This happened a few years ago. I put on a new pair of wireless earbuds (I can’t remember the actual model), turned on the transparency mode, and swore out loud at the clarity. Thanks to the earbuds’ highly sensitive microphones, I was hyper-aware of my surroundings. It felt almost like a superpower.
So I wasn’t surprised when Apple came up with a hearing aid feature for the AirPods Pro 2 in 2024. It builds on Apple’s excellent transparency mode, but adapted to help those with mild to moderate hearing loss.
But while consumer tech firms are exploring the medical potential of their earbuds, the hearing aid industry, too, seems to be borrowing ideas and features from audio firms. Take the Oticon Zeal, the latest in-the-ear hearing aid from one of the biggest hearing aid manufacturers in the world, for example.
The specs for the Oticon Zeal read like something you’ll find in the latest wireless earbuds. Bluetooth LE Audio, Auracast (!), Google Fast Pair,…
