Hearing aids ..... now using Airpods

[Aussieguy]

about 4 years ago I had purchase hearing aids from audiologist paid $5000 for the works
which included 4yrs of servicing and bluetooth connection to my phone etc etc etc
I know I paid premium price and was somewhat satisfied with their sound and word recognition improvements

They did say my hearing loss was profound and not to expect to hear everything
The hearing aids have now died over the last few months...... now out of the service plan
would need about $500 worth of work to get them working again

Now I decided to try just using earbuds to the phone as my main hearing source.... as speech / conversation on the hearing aids was still very difficult.
Using iphone for telephone and streaming content was pretty good!

SO lashed out and bought the latest................ Airpods Pro 2 $169.00 on special
which has just now also been "FDA approved" as an over the counter hearing aid

got them working today... OMG what 4 years of technology improvements and increased competition has done..
and we all know apple goes a few steps more...

Todays results are: ................. AND I was real skeptical a $169 earplug would be worth it.

sound quality .... from bluetooth is so much richer ,
the difference is like comparing a cheap pocket radio from the 70's to a Bose
sound is pleasing .... not tiring after long hours of use
In fact on the way home from the store ... turned on my Navigation on the i-phone just so I could listen to it...
Big excited grin all the way home.... Guessing those cars beside me in traffic was wondering what the heck was I listening too!


Hearing Improvement ... I actually had a conversation across the room today
have not done that in about 20 years... had to excuse myself to go get the phone so I could adjust volume down....

still lots of discovery i need to do on these things but first day report is 6 out of 5 stars
they did a real good job ...
-------------------------------------------------
But some bad news....
had to upgrade/retire my old i-phone 8... but got that as a early Christmas present
needed a phone that could run the latest IOS 18.1

Took a couple of hours to get the phone switched over and Updated IOS
then once we had to connected the airpods had to work out how to update the firmware
would have been nice if they had better instructions ... online
a) pair the airpods to phone
b) put them back in the case as if you are charging them
c) leave them near the phone which is still turned ON.... wait 10 minutes
DONE... update is done while they charge ...... took me a hour to find the info and another hour to get the sequence correct
the instructions were not that great... finally found a youtube video that set it out in plain Aussie-American-Inglish

Once I got the firmware done the new features were activated.. and I could do a hearing test on the phone

Bottom line THEY WORK as decent hearing aids and have a lot of features
Even though they put up a lot of popups for the test.... "Your hearing loss is severe over 65db consult audiologist!"
------------------------------------------------

lots more to learn and setup
Next question is why didn't i hear the phone ringing?
I know it is suppose to ring in the airpods...

PS I even got "Siri" to answer a phone call

 

[EdJunior]

Interesting. One downside I can see is, you must have your iPhone with you at all times. Or do they work as regular hearing aids if you are away from your phone?

I have always had a lot of trouble getting "ear pods' to fit in my ear and stay. It would be nice if I could find something like my hearing aids that fit down in the ear canal and stay snug in there.

 

[Canadian-chris]

Read an article, could not find it but found this. They suggest using replacement tips that are made of memory foam. Tips stay in place, are comfortable work well.

Tried to post link but site would not allow??

Look up iPod replacement tips that are, foam

 

[PhilFromMaine]

about 4 years ago I had purchase hearing aids from audiologist paid $5000 for the works
which included 4yrs of servicing and bluetooth connection to my phone etc etc etc
I know I paid premium price and was somewhat satisfied with their sound and word recognition improvements

They did say my hearing loss was profound and not to expect to hear everything
The hearing aids have now died over the last few months...... now out of the service plan
would need about $500 worth of work to get them working again

Now I decided to try just using earbuds to the phone as my main hearing source.... as speech / conversation on the hearing aids was still very difficult.
Using iphone for telephone and streaming content was pretty good!

SO lashed out and bought the latest................ Airpods Pro 2 $169.00 on special
which has just now also been "FDA approved" as an over the counter hearing aid

got them working today... OMG what 4 years of technology improvements and increased competition has done..
and we all know apple goes a few steps more...

Todays results are: ................. AND I was real skeptical a $169 earplug would be worth it.

sound quality .... from bluetooth is so much richer ,
the difference is like comparing a cheap pocket radio from the 70's to a Bose
sound is pleasing .... not tiring after long hours of use
In fact on the way home from the store ... turned on my Navigation on the i-phone just so I could listen to it...
Big excited grin all the way home.... Guessing those cars beside me in traffic was wondering what the heck was I listening too!


