Bluetooth hearing aids

Ear Health, Hearing Aids

Bluetooth hearing aids

Gone are the analogue hearing aid days where the bulky pinkish devices were mostly just amplifiers sitting on your ears. Today, we have digital hearing aid technology and with that come a multitude of possibilities. One of those possibilities is the use of Bluetooth technology.

What is Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows the transfer of data e.g. music from one device to another. It works by sending radio waves through the air over a given distance (roughly less than 10metres). Bluetooth uses radio waves at 2.4GHz and allows a continuous and smooth transfer of information e.g. when you listen to your playlist when your phone is connected to a Bluetooth speaker. This process requires a significant amount of power. Hearing aids generally use Bluetooth low energy or BLE, this means that it remains in sleep mode until a connection is required and therefore, it consumes less power than standard Bluetooth, this is perfect for such a small listening device.

Why have Bluetooth in hearing aids?

Bluetooth allows you to connect directly with your compatible iPhone ® and Android ™ mobile phones and other listening devices. This means you can stay more connected. Instead of requiring wireless headphones to listen to your music or phone call, for example, you could stream directly to your hearing aids.

How do Bluetooth in hearing aids work?

Bluetooth hearing aid in 2021 — GN ReSound One hearing aid

Most iPhones are already BLE enabled, all you need to look out for is Made for iPhone (MFI) hearing aids and these will work with any devices on the ios platform, such as an iPad. If you have Android version 10 onwards then your phone will also be BLE enabled. Older versions of Android, however, still use standard Bluetooth technology and won’t work the same way. You can still get the benefits of streaming directly to your hearing aids with older Android devices by using an intermediary streamer such as the Oticon Clip which allows two-way streaming so you can take phone calls or listen to music through your hearing aids

Personalisation

Bluetooth hearing aids offer a very personalised option. The possibilities of connecting with a Smartphone are endless and can only enhance your overall listening experience.

Like all Bluetooth devices your hearing aids first need to be paired with the device that you want to connect to. Let’s take your mobile phone. Within Android you start by activating the Bluetooth setting, you then need to switch your hearing aids off and on and hold the hearing aids within range of your mobile phone. Your hearing aids will then show in the list of Bluetooth devices. For iPhones, head to the accessibility tab under settings and click MFI and pairing mode. If you have the app then there should be a pairing mode within the app, as well.

Are there any disadvantages of Bluetooth hearing aids?

Even with Bluetooth LE, if you are always connected, like any device, this will use up more battery power. Having rechargeable hearing aids is a good workaround as you can pop them in your charging station over night and they are ready to go by the next day. Not everyone wants high tech and that is OK, the more you understand about hearing aids the better your choice, after all you need to be comfortable wearing them.

Hearing Aid Apps

For even more functionality each hearing aid manufacturer has an app that helps you to control your hearing aids and help you hear better in different listening situations. You will need to download these from the Apple App Store or Google Play, accordingly.

Oticon On:

myPhonak:

ReSound Smart 3D (3D models):

Starkey TruLink:

Starkey Thrive:

Widex Beyond:

Widex Moment:

Hearing aid types

Hearing aids are available in basic form without all of the extra tech abilities if that is your preference. For those of you that are more tech savvy there are more sophisticated artificial intelligence enabled devices. Some are also family or carer friendly and have the option of ‘fall alert’ messages to be sent to loved ones. Hearing aids come in different sizes and colours, too.