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Hi, I am Minah, a Home Expert from Best Buy,
and today we are going to talk about
over-the-counter hearing aids.
Roughly 30 million Americans are living with hearing loss.
Many delay treatment because of the high cost
of prescription hearing aids and visits
to a hearing care professional or audiologist.
The over-the-counter or OTC Hearing Aid Act
of 2017 was the first step,
but the rule announced on August 16th, 2022,
made it official, allowing retailers like Best Buy
to sell OTC hearing aids starting on October 17th, 2022,
provided certain requirements are met.
So medical exams, prescriptions, and fittings
by an audiologist are no longer required.
You can now buy them at Best Buy.
But before you do, let me walk you through
a few things to consider.
We'll focus on two models, the Sony CRE-C10
and the Jabra Enhance Plus OTC hearing aids.
Alright, let's get started.
The FDA recommends OTC hearing aids for anyone
with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss
over the age of 18.
If you have a severe hearing impairment,
it's recommended you consult a hearing care professional
or audiologist.
You may have mild to moderate hearing loss
if speech or other sounds seem muffled,
you have trouble hearing when you're in a group,
in a noisy area, on the phone,
or when you can't see who's talking.
You have to ask others to speak more slowly
or clearly, to talk louder, or to repeat what they said.
Or if you turn the volume higher than other people prefer
when watching TV or listening to music.
Many online hearing assessments are available to
help you determine your hearing needs.
Use the link below to take the Best Buy Hearing assessment.
The biggest benefit of OTC hearing aids
is that they're typically less expensive
than prescription hearing aids.
That's partially because you can adjust the volume,
pitch, and other settings directly
instead of having a hearing specialist do that.
OTC hearing aids are also self fitting.
Generally, each pair has a variety of different sized
silicone tips so that you can find the perfect fit.
And there is a wide range of behind the ear
or BTE, in the ear or ITE, and completely in canal,
also known as CIC, models to choose from,
depending on whether you want extra-long battery life
or a nearly invisible fit.
OTC hearing aids have prescription-quality sound,
and there are tons of available features,
all of which meet FDA standards.
All right, with that info in mind,
let's check out a few products.
Starting with the Sony CCE-C10.
This OTC hearing aid is a completely in canal design,
which means it's small enough to sit just
inside your ear canal for a nearly invisible fit.
Maybe you or someone you know avoids treating
their hearing loss because of a perceived stigma
around wearing hearing aids.
Completely in canal designs like these
are an excellent starting point.
They use standard size 10 batteries
and provide up to 70 hours of prescription-quality audio
with continuous use.
The Sony Hearing Control app is required
and available for Android and iPhone users.
During the setup process, it will assess your hearing
and create a personalized hearing profile.
In the app, you can control volume and sound balance,
and with the fine tuning feature,
you describe situations when you have trouble hearing,
and the CRE-C10 suggests tailored updates to try.
These OTC hearing aids have two features
that work together to analyze your environment
and automatically deliver incredible sound quality.
The first analyzes background noise to isolate
and turn it down.
The second feature creates an ear to ear wireless link
between the OTC hearing aids so they can work together
to amplify noise reduction.
And when the CRE-C10 OTC hearing aids work together,
they can tell where the sounds are coming from
and preserve that directionality for you to hear.
The Sony CRE-C10 comes with a carrying case,
cleaning tools, replacement batteries,
and four different sizes of ear tips.
Alright, now let's check out the Jabra Enhance Plus.
These OTC hearing aids are an in the ear design
that is 50% smaller than Jabra's Elite 75t
and 40% smaller than the Jabra Elite Seven Pro's.
So if you've used wireless earbuds before,
these will provide a familiar fit
that's a little more discreet.
The Jabra Enhance Plus OTC hearing aids are rechargeable
and last up to 12 hours on a single charge
and up to 35 hours total with the included charging case.
And I should also note that you can listen to music
and take calls by simply using the buttons on the side.
Like the other settings you can personalize
and fine tune in the Jabra Enhance app.
As of this filming, the Jabra Enhance Plus
and Enhance app are only compatible with iPhones,
so you'll need to consider another model
if you use an Android device.
The Enhance app walks you through the initial setup,
performs a hearing assessment,
and customizes the earbuds to your profile.
After that, you can select from three listen modes,
adaptive, focus, and surround.
Adaptive mode, the default setting, automatically adjusts
to your surroundings and conversations around you.
Focus mode uses directional microphones
to emphasize speech and sounds in front of you.
Imagine sitting across from someone in a busy restaurant.
Focus mode will turn their voice up
and the rest of the restaurant down.
And surround mode will let you hear sounds
coming from all around you.
That's perfect when you stroll through the park
or relax on the beach.
Also, the Jabra Enhance Plus has IP52-rated protection.
IP stands for ingress protection,
and the rating is how resistant the device is
to things like dust and water,
which means you can go about your day
and not worry about sweat and dust.
Finally, a charging case and cable are included
as well as a variety of ear gels to provide the perfect fit.
Hearing loss treatment is now within reach
of millions of Americans.
Whether you've decided now is the time to address
your hearing loss or you're looking for an inexpensive
alternative to your current prescription,
Best Buy is excited to help you find the right pair
for your lifestyle and hearing needs.
If you're ready to get started,
come visit a Blue Shirt in one of our stores,
or check out the options on BestBuy.com,
or use the link below to set up a time
with a Best Buy Home Expert like me.
We'll be happy to help.
Thanks for watching.
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