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As someone who's worn hearing aides for almost a decade, I'm thrilled to see this. To give folks a sense of the cost difference, here are some numbers: My mos
by don_neufeld 2y ago
As someone who's worn hearing aides for almost a decade, I'm thrilled to see this.
To give folks a sense of the cost difference, here are some numbers:
My most recent pair of hearing aides cost $4,400 in 2020. And no, these are not covered by any kind of insurance.
AirPods Pro 2 cost $250, about a 95% reduction in price.
My most recent service on one of my hearing aides that was failing cost $280.
Also, I'm really looking forward to being able to manage things like audio curves myself, vs having to go through an audiologist for every adjustment.
The only thing I'm waiting for here before making a switch is better battery life, really want 18/24hours there.
- thebruce87m 2y agoDoesn’t 2 pairs solve the battery issue? One set charging in the case while you wear another?
- don_neufeld 2y agoYes, it definitely helps. It does add some complexity in terms of managing bluetooth though.
- rrr_oh_man 2y agoNot really if you're in the iOS/macOS eco system.
- don_neufeld 2y agoOh it's pretty bad in my experience. I'm all iOS/MacOS and I find it's barely workable as it is. Would love to hear more ideas for how to make this better. The main problem is that I have to manually disconnect the hearings aides in bluetooth settings on my phone so that then I can connect them on my workstation. This allows me to take video calls straight to the hearing aides, which helps a lot. However, I need that to be for speakers only, microphone has to be wired, so that Bluetooth can use all the bandwidth for higher fidelity audio. MacOS + Zoom is able to remember enough of these settings that it's "only" a 6 click process (4 on the phone, 2 on the workstation) to switch the hearing aides between devices. If I had to juggle multiple bluetooth devices on either end I suspect it would be much harder. I make this transition multiple times per day in each direction, so it really adds up!
- kgdiem 2y agoThat might be specific to your hearing aids. With AirPods I only click once to connect on my MacBook and once to change the output back on whatever app I’ve been listening to on my phone (phone stays connected, laptop disconnects). I think on my personal laptop, AirPods Max stay connected to both the phone and laptop. On my work laptop I have to manually connect. Might be an Apple ID thing, not sure.
- don_neufeld 2y agoYup, that could very well be the case. If there's a nicer handoff built into AidPods that would help a lot. Once this feature comes out I think I'll be trying it!
- SteeCee 2y agoHow is the ergonomic difference? IIRC a lot of hearing aids are custom shaped for comfort, right? Will having buds in all day be an issue?
- pwthornton 2y agoThe custom tips should help a lot in all-day comfort. You can also get these for AirPods and other headphones. This will run several hundred dollars.