- In this video, I'm sharing my picks
for the best receiver in-canal hearing aids
as we enter 2021, coming up.
(upbeat hip hop music)
Hi guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions
in Phoenix, Arizona.
And on this channel,
I cover a bunch of hearing-related information
to help make you a better informed consumer.
So if you're into that,
make sure you hit that Subscribe button,
and don't forget to click the bell
to receive a notification every time I post a new video.
2020 may have been a horrible year due to the pandemic,
but when it came to the release
of some new hearing aid technology,
2020 was absolutely fantastic.
So I wanna take a few minutes
and share my opinion on what I think
are the best receiver in-canal hearing aids
as we enter 2021,
and I'm also going to link the video
where I talk about the best in-ear hearing aids
as we enter 2021
in the description of this video.
But before I share my picks,
I need to explain that it does not matter
how awesome the hearing aids are
that I share in this video
if you do not have a hearing care professional
who can properly fit and program these devices
following best practices.
Now if you do not know what best practices are,
then I highly recommend that you check out my video
that I will link in the description,
because even the best hearing aids in the world
will underperform if best practices are not followed.
Also, I do not share pricing information in this video,
because pricing is heavily influenced
by the city and state that you live in
and whether or not your hearing care professional
dispenses hearing aids in a bundled or unbundled fashion.
All right, that being said,
all of the hearing aids that I talk about in this video
also has a detailed review on my YouTube channel.
So if you're looking for some more detailed information
and specifications on these particular devices,
feel free to check out those videos on my channel.
Without further delay,
let's go ahead and get into
what I think are the best receiver in-canal hearing aids
as we enter 2021.
And in no particular order,
we're going to start with the Starkey Livio Edge Ai.
Starkey launched the Livio Edge Ai in January of 2020
as an update to their Livio Ai devices.
Starkey is well-known as being the Fitbit of hearing aids,
because with their Starkey Thrive app,
they track a lot of your brain and body data,
and they compile this into a Thrive score.
The intent of this type of tracking
is to encourage you to use your hearing aids more,
since your hearing, brain, and physical health
are all closely linked.
They come in a wide range of technology levels,
from the tier 1 premium i2400 model,
all the way down to the tier 5 base i1000 model.
While it's impossible to give specific price information,
each time you go down in technology level,
it typically saves you money,
but you do have to give up
different customizations and features
inside of those devices as well.
The Liveo Edge Ai hearing aids
now have the ability to be remotely adjusted
by your hearing care professional in real time
so they can make adjustments
while you're wearing the hearing aids
in the comfort of your own home.
These are also the perfect hearing aids
for individuals who have caregivers.
With Starkey Thrive Care,
these hearing aids can send information to a caregiver,
so the caregiver can monitor the usage of the wearer.
Also, if an individual with these hearing aids falls over,
the hearing aids will send a notification to the caregiver,
so the caregiver can reach out
and identify whether or not that individual needs help.
The Livio Edge Ai devices are made for iPhone,
but now they have the ASHA Bluetooth protocol,
so you can use them with your Android device as well,
and still be able to do streaming.
Edge mode is a cool feature that allows you to hear better
in complex situations,
and instead of me actually explaining this to you,
let me go ahead and give you a quick sound sample.
(crowd cheering)
(announcers excitedly calling a game)
- [Announcer] He's going, he's going,
he's got it.
(announcers calling simultaneously)
No, not a flag, come on, ref, are you kidding me?
- Overall, the Livio Edge Ai hearing aids
are very impressive hearing aids,
especially if you want your hearing aids to do other things
than just treat your hearing loss.
The second hearing aid on my list
is the Phonak Audeo Paradise.
The Audeo Paradise hearing aids
were released in late third quarter of 2020,
improving upon the very popular Marvel line of devices
that were released in 2018.
Like most hearing aid brands,
the Paradise comes in four different technology levels,
ranging from the tier 1 premium P90 level
down to the tier 4 basic P30 level.
Once again, each time that you drop down
in technology level, you typically save money,
but you do give up the customizations and features
each time you drop down.
They do have disposable battery
and rechargeable battery options in their devices,
and you do have the option of a telecoil or no telecoil.
The Paradise hearing aids are still made for any phone,
so if you have an Android phone or an Apple phone,
it does not matter,
you can stream audio directly into the hearing aids,
and you can be completely hands-free.
So when you're on a phone call,
the microphones on the hearing aids
actually take your voice
and send it to the person on the other end of the line.
