Apple AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids

I have already used my AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids. You have to research how to set them up. This involves doing a hearing test using them to equalize the audio for your hearing loss. They work ok for me as I have low to moderate high freq. hearing loss and it is nice to be able adjust the volume. Plus you can connect to bluetooth sources.
The downsides are the batteries only last for a few hours and you have to recharge and outside if it is breezy you get wind noise.
I expect the software update will just streamline the process to make it easier to use them as hearing aids.

The OTC hearing aid manufacturers may have to adjust their prices accordingly.
 
Great.
Will they work without an iphone once they are set up ?
We will know for sure, in about another week (after iOS 18 releases), whether you will need an iPhone or iPad (it reportedly works with both).

BTW, the process is: you take a hearing test, which will now be built in to the iPhone/iPad and AirPods Pro 2 combination, and then it uses that info to set up the customized hearing aid feature. That's about all I know about it so far.
 
Basically I'm wondering, can I buy a set of ear buds, borrow an iphone and set them up.
Then return the iphone and continue to use the ear buds as hearing aids every day ?

If the iphone is required all the time, then other manufacturers have nothing to worry about. Or at least less.
 
As one who has never purchased AirPods, how would they compare to just purchasing regular hearing aids?
 
^^^ I think we will have to wait until there are some good YouTube reviews on this to see how effective they are. I doubt they will be as good as top of the line hearing aids, but they may give the low to mid-range models a serious competition.

But, price wise, thousands of dollars vs $250.
 
^^^ I think we will have to wait until there are some good YouTube reviews on this to see how effective they are. I doubt they will be as good as top of the line hearing aids, but they may give the low to mid-range models a serious competition.

But, price wise, thousands of dollars vs $250.
Hmmmm. Interesting. I will wait to hear how this turns out. I'm in the "moderate" hearing loss "gray area" but don't want to wait too long either. It would be nice to have some competition for the folks selling $4000 hearing aids!
 
It would be nice to have some competition for the folks selling $4000 hearing aids!
Costco hearing aids are excellent and don’t cost anywhere near that price. Less than half IIRC.
 
Costco hearing aids are excellent and don’t cost anywhere near that price. Less than half IIRC.
Yeah, I've actually been thinking about checking them out. I think they DO have top of the line at around $4K but also some for less than $2K if my sources are correct.
 
Airpods Pro 2 have a lot of passive hearing protection while hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss would allow a lot of sound in directly. So, these are not a substitute for hearing aids because they block too much of the real sounds. I have a friend with hearing aids as well as Airpods Pro 2, and he mentioned this specific thing as to why he prefers his hearing aids most of the time, but he does like to wear the Airpods Pro 2 in a noisy environment where he wants to reduce the sound level.
 
I have some moderate hi frequency hearing loss and really struggle to hear conversations in noisy environments or when a number of people are speaking at the same time like in a restaurant. I use regular air pods for working out in the gym or doing tasks outside of the house like mowing, trimming, etc. For $250 I think it may be worth a shot to see if these would help. Any thoughts?
 
I have some moderate hi frequency hearing loss and really struggle to hear conversations in noisy environments or when a number of people are speaking at the same time like in a restaurant. I use regular air pods for working out in the gym or doing tasks outside of the house like mowing, trimming, etc. For $250 I think it may be worth a shot to see if these would help. Any thoughts?
My friend likes his hearing aids better, which let in other sounds a lot more, but he says he will put the Airpods Pro 2 in when he's in semi-loud places. There are also some configuration adjustments you can look into if you pair with an iPhone. My friend also seemed to have a favorable review of using them on his motorcycle (wearing a helmet).
 
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Joe Namath is advertising $299.99 hearing aids in TV commercials and saying they are better than the ones costing thousands. :oops: This is a warm up to his Medicare Advantage commercials that will start in wearily October.🆓
 
I have some moderate hi frequency hearing loss and really struggle to hear conversations in noisy environments or when a number of people are speaking at the same time like in a restaurant. I use regular air pods for working out in the gym or doing tasks outside of the house like mowing, trimming, etc. For $250 I think it may be worth a shot to see if these would help. Any thoughts?
I used them for a while as hearing aids and they worked ok. I do like my regular Eargo 7 aids better since they are invisible and quiet in the wind and batteries last all day. They cost 10X more than the air pods however.
 
Joe Namath is advertising $299.99 hearing aids in TV commercials and saying they are better than the ones costing thousands. :oops: This is a warm up to his Medicare Advantage commercials that will start in wearily October.🆓
Joe must not have saved his money??
 
Watching TV news today, I'm looking forward to losing my hearing, or at least selectively losing my hearing.
Heh, heh, it sounds good (no pun intended) to have selective hearing, but it can strain a marriage. DW and I get testy with each other from time to time because we don't hear as well as we used to. She'll turn away and say something and I'll have to remind her that she'll either need to look at me or speak louder. She's pretty good about it for the first 3 or 4 times. After that, I can see some annoyance creep in. I try to hide my annoyance that she forgets that my hearing is becoming "age appropriate." YMMV
 
Got hearing aids (covered by Medicare plan) overall I had decent 'word recognition', an important test but lost much of the frequency that women/DW speak, a more important test. Of course I can turn them off;)
 
Basically I'm wondering, can I buy a set of ear buds, borrow an iphone and set them up.
Then return the iphone and continue to use the ear buds as hearing aids every day ?

If the iphone is required all the time, then other manufacturers have nothing to worry about. Or at least less.
I would say the manufacturer has nothing to worry about. There are a ton of iPhones out there. Sorta like same situation with watch manufacturers. The low end ones took a hit because of the Apple Watch. But they still exist
 
Joe must not have saved his money??
I like the one with J.J. Walker.
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Will be interesting to try these once the software is available. I have liked the AirPods Pro because they have balance control which allows me to compensate for my unilateral hearing loss.

Agree that Costco is definitely the place to go for affordable hearing aids although they don't offer as much aftercare as one would get from a good audiologist.
 
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