My hearing aid posts continue to be the most popular. A while ago, I set out to find a better hearing aid, and I tested a few and read quite a bit. Today, I’ll talk about some of the new features coming down the road as well as some that are already here.
Congrats to all who are concerned about hearing health. This is a big deal. Hearing health is closely linked to cognitive health. We’re living a lot longer these days and it’s important to invest in our hearing health to improve our chances of living a happier life.
So, while there are many exciting features coming, please don’t wait. There will always be something new coming down the road. If you need hearing help today, there are many great choices. And with prices coming down, trading up is not as costly as it once was.
With that out of the way, let’s get into what’s new and what’s coming soon.
OTC
I wrote about Over-The-Counter (OTC) hearing aids in my initial post here, so I’ll just give a brief summary.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sale of OTC hearing aids in 2022. Read more here.
Prior to this, we needed to get a prescription and visit an audiologist to buy and fit hearing aids. Prices were high. With OTC, Best Buy sells hearing aids and we can go online to a number of different sites and buy direct.
During my trial last year, I bought hearing aids from hear.com, Lexie by Bose, and Jabra. You can read the details in my other posts, but the process was a delight.
OTC caused 3 major shifts.
- More people are getting hearing aids because we can do it from home without tests, prescriptions and doctor visits
- Prices are coming down because it is less expensive to sell and distribute hearing aids
- Because of 1&2 companies like Jabra, Bose, Sony and Sennheiser that build and sell headphones are now starting to sell hearing aids and this is further driving down prices and increasing innovation.
Apple
I wrote a couple of posts on Apple’s new entry into the hearing market with the AirPods Pro 2. Read more here and here.
As I was researching what’s new in hearing technology, a lot is already here and Apple is doing it. My conclusion was that the AirPods aren’t yet a great hearing-aid because of their 5 hour-ish battery life (you’ll need to recharge once or twice a day) and I find them a little less comfortable than receiver-in-canal hearing aids for all-day wearing.
However, if we look at the features available for AirPods, this gives us a good glimpse of what’s to come.
Conversation Awareness
I wear my AirPods all the time when I’m working around the house or walking the dog. It really annoys people when they start talking to me and I have to pause the music and take out the AirPods and then ask them to repeat whatever they said.
Well, not too long ago, Apple solved this problem for me. The conversation awareness feature recognizes a human voice and lowers the volume of the music. And if I’m in transparency mode, my AirPods will already be acting as hearing aids so I hear everything without removing the earbuds.
Most hearing aids on the market today have some ability to focus on conversations and block out background noise. But wouldn’t it be cool if my hearing aids were as effective as my AirPods in recognizing what I wanted to hear and nearly muting other sounds.
This gets even better with…
Spatial Audio with Head-Tracking
Within the spatial audio section of the settings app, I can turn-on head-tracking. I’ll demonstrate. I’m watching a movie on Netflix while I type. I turn my head to the right to see why Rosco is staring out the window. As my head moves, the volume in my left ear gradually increases, and the volume in my right ear decreases. It’s like I’m turning away from the source with one ear while the other gets closer.
This is magic. My head movements are recognized by the computer in my AirPods and it adjusts sound to simulate the experience I’d have if the sound were coming directly from the source.
This is somewhat of a parlor trick and not incredibly useful, but imagine if our hearing aids could do this. Many hearing aids attempt this with front facing microphones that pick up the sound source we are facing directly, but wouldn’t it be great if they could actually adjust the volume in each ear, or play noise-canceling sounds in the opposite ear as we turned.
It’s in the AirPods today so I would expect to see this in other hearing aids soon.
Spatial Audio
While this is mostly an enhancement for music, it is pretty cool technology. At set-up, the AirPods play a series of tones in each ear. The AirPods then personalize the sound output based on our ear and head shape.
Today, most hearing aids require some level of factory or audiologist programming, and then can be fine-tuned by a phone app. Imagine if they could program themselves.
Head Gestures
I can now interact with my phone while my AirPods are in. Siri recognizes a head nod (up and down) or a back and forth head gesture to accept or cancel a phone call.
How cool would it be if I could change modes or volume on my hearing aids without picking up my phone and opening the app.
Bluetooth LE
Bluetooth Low-Energy (LE) is the next generation of bluetooth. It’s here today, but not yet implemented everywhere. My Jabra Enhance 500’s have them as well as a handful of other models.
This technology supports all the features of prior bluetooth generations, but requires less power and has longer battery life. This allows us to go longer without charging or changing batteries and allows hearing aids to become smaller still as we can get by with a smaller battery.
But the big feature this enables is…
Auracast
Auracast is a bluetooth technology that allows multiple listeners to stream a single broadcast. While that sounds like a nothing-burger, here’s an example.
