Jan 10, 2020<\/p>\n
Olive Smart Ear\u00a0was\u00a0highlighted on Consumer Affairs.<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/www.consumeraffairs.com\/news\/technology-in-audio-wearables-creates-a-blur-between-earbuds-and-hearing-aids-011020.html<\/a><\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n The entrance of Apple\u2019s AirPods back in 2016 forced other electronics companies to develop similar products, and even hearing aid manufacturers are producing similar kinds of earbuds that stick out of a person\u2019s ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, four years later, earbuds are predicted to be the highest growing tech category.\u00a0<\/span>According to the Consumer Technology Association<\/a>, devices such as Apple AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds will help propel the category to nearly 67 million units this year (up 35 percent), and cashing in on $8.2 billion in revenue (up 31 percent).\u00a0<\/p>\n As ConsumerAffairs prepared for our trip to the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 (CES), there were a good number of listening device\u00a0pitches sent our way. One thing we noticed was that both earbud and hearing aid manufacturers were touting some of the same qualities and user enhancements. Now that we\u2019ve had a closer look at the earbud vs. hearing aid segment at CES, the lines are, in fact, blurred.<\/p>\n Some consumers aren\u2019t ready — or don\u2019t want to spend thousands — for hearing aids. Nuheara, a company ConsumerAffairs wrote about in our story on\u00a0<\/span>tech for aging consumers<\/a>, is rolling out IQbuds2\u00a0<\/span>, a product that can enhance a consumer\u2019s basic hearing experience, if not replace the need for hearing aids altogether.<\/p>\n As a starting point, wearers take an \u201cEar ID\u201d assessment from the comfort of their home. Once that\u2019s done, the system automatically calibrates the earbuds to the wearer\u2019s personal hearing profile.<\/p>\n IQbuds2\u00a0<\/span>gives wearers the best of active noise cancellation and reduction. It also adds in directionality, so a user can focus on what someone next to them at, say, a restaurant is saying.<\/p>\n The IQbuds2\u00a0<\/span>also offer the best of what other more pro-audio headphones do, such as a related app, the ability to receive phone calls, interaction with Google Home or Apple\u2019s Siri, and an impressive 20 hours of battery life — and there\u2019s no need to visit a hearing clinic to get fitted.<\/p>\n IQbuds2\u00a0<\/span>certainly has some fans —\u00a0 Nuheara is taking home a CES Innovation Award for wearables, home audio\/video accessories, and health and fitness — but, is it THE answer for people with mild hearing loss? That requires an answer that should be addressed personally because each person has different needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nuheara\u2019s not in this product segment by itself. There\u2019s also\u00a0<\/span>Olive Union\u2019s Olive Smart Ear<\/a>, another CES Innovation honoree which ConsumerAffairs tested at CES. Olive Smart Ear has fewer bells and whistles, and for someone who\u2019s not tech-savvy, it might be a better entry point.<\/p>\n Both products are certainly contemporary options for any consumer who wants to improve their hearing and not\u00a0<\/span>go into debt with hearing aids<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>until they absolutely have to.<\/p>\n The IQbuds2\u00a0<\/span>MAX are available for pre-order now and will ship in March 2020. The MSRP will be $399. The Olive Smart Ear retails for $249, but, at present, it\u2019s only a single-ear device (meaning no stereo capabilities when listening to music). A two-ear configuration — Olive X — is coming out in September and will cost $449.<\/p>\n Phonak<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>— a hearing aid manufacturer — looks to improve its lot by carving out a new entry point from the opposite end of the market than Olive Union and Nuheara.<\/p>\n Vanity is a big, albeit subjective, reason why many consumers don\u2019t want to wear hearing aids. Let\u2019s face it — one of the perceptions that people use to characterize hearing aid users is that they\u2019re old. Phonak decided it would be a smart move to design hearing aids that look like those other highfalutin earbuds.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, the most consistent thing has been miniaturization in the hearing aid industry, So, we said to ourselves, why not make something that\u2019s a little larger,\u201d Phonak\u2019s John Urbaniak told ConsumerAffairs when describing the company\u2019s new\u00a0<\/span>Virto Black<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cVanity is the biggest barrier to adoption (to buying hearing aids), so we\u2019re hoping to normalize the process of something in (the consumer\u2019s) ear \u2026 and build on the trend (in earbuds) with this new product. Make it so that the hearing aid wearers truly have nothing to hide because it looks like an earbud.\u201d<\/p>\n By upping the ante, Phonak feels that there\u2019s an additional market to be tapped with audiophiles who a) want to be fashionable wearing the larger earbuds; and, b) want a more immersive sound experience than they would get with the ears they were born with.<\/p>\n Phonak basically leapfrogs everyone else by adding personally molded earbuds that are custom-fit to each wearer\u2019s ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith these, you can actually hear better than a normal person — by 10 times, like it literally gives you superhuman hearing,\u201d Rachel Bishop, Au.D, working as the Launch Program Manager at Phonak, told ConsumerAffairs at a booth demo.<\/p>\n Of course, all this juicy audio goodness comes at a price — as in $4,000-$7,000. Phonak doesn\u2019t sell directly to consumers, but, a la other hearing aid manufacturers, only through audiology-based providers.\u00a0<\/p>\n As ConsumerAffairs has watched personal tech over the years, one thing has become increasingly apparent: don\u2019t just trust reviews or a product\u2019s ads. Just because a fancy set of earbuds works for one person, it doesn\u2019t mean that another will have the exact same experience. There\u2019s two reasons for that:<\/p>\n There are many variables in the hearing aid market, too — completely in-ear vs. behind-the-ear, digital vs. analog, personalization add-ons, etc. As a courtesy to our readers, ConsumerAffairs has compiled a guide on hearing loss and hearing aids. It\u2019s available\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>.<\/p>\nBlurred lines<\/h2>\n
The flip-side<\/h2>\n
Do your homework<\/h2>\n
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