Phonak did add a couple of nice new features
with the Paradise devices
that you could not get with the Marvel line of devices.
The first one is
you can have two active pairings at the same time
using Bluetooth Classic.
So if you want a tablet and a phone
connected to the hearing aids
and paired to the hearing aids
at the exact same time, you can do that,
and it's very seamless
for how those interact with each other.
The rechargeable version of the hearing aids
also have a motion sensor inside of them,
which improves your ability to hear and understand speech
when there's movement involved,
but more importantly, it actually has a feature
called Tap Control that you can use
on the rechargeable versions of these devices,
so you can do things like answer your phone call
just by double-tapping your ear.
You can actually double-tap your ear to stop streaming.
You can double-tap your ear to resume streaming.
You can also access a voice assistant
with a double-tap as well.
Phonak still has one of the best
remote care platforms out there,
so if you're one of those individuals
who has difficulty getting in
to see your hearing care professional,
you can still have live programming sessions with them
when you're in the comfort of your own home.
Phonak also has some of the best wireless accessories
with the Roger line of remote microphones
and the TV connector,
which can take audio directly from your TV
and stream it right into your hearing aids.
Overall, the Paradise hearing aids
are very popular hearing aids,
and I expect them to be extremely popular
for the next several years.
The third hearing aid I have on the list
is the ReSound One.
The ReSound One was also released
in late third quarter of 2020,
and it replaces the previous LiNX line of devices.
This is the first receiver in-canal hearing aid ever
to take a microphone
and actually put it inside of the ear canal.
They call this the M&RIE,
which stands for microphone and receiver in-ear.
The purpose of the M&RIE
is to utilize the wearer's natural pinna effect
which helps you localize where sound is coming from better,
and it gives you more natural ability to hear
in noisy environments.
The pinna effect is something
that hearing aid manufacturers
have been trying to replicate for years
inside of the receiver in-canal hearing aids.
But actually taking a microphone
and putting it inside of your ear canal
to utilize your actual pinna
the natural way it was intended to be used
is always going to be better.
The ReSound One only comes in three different tech levels.
You have the tier 1 premium level 9,
the tier 2 advanced level 7,
and the tier 3 basic level five.
You can get these hearing aids
in non-rechargeable, disposable battery versions
or rechargeable versions that use a lithium battery.
But if you want a telecoil,
you have to go with the disposable size 13 battery version.
The ReSound One still uses all of the great accessories
that ReSound has used in the past with the LiNX devices,
so you have the Multi Mic, the Mini Mic,
the TV Streamer, and the Phone Clip.
Keeping up with the trend,
ReSound One now has the ability
to stream directly from an Android device
using the ASHA Bluetooth protocol,
but they are still made-for-iPhone hearing aids.
So whether you have an iPhone
or an Apple device or an Android device,
you can stream from both.
Overall, the ReSound One is a great hearing aid,
and it is on par with any of the best hearing aids
on the market right now.
Fourth on the list is the Oticon More.
The Oticon More hearing aid was released in January of 2021,
which technically makes it
the newest hearing aid on the list.
Building on the extreme popularity
of the Opn and Opn S devices,
it uses the same methodology
when you get into a background noise something,
which is to amplify selectively sounds that are important,
but not necessarily making it feel
like you have blinders on.
The More comes in three different technology levels,
starting with the tier 1 premium More 1,
the tier 2 advanced More 2,
and the tier 3 basic More 3.
The More hearing aids have a lot of adjustment handles
so you can customize these devices very precisely
to hearing loss prescriptive targets
using real ear measurement.
The premium level has 24 adjustment handles;
the advanced has 20,
and the basic has a whopping 18 adjustment handles.
As of this recording,
there is only a rechargeable option of the More,
but we do expect there to be disposable battery options
as we head off into 2021.
And the rechargeable version that's available right now
does have a telecoil.
While there is not yet a cross available
with the More line of devices,
I do expect a cross option to become available
later on in 2021 or 2022.
Oticon is also keeping up with the trend
of using the ASHA Bluetooth protocol
to be able to stream directly from an Android device,
as well as being able to stream from an Apple device,
since this hearing aid technically
is a made-for-iPhone hearing aid.
However, the real claim to fame
of the Oticon More hearing aid
is the use of a deep neural network
so the hearing aid can use deep learning
to help you hear better in complex listening situations.
Now there is nowhere near enough time
for me to explain what a deep neural network is,
or what deep learning is,
so I highly recommend that you check out my review
of this hearing aid that I have on my YouTube channel.
