A couple months ago I got “commercial” hearing aids from the VA. However, I didn’t like how they operated so I gave them back, and they’re going to order a different brand/model, which I’ll have in about three months (!) So I went in search of quality, inexpensive hearing aids to fill the gap. (My hearing loss is considered mild, at -32db on one side and -39db on the other.) I got the AirPods last Friday, and the software for hearing aid support rolled out last night (iOS 18.1) So this will be a two part review.
Part one is the overall operation as earbuds for music and calls. These are my first ever Apple branded sound devices. Once I got the correct tips installed and the buds fitted, I was ready to go. OMG! The sound quality overall is the best of any earbuds I’ve ever owned, and by a huge margin. Astonishing bass, and crisp high range. (My hearing loss is in the upper ranges.) I’m beyond happy. Overall, the only thing I’m dissatisfied with is the battery life at 5-6 hours, but the extremely fast recharge speed eases that compliant. Voice quality when on a call is crystal clear. Controls are easy, though a bit hard to operate considering how small they are.
Part two is the hearing aid function. The first thing I had to do was take a hearing test with the included software. (However, if you prefer to use a third party hearing test, you can import that profile and use it.) The hearing test takes about 5 minutes, after which the hearing aid sound enhancement profile is set automatically and they start up. I was totally gobsmacked at how well these things work! They boost the exact freqs I need. They actually work considerably better than those $7000 (egads!) hearing aids that I returned.
Now for the ANC. At home, I sit right in front of a large, noisy window air conditioner. On the opposite side of the room is a dehumidifier (I live in south central Texas, where it was 91° yesterday.) Between these two pieces of equipment, it’s pretty noisy here. I turned on ANC and the room went absolutely silent. So silent that I thought I’d popped a circuit breaker and everything had stopped running. I removed one of the AirPods, and the noise returned. Amazing.
In short, everything I’d hoped the commercial hearing aids would do, the AirPods actually DID. I consider this the smartest purchase I’ve made in years. Only one negative, and that’s the ear tips. None of the provided sizes are a good fit for me, so I’m now looking to memory foam replacements. But that’s a very small gripe. If you’re looking at these, either for music or hearing, don’t hesitate. You’ll be glad you got them.
EDIT: I had to go to a doctor appointment across town today. Part of the route is on a toll highway with an 80 mph speed limit and heavy traffic. I got up to speed and turned on noise cancel mode. INSTANTLY the car was completely silent at 80 mph. No road rumble, no engine noise, no wind noise, no traffic noise. It was an amazing and invigorating experience. Oh, for those wondering about recharge time, if you take them all the way down to 0% battery and they shut down (I’ve now ascertained that 6 hours is about what you get with all the options turned on), it only takes about 15 minutes in the charge case and you’ll easily get another 3-4 hours out of them.
EDIT2: Okay, I’ve had these for almost a month, and I just keep liking them more and more. I didn’t mention pairing in my original text above, so I need to mention it here. There is, in effect, no pairing that you need to do, at least in the Apple-verse. By the time I’d opened the charging case and looked at the buds, they’d already paired with both my iPhone and iPad. I didn’t have to go into settings on my iOS devices, or press any buttons on the case. Just open case and it’s done. As a computer engineer for 40 years, I have never seen a faster or more seamless pairing of anything.
One more word on recharging: just today I took them all the way to zero. Dropped them in the charger and in FIVE MINUTES they were at 24%.
I am in love with the hearing aid functionality. I hear sounds in movies that I’d never heard before in my life, even when my hearing was perfect. And I can adjust amplification either by going into settings on my iPhone, or sliding my finger up or down on the stem.