Hearing Improvement ... I actually had a conversation across the room today
have not done that in about 20 years... had to excuse myself to go get the phone so I could adjust volume down....

still lots of discovery i need to do on these things but first day report is 6 out of 5 stars
they did a real good job ...
-------------------------------------------------
But some bad news....
had to upgrade/retire my old i-phone 8... but got that as a early Christmas present
needed a phone that could run the latest IOS 18.1

Took a couple of hours to get the phone switched over and Updated IOS
then once we had to connected the airpods had to work out how to update the firmware
would have been nice if they had better instructions ... online
a) pair the airpods to phone
b) put them back in the case as if you are charging them
c) leave them near the phone which is still turned ON.... wait 10 minutes
DONE... update is done while they charge ...... took me a hour to find the info and another hour to get the sequence correct
the instructions were not that great... finally found a youtube video that set it out in plain Aussie-American-Inglish

Once I got the firmware done the new features were activated.. and I could do a hearing test on the phone

Bottom line THEY WORK as decent hearing aids and have a lot of features
Even though they put up a lot of popups for the test.... "Your hearing loss is severe over 65db consult audiologist!"
------------------------------------------------

lots more to learn and setup
Next question is why didn't i hear the phone ringing?
I know it is suppose to ring in the airpods...

PS I even got "Siri" to answer a phone call

Very interesting! Thanks for posting.

 

[Aussieguy]

Interesting. One downside I can see is, you must have your iPhone with you at all times. Or do they work as regular hearing aids if you are away from your phone?

I have always had a lot of trouble getting "ear pods' to fit in my ear and stay. It would be nice if I could find something like my hearing aids that fit down in the ear canal and stay snug in there.

yes ... they will continue to work as hearing aids without phone,
the phone is only used to do the hearing test and to adjust volume etc
I'm still trying to work out how to touch the earpieces to manually adjust stuff ........ getting there
Lots to learn
their manuals and instructions.... they need to review them and actually TRY following the way it is written.
get some technical writer that knows Inglish


it loads the results to the airpods.
If you have a older phone ... you can borrow a phone from someone to do the test
once it is loaded to airpods return the phone (or keep it ummm ahhhhh)

As for the ear pieces... they give you L M S to choose from and they have a test for FIT
if , it thinks you got the wrong size ... you can't do the hearing test.

of course if you want to listen to streaming or answer the phone .... you need it close by
Only reason I kept the $5,000 ones was because of the phone calls... needed to be able to hear the phone for work.




PS ... worried that Siri would not like my accent
but even that seams to be a non issue
would like to see them program the replies a bit better
"NO I can't do that are you crazy?" sounds more natural to me

 

[Aussieguy]

any body know the secret to getting the phone ringer to go through the airpods pro2?

I can hear if a text message or a notification is sentto phone (Haptics)
but that darn ringer wont....
so far 3 hours of searching.... found lots of users saying the same

More than likely BUG with the last update they did for the18.8 to do hearing stuff???
my friend uses them just for earbud... they can have phone ringer in their earpiece GRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[NevadaMiniLite]

Costco has major brand hearing aids at extremely affordable prices. And their service is first rate. I have had Costco hearing aids for years now (I am probably on my 4th pair) and have been very satisfied. IIRC I paid around $1600 - $1800 for my last pair, which is half of what an audiologist charges and that included the hearing test, and as much follow up service as needed. Plus any time I go shopping at Costco, I can drop off the aids and they will clean them (and put new batteries in for those that use batteries vs rechargeable ) while I shop...

 

[Aussieguy]

I'm just so surprised how well they work
169.00 is ridiculous

Not complaining...
now that I can hear wife better ... is there a mute button?
actually should have told her... nahhh they don't work that good
now I can't use the "I didn't hear you" excuse anymore

 

[RedLdr1]

My fancy hearing aids have buttons you can touch to turn up or down the volume. As a final option if I remove the batteries they make great custom fit earplugs...

 

[Willhound]

Interesting. I still can't see anyone with Air Pods without instantly thinking about the (in)famous hair gel scene in the movie "There's Something about Mary" which is the only drawback I can see in using them as hearing aids, you have to have them on all the time. And it's technically illegal to drive with both ear buds inserted in Ontario. One is ok, but the other ear has to be uncovered/unblocked so you can hear when driving, so it would be an interesting conversation on the side of the road convincing the cop you were using them as hearing aids and not rocking out to tunes.....

 

[RhumbleFish]

And it's technically illegal to drive with both ear buds inserted in Ontario. One is ok, but the other ear has to be uncovered/unblocked so you can hear when driving, so it would be an interesting conversation on the side of the road convincing the cop you were using them as hearing aids and not rocking out to tunes.....

