via your phone. There is no haziness in the quality and even though it may sound slightly low, the voice is clearly audible. Another decent feature is that this device comes with voice alerts such as informing you when its battery is on a low level.
It is great to see LG going all innovative with the Tone Infinim. The design does take some getting used to and the sound quality is definitely an improvement over most of the other wireless earphones, but when compared to a conventional, wired set of earphones it lacks the bass thump. At 10,990, the LG Tone Infinim is a very expensive proposition and we would recommend it only if you have a really serious problem handling the cables of a conventional set of headphones.
