Since Apple hit gold with its Airpods bearable devices, there have been lots of contenders, each striving for a piece of the pie in the rapidly-growing “hearables” market. Apart from the improvement in the design and battery life, we have seen a few innovations but one that stands out is LG‘s invention.

The Korean giant earlier this year launched the Tone Free true wireless earbuds in the US with a UVnano charging case which sterilises the earbuds. The tech giant has again launched a higher-end model dubbed TONE free HBS-FN6 TWS earbuds which also has “industry-first” UVnano case.

The new self-sterilizing earbuds utilise a “canal-type” design which the company says has a more comfortable fit than the “semi-open” earlier model. The earbuds also promise “lifelike audio” quality powered by Meridian, noise isolation functionality, IPX4 water resistance, easy Google Assistant and Siri access, as well as six hours of battery life as standard and up to 18 hours of additional endurance from the case.

As you may have figured, the charging case performs dual functions of charging the headphones and also sterilizing the earbuds by eliminating 99.9 percent of E. coli and S. aureus from the hypoallergenic silicone ear gel and inner mesh of the HBS-FN6 buds. LG noted that, “several studies have shown that earbuds can harbour more bacteria than a kitchen cutting board”. This can potentially lead to ear infections.”

LG didn’t reveal the retail price of the new earbuds but did say that Tone Free family is scheduled to expand to “key European and American markets starting next month”.

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The post LG launches the TONE free HBS-FN6 TWS earbuds with a sterilizing case as an AirPods rival appeared first on Gizmochina.