This isn't the first time that the laws are going to have to catch up with technology... The very same ear buds can be used in pass through, or even listening enhancement modes (in addition to as hearing aids). Likewise, some hearing aids can be used as ear bud/headphones... are cops going to start pulling over drivers who have hearing aids?

Reminds me somewhat of:

 

[Aussieguy]

some states give out ticket by mail
good luck convincing them it was a cookie

they do a lot of tickets by mail in aussieland
if you dispute it was not you driving .... all you need to do is provide details of person you claim is driving
so some hackers shared the correct details of people that they stole the info from

poor lady was getting bills for tickets ... she don't even own a car
and the photo in the ticket was clearly a MALE with a big black beard...

gubberment gone wrong!
if they allow tickets by mail they need to improve a lot of things...

 

[Oaklevel]

Costco has major brand hearing aids at extremely affordable prices. And their service is first rate. I have had Costco hearing aids for years now (I am probably on my 4th pair) and have been very satisfied. IIRC I paid around $1600 - $1800 for my last pair, which is half of what an audiologist charges and that included the hearing test, and as much follow up service as needed. Plus any time I go shopping at Costco, I can drop off the aids and they will clean them (and put new batteries in for those that use batteries vs rechargeable ) while I shop...

That too is interesting I am hoping for a Costco in our area eventually ......

 

[EdJunior]

This isn't the first time that the laws are going to have to catch up with technology... The very same ear buds can be used in pass through, or even listening enhancement modes (in addition to as hearing aids). Likewise, some hearing aids can be used as ear bud/headphones... are cops going to start pulling over drivers who have hearing aids?

Reminds me somewhat of:

Yep. That's what mine do (are set up to do this). I also use them to talk on the phone. It drives my wife nuts.

 

[Willhound]

Yeah, my boss at work uses two hearing aids and his have the bluetooth connection for calls, music etc. The difference being that it's usually the more expensive, and barely visible, hearing aids that have this feature whereas Airpods are like white flags hanging from your ears.

 

[dalford]

yes ... they will continue to work as hearing aids without phone,
the phone is only used to do the hearing test and to adjust volume etc
I'm still trying to work out how to touch the earpieces to manually adjust stuff ........ getting there
Lots to learn
their manuals and instructions.... they need to review them and actually TRY following the way it is written.
get some technical writer that knows Inglish


it loads the results to the airpods.
If you have a older phone ... you can borrow a phone from someone to do the test
once it is loaded to airpods return the phone (or keep it ummm ahhhhh)

As for the ear pieces... they give you L M S to choose from and they have a test for FIT
if , it thinks you got the wrong size ... you can't do the hearing test.

of course if you want to listen to streaming or answer the phone .... you need it close by
Only reason I kept the $5,000 ones was because of the phone calls... needed to be able to hear the phone for work.




PS ... worried that Siri would not like my accent
but even that seams to be a non issue
would like to see them program the replies a bit better
"NO I can't do that are you crazy?" sounds more natural to me

I find it more helpful to use YouTube to find out how to use things. I’m sure if you search YouTube for AirPod hearing aids there will be many users who have posted how to use..

 

[Aussieguy]

been using youtube.... got a lot of info on how to
reckon apple could make some videos instead of their cryptic instructions

once you see the videos...
I always ask... why didn't apple just say that!

 

[dalford]

This link might help…AirPods User Guide

 

[Aussieguy]

update.....

the airpods can fall out easily
they must glue them in .. on the commercials for them
no way will I ride a bike with them on
bought some tethers but the weight makes them pop out of the ears more often

Although ...I Have found the airpods are fairly water resistant , they still work after hot soup!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Live listen
OMG ... if I turn it on you can probably hear that proverbial pin drop
phone microphone acts as a extension mic ... the hearing place wanted $400 for a extension mic

If I want to watch the big TV that won't connect via bluetooth
just put the phone near the TV speaker... crystal clear voices!
better than trying just the hearing aid portion!

 

[Dwilcox]

update.....

the airpods can fall out easily
they must glue them in .. on the commercials for them
no way will I ride a bike with them on
bought some tethers but the weight makes them pop out of the ears more often

Although ...I Have found the airpods are fairly water resistant , they still work after hot soup!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Live listen
OMG ... if I turn it on you can probably hear that proverbial pin drop
phone microphone acts as a extension mic ... the hearing place wanted $400 for a extension mic

If I want to watch the big TV that won't connect via bluetooth
just put the phone near the TV speaker... crystal clear voices!
better than trying just the hearing aid portion!

So is this a negative or positive review, I am thinking of getting a pair but as I am Android I will have to get a cheap iPad as my iPod touch is too old. Did they come with different size ear inserts?
Thanks for the update.