Overall, the Oticon More hearing aid
could be the benchmark for how sound is processed
as we head into the future of hearing aids.
Fifth, on the list, we have the WIDEX MOMENT hearing aid.
The WIDEX MOMENT was released in mid-2020,
replacing the EVOKE line of devices,
which were very popular in their own right.
But the claim to fame for the WIDEX MOMENT hearing aid
is their extremely fast sound processing speed.
Where most hearing aids take anywhere
between four to nine milliseconds to process sound,
the WIDEX MOMENT, using the PureSound program
with zero-delay sound processing,
can process sound in less than one millisecond.
The reason why this is so important
is because it reduces the cone filter effect that occurs
when delayed amplified sound and natural sound
combine inside of your ear canal.
If this delay is too long,
the cone filter effect introduces distortion
to the signal that you're hearing.
So in order to eliminate the cone filter effect,
you have to get rid of the delay.
And the way that you do that
is to speed up the processing
of the sound going through the hearing aid.
Widex also introduced TruAcoustics
with their MOMENT hearing aids,
which takes the vent effects
and uses that in the calculation of the first fit.
So it's supposed to give you a closer approximation
to your prescriptive targets
before verifying with real ear measurement.
The MOMENT hearing aids come in disposable battery options,
as well as rechargeable options,
and you also have the options of a telecoil.
These hearing aids do come
in four different technology levels,
starting with the tier 1 premium 440 model,
the tier 2 330,
the tier 3 220,
and a tier 4 basic 110 model.
Now the WIDEX MOMENT is a made-for-iPhone hearing aid,
and they are supposed to be adding
the ASHA Bluetooth protocol,
but as of right now,
you can not stream directly from an Android device.
Widex is also very well-known
for their Zen fractal tones,
which are excellent for treating tinnitus.
Most hearing aid manufacturers just use a static noise
to mask over the perception of your tinnitus,
but Widex has a variety of different Zen fractal tones,
which do, in my opinion, better job.
The WIDEX MOMENT has one of the most fully featured
remote care platforms
for long distance live programming,
and the MOMENT still uses the popular machine learning
SoundSense Learn app feature,
that lets you train your hearing aids on your preferences
by making AB comparisons in real world listening situations.
Overall, the WIDEX MOMENT hearing aid
is a fantastic hearing aid
if you have a mild to moderate hearing loss,
so you can use that zero-delay sound processing,
or if you have tinnitus.
And last, but definitely not least,
the sixth hearing aid to make my list
for best receiver in-canal hearing aids in 2021
is the Signia Styletto X.
Signia has continued to improve
upon the performance and capabilities
of their organizational Styletto hearing aid
that was released several years ago.
However, just because Signia focused a lot
on the style of these hearing aids,
it does not mean that they sacrifice performance.
The Styletto X only comes in a rechargeable option,
and it does come with a very sleek charging case
that stores three additional charges
without you having to have this plugged into the wall.
It comes in three different technology levels.
You have the tier 1 premium 7X model,
the tier 2 advanced 5X model,
and the tier 3 basic 3X model.
Some of the key features of the Styletto hearing aid
is the motion sensor inside of them,
so it can actually tell if you're on the move
or if you're in a static position
so it can adjust the microphones
of your hearing aids accordingly.
And it has a very popular feature
called Own Voice Processing.
So if you're the type of individual
that does not like the sound of your amplified voice,
you can actually train these hearing aids
to reduce the amount of amplification
that is given to your voice
without reducing the sound
that is being amplified from around you.
The Styletto X can stream directly from a smartphone,
but it has to be an Apple smartphone.
It is not yet compatible with Android devices.
Now you can use an Android device with these devices,
but you're not gonna be getting any direct streaming.
You do have remote care capabilities
with these hearing aids,
so if you, again, have issues with mobility,
you can have a live remote session
with your hearing care professional
without even going into their office.
Overall, the Styletto X hearing aid
is the perfect hearing aid
for someone who wants to hear better
and make a fashion statement at the same time.
There are a lot of great hearing aid options out there,
it just depends on what your specific wants and needs are.
Because what might be right for someone else
might not be right for you.
Your success with any one of these hearing aids
also has a lot to do with whether or not
your hearing care professional
is really well versed at programming that particular brand,
and, of course, whether or not they follow best practices.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the Comment section below.
If you the video, please share it,
and if you wanna see other videos just like this one,
go ahead and hit that Subscribe button.
Also feel free to check out my website, DrCliffAuD.com.
(upbeat hip hop music)