Apple's AirPods and Live Listen are a revolution for the hearing impaired
qz.com
qz.com
Only 1/3rd of the 15% with hearing loss are using hearing aids. That's a lot of suffering for what is really just from poor insurance in the US:
High-quality hearing aids fitted by an audiologist cost between $2,200 and $7,000 per pair. Prices vary by region, but the average cost of a mid-level pair of hearing aids is about $4,500.10 Most private insurance does not cover hearing aids. Only 3 states—Arkansas, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island—mandate coverage for adults, and just 20 states require that children’s hearing aids be covered by health insurance.11 Insurance companies say that they do not cover hearing aids because hearing aids are “elective” or because, unlike cochlear implants, hearing aids do not require a medical doctor’s prescription or surgical intervention. ...
Hearing loss can have a dramatic impact on work performance, family and social relationships, and mental health. Studies have found that hearing impairment is significantly associated with depression and social isolation, particularly among women.16,17 A national survey found that hearing loss also has a negative impact on household income, with a loss of earnings up to an average of $12,000 per year, with the severity of hearing loss directly correlated with the amount of lost income. The use of hearing devices was found to mitigate this effect by 50%.
https://altarum.org/health-policy-blog/millions-of-americans...
Not yet, but aging is a thing. I hope the accessibility options are the stuff of science fiction when I get old.
Medical equipment is interesting. Something like a pacemaker really needs to work but a hearing aid can probably do fine with a much lower reliability if it means they're affordable.
AirPods are going to change lives.
And here is my experience: It is great and feels like an Apple product.
1. The charge lasts. It lasts around 2-3 hours + charge 6-7 more times. Can go with the thing for a full day of usage without worrying.
2. It is seamless to get it working. You just open the case. Done. Then you can easily switch on the Mac after you connected it to your iPhone.
3. The sound is good. It is not too strong. But I guess this will protect me against my own stupidity.
4. The airpods are water resistant (though warranty doesn't cover that). I dropped one on my coffee cup. Still working good.
Simple. Nice. And it works. That's what I'm paying the premium for!
And yes, it is definitively worth the price. I use them for 3-4 hours per day. So if they last for a couple year, that's like $0.22/day for something that I use probably more than anything else.
I ordered them when they came out and figured I’d return/sell them if I didn’t like them. I had normal corded headphones, wasn’t sure I’d really care.
Given how long it took for them to fix supply issues that was a good decision.
But they really changed the way I do everything. They’re so small in their case that I can just carry it with me all the time, so I never have to worry about if I left my headphones somewhere. I always have some on me. By and large they sound better than my old headphones (comfortable/decent sounding $20 model, so no big surprise) but they’re so incredibly convenient.
I don’t remember the last thing I could give an unqualified recommendation to other than AirPods. Android users don’t get some of the benefits of easy pairing, and of course your ears have to fit the things... but they’re fantastic.
I would say I get a bit more than 3 hours on a charge - but maybe because they're still new. Agreed on the 6-7 charges from the case.
If they fit your ears yes, but if they don't fit your ears they're useless because they fall out after a few moments of use.
Happily they fit my ears perfectly, but nothing 'one size fits all' actually does.
I do run (and sweat) with the airpods with no problem. The jaybirds seem to be better designed for running though...
I have a set of NHS hearing aids (free and with a lifetime supply of free batteries), and they're effectively given a custom EQ profile to match my hearing loss (frequencies above 4khz). They also have feedback protection, which I can occasionally hear kicking in.
That’s it.
It won’t replace real hearing aids all the time. The battery only lasts 4 hours after all.
But for people without hearing aids it may be useful in lour places or to hear quiet talkers.
Just buy two, and keep one charging at all times. Two airpods are still about 1/10 the cost of hearing aids.
I’ve also had them since launch and use them basically every single day at work. Maybe those ridiculously tiny batteries have worn down a little bit.
An iPhone doesn't just have a microphone. It has 4 microphones.[1] And it has the ability to do some very sophisticated DSP on the sounds it receives.
So, unless your hearing aids communicate with each other (L and R) in real time, the iPhone might be able to do a better job. That's theory. Does it actually work that way in practice? I don't know.
It would be nice if Apple also did custom EQ like your hearing aids do. It would be pretty easy to add something like that in software, the hardware can certainly do it.
[1] https://www.quora.com/How-many-mic-does-the-iPhone-have (hopefully a Quora link is trustworthy)
These are just the free hearing aids you get on the NHS I believe so I would imagine that the ones you need to pay for are significantly more sophisticated in this respect.
I have no idea what is available in the US - perhaps this phone-based approach is good for people who don't have $10k to spend just to get some basic amplification?
I know from when my grandfather went through this stuff a few years ago capabilities varied widely. Everything from an electronic “ear tube” that does nothing but make things louder up too much fancier things with digital processing to help you hear voices. It all depended on how much money you had to spend/how good your insurance was. Sounded like it was common for people to get the low-end models and only something for one ear to try and save money.
iPhones cost much less, but many people still can't afford them. Perhaps a publicly provided health care approach would help people in the U.S.
It may simply be that this is built-in and thus more people will have/know about it.
But also being built in is big too
Now I'm very curious as to what current gen hearing aids are capable of.
[Edit: the comment is meant to be relevant because this seems cool and I like the lack of stigma, but a nearly silent headphone may not be ideal for the hard of hearing]
I was concerned Airpods would be the same way but so far (six months) they sound as good as ever.
1. They get dirty fast. So you clean them and it helps.
2. If you are on the Mac, lower the sound all the way down and then raise it again. It is a software bug.
I hope they fix this issue, but they’re also not expensive enough for me to hate having to buy new ones too much.
Re-pairing them from scratch fixed this. Might be worth a try.
I use it as a safety feature when riding my bicycle, and it is nothing short of amazing. I can hear birds tweeting in the trees around me, tire noise coming from cars, crystal clear conversation. I'd love to have the same feature in a smaller package.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/75578
...I bet the $49 "battery replacement" is really more like "small discount on a new AirPod or case".
But to answer your question: You can use AirPods as headphones with Android, but the "Live Listen" feature in the article is an iPhone feature.
I'm going to forward this article to her; hopefully she has an old phone she can install the beta on and try this.
Edit: it seems that the feature only appears when AirPods are in proximity. Seeing it in Beta 3 now that I’ve gone home and am close to the AirPods.