We’re in a crowded bar watching a Patriots game. They’re getting their hats handed to them again, but we’re fans so we’re watching anyway. I can see clearly , but with all the noise, I can’t hear a thing. But with Auracast, that audio is available to anyone within range who has a compatible bluetooth device. Hey, that’s me! The sound streams directly to my hearing aid.
I can join the broadcast the same way that I’d join a wi-fi network today. Now I can hear the game better than my show-off friends who don’t have hearing loss.
This technology will be in airport public address systems and other important places so that we can tune in. And with the folks at Apple on the case, I expect it won’t be long before we can connect with a head gesture.
Phonak ActiveVent
This one really impressed me.
I love my AirPods for music. They seal tight and don’t let in any outside noise. This creates a concert hall in my ear. Great for music.
However, I find this unnatural for conversations, TV, and the world at large. I hear no natural sound, it is all filtered through Apple’s (very good) processor, but it sounds less natural to me.
My Jabra’s do a nice job with this. They have a vented dome tip that lets sound through. I get my low tones without enhancement, and the Jabras only need to enhance the high tones. It’s a more natural sound.
The drawback is that while my Jabras stream bluetooth, listening to music or a podcast is challenging because outside noise flows through the open vents and the open-ear makes for a tiny sound.
Phonak tries to solve this with their ActiveVent system. Read more here. It opens and closes the vent depending on your hearing situation. It sounds like mixed results. There is an audible clunk when it closes, and the reviewer in the link above recommends (like Mike does) that the custom fitted tip is a huge improvement.
Seems like this one needs some work but I’m very encouraged.
Fall Detection
Here’s an interesting one. Starkey offers a hearing aid that recognizes when the wearer falls and can alert the person’s contacts.
Auto-Calibration
Apple kind of does this with the hearing test. With my Jabra’s, I take a hearing test on their site, and they pre-program the hearing aids based on my results.
Apple goes 1 better and allows me to take a hearing test in the app and then it adjusts the sound to match my needs based on the test.
A company called Nuheara has an enhanced version. According to an article I read, the Nuheara hearing aids did this automatically. However, on their site, it seems like a 10 minute interactive phone set-up similar to what Apple offers.
Either way, having the hearing aid and the phone getting smarter with helping us adjust is a big deal. Incorrect settings on a great hearing aid can be a disaster, and with people saving money with OTC, we are taking on more responsibility to adjust for ourselves.
Tinnitus Relief
Tinnitus is a ringing in the ears. Several headphones now have the ability to play sounds that mask the ringing. Take a look at Signia IX.
Health and Fitness Tracking
I have enough devices that tell me I need to exercise more, I don’t need my hearing aids nagging me as well. That said, I’ve heard stories of people whose Apple watch alerted them early-on to a medical problem that they were then able to address.
Several hearing aids offer this today. Audibel has a pretty robust version.
Hearing Glasses
Here’s an interesting one. A pair of glasses that’s also a hearing aid.
The microphones and computers are built into the frame and a wire runs down to each ear.
The folks at soundly do a much better job of explaining so check it out here.
AI
I am suffering from a huge case of AI fatigue so I saved this for last. AI is Artificial Intelligence. I put together a post to explain AI here.
Everything has AI these days. I’m expecting my breakfast cereal or my next golf club to be AI enabled.
Most hearing aids out today advertise some form of AI. But here’s what I don’t understand. Is it really AI or is it complex computer processing? AI implies that the computer is learning. And for it to learn it needs feedback from us.
I don’t let my hearing aids know with a hearty “well-done” when they’ve filtered out some background noise, so I’m not sure how they’d learn.
I’m probably splitting hairs, the point is that hearing aids are getting smarter, and that’s good news.
Wouldn’t it be great if our hearing aids could make better decisions. If they recognized my family member’s voices and prioritized those.
My hear.com Horizon IX had advanced processing that tried to predict the sounds I wanted to focus on. It was pretty good at it, but I sometimes found it got confused and emphasized music, then a person, and then the sound of rain, and it switched back and forth between them. It’s a great start, but I felt it wasn’t quite there.
Call it AI or advanced processing, either way, hearing aids are getting smarter and this is good for us.
Wrap-Up
After many years of minor advancements in hearing aids, the last 3 years have seen exponential growth. Companies like Apple, Sony and Sennheiser are investing big to bring their headphone technologies to hearing aids and to build new features.
I will continue to follow and post about advancements.
If you’re interested in keeping up, I highly recommend soundly.com. Soundly has a hearing test, a buying guide and a learning center on their site. You can also read reviews and compare features on a huge number of hearing aids.
Soundly publishes a regular newsletter with product reviews which is a great way to keep up with some of the new technologies.
Hearing health is important. I’m glad the hearing posts are so popular. Please let me know what you think and provide suggestions for other areas you’d like me to explore in future posts.