Katharina Buczek
Back in 2016, Apple released a feature known as “Live Listen” that allowed people to use the company’s wireless earphones, such as AirPods, for sound amplification.
So, the researchers were interested to see whether or not these widely accessible consumer devices could also double as alternative hearing aids.
They specifically focused on the AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro, which the latter offers a noise-canceling feature. Then, the team compared these models against both a basic and premium model of hearing aids.
The basic model costs about one thousand and five hundred dollars; meanwhile, the premium hearing aids are ten thousand dollars.
On the flip side, AirPods 2 cost only one hundred and twenty-nine dollars, and the AirPods Pro is two hundred and forty-nine dollars.
Twenty-one participants who suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss also tested all four devices and were asked to repeat short sentences read by the researchers word-for-word.
This exercise revealed that Airpods Pro performed comparably to the basic hearing aids while in a quiet environment and slightly below the premium hearing aids.
Still, the Airpods Pro actually achieved four out of the five hearing aid technology standards.
The AirPods 2 did have the most inferior performance out of the four devices. Nonetheless, it reportedly helped participants hear clearer as compared to when they wore no hearing aids.
The largest issue with the AirPods Pro occurred in noisy environments. When noise traveled from a lateral direction, the device’s performance was comparable to premium hearing aids.
When noise occurred in front of the participant, though, the device was unable to help participants hear more clearly.
