I shared sometime last summer/fall that my audiologist felt that I needed new hearing aids. My hearing had significantly degraded in the last 3 years, and my current hearing aids just weren’t cutting it any longer.
I knew my hearing had gotten worse. Even with my hearing aids in, day to day interactions had gotten increasingly difficult. But after spending $7-8K on my current hearing aids, I just couldn’t stomach another $5K for a new pair. I also didn’t understand how newer, better, more powerful hearing aids were so much cheaper than my original ones.
So I didn’t make any changes; other than some programming on my existing hearing aids.
One Year Later
Living alone for most of the past year, made my hearing loss less innocuous. I mean, no one was really around to notice i.e. my kids. And I stayed to myself for the most part, so it didn’t bother me.
But now I’m around others 24/7. And I’m in a shared space for conference calls, which I have 2-5 times daily most days. I’m loud. My conference call speaker is loud. And frankly, even with my hearing aids in, I struggle to hear my dad speak. (Fun fact: He got his hearing aids yesterday at the VA. He was not happy about it. But I think he’s already seen the benefits.)
So, my solution:
AirPod Pros as Hearing Aids?
Gymnast called me some months ago excited about this new feature with AirPods – hearing aids. I didn’t think much about it at the time. But after this move, the challenges with work calls in a shared space, and the crazy cost of new hearing aids, I decided to check it out.
The price…less than $300.
The battery life…about 6 hours. (I have confirmed this.)
The ease of support…schedule a Genius Bar visit.
The peace and quiet…well, not exactly quiet, but quieter it brings to the house when I’m working…priceless.
I’m still in the testing phase. I’m on my second pair (the first pair was dysfunctional.) I’ve taken the hearing test 3 different times now, all with different results, but not too far off.
My first opinion
I don’t think they could replace my hearing aids. I definitely “hear” better with my hearing aids.
But they are magic when it comes to being able to take work calls without disturbing anyone in the house. Hang out with friends at the pool (they allow me to play music, hear ambient noises, and quiet themselves when I start talking.) And I love that they seamlessly integrate with all my technology so I can jump around without constantly having to change settings or connect to different devices.
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