AirPods tested as hearing aids with surprising results. A study reveals the possibility of using Apple’s wireless earphones as hearing aids. This is what emerges from a research according to which AirPods could be more affordable and accessible than specific and very expensive medical devices.
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Inspired by the “Live Listen” feature of iPhones – which has been around since 2016 and is designed to hear a conversation in a noisy environment or even hear a person speaking from across the room – researchers at Taipei Veterans General Hospital wondered if the performance of AirPods 2 or AirPods Pro offered in this area could be compared with hearing aids.
Apple doesn’t position the “Live Listen” feature as something related to issues such as hearing loss but as a simple aid in the iPhone Control Center that allows you to use the latter as a microphone and send audio to AirPods or Beats devices. However, researchers have found that, for some cases, the level of amplification offered is quite effective compared to expensive, doctor-prescribed solutions; moreover, the popularity of Apple accessories makes it less embarrassing for users to wear them, without experiencing the “stigma” of hearing aids, still very strong and difficult to defeat for many users.
Researchers tested first-generation AirPods 2 ($129 in the US) and AirPods Pro ($249 in the US) paired with a Phone XS Max running iOS 13, comparing the results with the $10,000 OTICON Opn 1 hearing aid , but also with a cheaper alternative, the $1500 Bernafon MD1. The four accessories were tested with 21 participants suffering from mild to moderate hearing loss; these were asked to repeat short sentences read by the researchers in various settings. In quiet environments, the AirPods Pro delivered the same level of performance as the cheapest hearing aid, and nearly as good as the more expensive one. The AirPods 2 performed worse than the four accessories tested, but were nonetheless cited as helping participants hear more clearly than is possible without any aids.
In noisy environments, the AirPods Pro performed similar to the more expensive hearing aid thanks to the active noise cancellation feature, but only when the noise was coming from the same side as the participants; if the noise is coming from in front, the two earphones don’t seem to help.
“Hearing aids remain the best option for those with hearing loss,” the researchers explain, “but for those who don’t have access to these devices for whatever reason, a cheaper product like Apple’s AirPods Pro can provide noticeable improvements in hearing and intelligibility for those with mild to moderate hearing loss, and may be a useful alternative until over-the-counter solutions become more readily available and affordable.”
