LG to unveil a new 2016 TONE+ Bluetooth headset at CES

If you have been keeping a close eye on LG and its recent product lineup outside of smartphones, then you surely know about the Korean giant's TONE headsets. Today the OEM announced that a new and refreshed TONE+ model will be made available for 2016 and the official introduction is due at CES a few days from now. The LG TONE+ 2016 (HBS-910) offers a new slim and more lightweight design, while still promising superb audio quality, thanks to the Harman/Kardon input in the development process. This collaboration is actually a continued effort, carried over from LG's last top of the line TONE offer - the Tone Infinim (HBS-900), which we found to be an excellent performer in the audio quality department in our review, back in 2014. This time around, LG has managed to cram even more audiophile goodies inside the thin neck-piece, like an Advanced Quad Layer diaphragm for richer and clearer bass and treble. The HBS-910 is also equipped with two microphones for better audio capture quality and noise cancellation. The gadget boasts other fancy phone accessory tricks as well, like the LG Tone & Talk feature that can read you messages and notify you, but we found that to be more of software thing on the phone side with compatibility for the HBS-900 and HBS-800 before that, so the smart part of the experience seems to be already in place. LG's announcement also promises an international launch in February 2016 in Korea, followed by the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Color options will include Black, White and Pink, but sadly, there is no word on pricing yet and that could actually be the definitive aspect of the HBS-910, just like it was with the HBS-900. Back in 2014, the latter had a pretty hefty price tag of about $150/€150, which, at the time, was about 50% more than the HBS-800 and offered pretty much the same features, with a slight change in design, which was far from universally appealing. Hopefully, the HBS-910 will stand out as a better deal than its predecessor and there is always the possibility of bundling it with a handset offer like the LG G4 for free. Source (in Korean) |...