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       AirPods Pro Compete Fairly Well Against Full-Fledged Hearing Aids

   Adam Engst

   At Ars Technica, [1]Kevin Purdy writes:

     A[2]study in the journal iSciencesuggests that, in some noise
     situations,AirPods, particularly thePro model, can work just as well
     as far pricier prescription-only models.

     '¦

     The AirPods were tested against a $1,500 Bernafon MD1 and a
     $10,000[3]OTICON Opn 1. In quiet settings, AirPods Pro helped people
     hear as well as the Bernafon and nearly as well as the OTICON. The
     AirPods 2 performed the worst but still helped people hear a human
     voice better than without using any device.

   While I would never recommend that someone experiencing hearing loss
   rely on a pair of AirPods Pro instead of seeing a healthcare
   professional, this small study gives some support to using [4]Live
   Listen if you need a little boost to hear better. I must also note
   that, even before the advent of the AirPods, Jeff Porten suggested a
   similar technique over a decade ago in '[5]iOS Hearing Aids... or, How
   to Buy Superman's Ears' (8 February 2011). The next question is how the
   AirPods Pro stack up against the inexpensive over-the-counter hearing
   aids that are starting to appear.

   [6]Read original article

References

   1. https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11/study-airpods-pro-are-this-close-to-being-full-fledged-hearing-aids/
   2. https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01708-4
   3. https://www.oticon.com/solutions/opn-in-the-ear-hearing-aids
   4. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209082
   5. https://tidbits.com/2011/02/08/ios-hearing-aids-or-how-to-buy-supermans-ears/
   6. https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11/study-airpods-pro-are-this-close-to-being-full-fledged-hearing-aids/

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