How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a complete wireless headset with retractable earbuds, a jog-button remote and Harman Kardon-tuned sound, choose LG Electronics Tone Infinim; if you need a plug-in USB-C transmitter that adds aptX HD and LE Audio broadcasting to headphones you already own, choose Generic LE Audio USB.
• LG Electronics Tone Infinim — biggest strength: a finished, self-contained Bluetooth headset with AptX support, Harman Kardon Signature Sound, retractable earbuds and up to 14 hours of music play time.
• LG Electronics Tone Infinim — biggest trade-off: it's Bluetooth 3 with no noise control and no wired jack, so it's a closed ecosystem rather than a future-proof platform.
• Generic LE Audio USB — biggest strength: codec coverage, including APTX, APTXHD and APTX LL, plus LE Audio mode and broadcasting to multiple listeners at once over a 10 m range.
• Generic LE Audio USB — biggest trade-off: it is only a transmitter dongle — no drivers, no battery of its own listed, and no sound without a headphone or earbud you already own.
• Who should buy which: pick the LG if you want one box that does everything; pick the Generic dongle if you already love your headphones and want to upgrade the link between them and your laptop.
The Tone Infinim (HBS-900) is a neckband-style wireless stereo headset, and it's built around convenience rather than raw specification chasing. The headline feature is the retractable earbud system: the cords pull back into the band when you're not using them, which solves the tangling problem that plagues most in-ear headsets. Add the jog button for one-touch volume and track control, angled ear gels for longer wear, and a metal-and-plastic body in Gold, and you get a headset designed to be worn all day and put away cleanly.
Audio is handled by a dynamic driver with a 20Hz–48kHz frequency range, tuned to Harman Kardon Signature Sound, with AptX compatibility for lifelike playback. On the voice side there's HD voice plus a MEMS microphone, which matters if you take a lot of calls. Battery figures are generous on paper: up to 17 hours talk time, up to 14 hours music play time and up to 23 days standby. The Tone & Talk app adds SMS reading on Android, a current-time alert, a battery-status alert and a vibration on/off toggle.
Generic LE Audio USB: Who It's For
This is a different kind of product entirely — a USB-C Bluetooth 5.4 audio transmitter dongle, not a headset. Its job is to sit in a laptop (connector type: USB 2.0) and push audio out to wireless headphones or earbuds with a stronger, more flexible link than a built-in laptop radio typically provides. The BT5.4 chip is the core of the pitch: it boosts the transmitting signal and supports a working distance up to 10 meters.
The real draw for audio quality is codec support. It handles APTX, APTXHD, APTX LL and multiple audible formats, so if your headphones support aptX HD, this dongle is one of the ways to actually get that codec into the chain instead of falling back to a basic profile. It also runs an LE Audio mode for low-latency transmission, which is the piece that matters for lip-sync when you're watching video.
The feature I find most interesting is broadcasting: the transmitter can send one stream to multiple devices at once, so several people can listen to the same source simultaneously. That's a genuinely useful trick for sharing a movie or a playlist in a room without splitting into separate outputs.
Who should buy it: laptop users with good headphones who want aptX HD, aptX LL or LE Audio without replacing their headphones; anyone who wants low-latency audio for video; anyone who wants to share one audio stream with more than one listener. Who should skip it: if you need a microphone for calls, or you want a self-contained listening device, this isn't it — it has no battery listed, no plug of its own, and it does nothing without a paired headphone or earbud.
• Best for a complete, ready-to-wear setup → LG Electronics Tone Infinim. Headset, mic, controls and app in one package; nothing else to buy.
• Best for aptX HD earbuds you already own → Generic LE Audio USB. APTX, APTXHD and APTX LL support means it can feed the codec your headphones were built for.
• Best for battery life → LG Electronics Tone Infinim. Up to 14 hours music play and up to 17 hours talk time; the dongle lists no battery of its own.
• Best for lowest latency on video → Generic LE Audio USB. LE Audio mode is explicitly aimed at low-latency, smooth transmission.
• Best for calls and voice pickup → LG Electronics Tone Infinim. HD voice plus a MEMS microphone.
• Best for sharing audio with several people → Generic LE Audio USB. Broadcasting lets multiple devices listen at the same time.
• Best for travel and commuting → LG Electronics Tone Infinim. Retractable cords, jog-button control and no dongle to lose.
• Best for laptop-centric listening → Generic LE Audio USB. USB-C connection, BT5.4 chip and up to 10 m working distance.
In my opinion, these two aren't really competitors — they're solutions to different problems, and that's exactly why the choice is easy. If you want one product that gives you sound, a mic, controls and a battery in a single wearable package, I'd buy the LG Electronics Tone Infinim. If you already own headphones you love and your real complaint is that your laptop can't feed them aptX HD or LE Audio, I'd buy the Generic LE Audio USB dongle — it's the cheaper way to fix the weak link rather than replace the whole chain. Decide which of those two sentences describes you, and you're done.
which earbuds support aptx hd
Earbuds support aptX HD when the manufacturer lists aptX HD among their codecs — that's a headphone-side spec, not something you can add later. In this comparison, the Generic LE Audio USB transmitter supports APTX, APTXHD and APTX LL, but it only passes that codec through if the earbuds or headphones paired to it also support it. The LG Tone Infinim lists AptX compatibility, not aptX HD.
No — they do completely different jobs. The LG Tone Infinim is a self-contained Bluetooth headset with its own drivers, microphone and battery. The Generic LE Audio USB is a USB-C transmitter that only sends audio to headphones or earbuds you already own. Buying the dongle doesn't give you anything to listen through.
The LG headset is a standard Bluetooth device with A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP profiles, so it pairs with Bluetooth hosts including laptops within its 10 m range. What it doesn't do is add aptX HD or LE Audio to your laptop's audio chain — that's the specific job the Generic LE Audio USB transmitter handles.
The Generic LE Audio USB, on the basis of its stated design. It runs an LE Audio mode explicitly aimed at low latency, and it supports APTX LL, which is a low-latency codec — provided your headphones support it too. The LG headset's listed profiles and codec don't include a low-latency mode, so for lip-sync-critical viewing I'd lean toward the transmitter route.
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