Review: Signia Active Pro Hearing Aids - WIRED

Review: Signia Active Pro Hearing Aids ... These app-controlled hearing aids look like the regular earbuds that everyone's wearing these days. SkiptomaincontentBackchannelBusinessCultureGearIdeasScienceSecurityPodcastsVideoArtificialIntelligenceClimateGamesNewslettersMagazineEventsWiredInsiderCouponsEarlyAmazonPrimeDayDealsBestCampingCookwareHowtoBuyandSetUpaProjectorSunglassesforOutdoorAdventuresBuyingGuidesGadgetLabNewsletter$3,000atSigniaIfyoubuysomethingusinglinksinourstories,wemayearnacommission.Thishelpssupportourjournalism.Learnmore.PleasealsoconsidersubscribingtoWIREDRating:7/10OpenratingexplainerInformationWIREDModerndesignremovesthestigmaofwearingatraditionalhearingaid.Audiologistcanendlesslytweakyourconfigurationtoperfectyouraudioexperience.Outstandingbatterylife.TIREDSomelevelofhissisunavoidable.Hearingaidsbecomeuncomfortableovertime.NotagreatoptionforlisteningtoaudioviaBluetooth.I’mnotsurewhenIstartedtolosemyhearing,butitwastwoyearsagowhenIhaditformallytestedinafancyechochamber.ThedoctorsaidthatIwasgoingtoneedahearingaid,soonerorlater.Hopefullylater.Eitherway,thenumberswereclear:Myhearinglosswasnowat26percent,mostlystuffintheupperfrequencies,anditwasprobablygoingtogetworse.It’smoreofanuisancetomyfamilythantome.Whenmywifeasksinthedeadofnight,“Didyouhearthat?”Iinvariablyhavetosayno.Anyonewhotriestotalktomefromanotherroomsoundsmuffledatbest—notthatthatstopsthemfromtrying.AndIfindmyselfconstantlyasking“What?”inconversations;itwasespeciallyaproblembackwhencrowdedrestaurantswereathing.Mostofthetime,however,myhearinglossisn’tthatbiganissue,solongasIcanturnupthevolumeontheTV—thoughthat’sanotherbattleground.Butastheeardoctorpredictedtwoyearsago,itisgettingworse,andI’velatelybeenwonderingifitmightbetimetostartinvestigatingsomesupportintheformofhearingaids.(There’ssolidmedicalrationaleheretoo;evenmild,uncorrectedhearinglossdoublesyourriskofdementia.)Iknewthathearingaidshadcomealongwayinrecentyears,andimpossiblysmalldeviceswithapp-basedcontrolsthatletyoufine-tuneyouraudioarenowcommonplace.ButwhenSigniatoldmeaboutitsproduct,itseemedtobeacaseofperfecttiming.Thecompany’spitchasked,“Howdoyouconvincepeoplewithhearinglosswhohavenotyetdecidedtowearhearingaidstodoso?”Thesubtextbeing,howdoyoumakethemfeellessold?TheSigniaproductlinerevolvesaroundasimpleconceit:Whatifwemadehearingaidslooklikeregularearbuds,removingthestigmaofthedevice?Andwhiletheylookthepart,what’sunderthehoodisapairoffull-blownhearingaids,fine-tuneddevicesthataredesignednottoblastTheWeekndatyoubuttoimproveyourhearinginarangeofsituations.Ishouldnotethat,whileIworkeddirectlywithSigniatoobtainandsetupmyreviewdevice,consumerswillonlybeabletogetSigniaproductsthroughamedicaldoctor.(Sitesthatselltheseproductsonlinedirectlytoconsumersarebogus,saysSignia.)Youneedtogothroughmedicalchannelsbecauseatrainedaudiologistmusttunetheearpiecesbasedontheparticularsofyourhearingloss.Theaudiologistwillexamineyouraudiogram—whichtrackswhatfrequenciesyou’remissing—andpumpupthevolumeforthemappropriately.Thenyou’llgothroughlivetestingwithavarietyofaudioinputs.“Betterlikethis?Orbetterlikethis?”Thedevicecanbetweakedagainovertimebut,outsideofafewbasicsettings,notbytheenduser.DeepListeningTheSigniaActiveProhearingaidscomewithachargingcase. Photograph:SigniaDuetoCovid-19restrictions,Ididallofmyworkwiththeaudiologistoveravideochatsession.Thisisunorthodoxandperhapsnotideal,butIwasdefinitelyabletohearthedifferencethatherreal-timedeviceconfigurationchanges—deliveredviathecloud—madetothesoundquality.Assomeonewho’sneverwornhearingaids,Ifoundthattheydefinitelytooksomegettingusedto.Hearingaidsextendmuchdeeperintotheearcanalthanastandardearbud,whichmakesthemdifficulttoputin,moredifficulttotakeout,andmildlyuncomfortableallthetime.Afterafewhoursofsustaineduse,Ifoundthatmyearswouldbegintoitch,necessitatingabreakfromwearingthem,atleastforatime.SigniaActiveProHearingAidsRating:7/10$3,000atSigniaIfyoubuysomethingusinglinksinourstories,wemayearnacommission.Thishelpssupportourjournalism.Learnmore.PleasealsoconsidersubscribingtoWIREDWiththeSigniaActiveProhearingaidsin,andthismightsoundobvious,everythingislouder.That’sbothagoodthingandabadthing.Yes,theTVislouder.Yes,mywife’svoiceislouder.Butsoismyvoice.SoistherustlingofthebagofchipsI’meating,andsoismycrunching.Thescratchofapencilonapieceofpapercansounddeafening,andeverylittlenoiseechoes.Ieventuallystartedtofeelparanoid,likesomeonewasalwaysbehindme—onlytorealizethatthesoundIwashearingwastheechoofmycreakingdeskchair.Thereisalsoalwayssomelevelofbackgroundhiss,sometimeshigh,sometimesquitelow.Ipresumethatifyou’resuperdeafyouprobablydon’treallynoticeit;maybeinafewyearsI’llbeatthatpoint.Aftersomeinitialtesting,IwentbacktoSigniaforaZoom-sessiontweak,boostingfrequenciesthatwouldmakeTVaudioclearer,reducethevolumeofmyownvoice,andmitigatehiss.Thechangeshelped,butIsoongottheimpressionthatwewerereachingapointofdiminishingreturns,andthatthingswerejustaboutasgoodastheyweregoingtoget.Turnsoutthough,that’sprettygood.The“everythingislouder”approachworkedwellenoughintheend,providedIwasn’tmovingaroundalotortryingtoeatwhilelistening.AndthemoreIworetheunits,themorecomfortabletheygot,thoughIstillhaven’treachedthepointwhereIfeellikeIcouldwearthemallday.Evenafterweeksoftesting,IreallyonlyfeltlikewearingthemwhenIknewinadvanceIwasgoingtoneedthem.HumanConnectionYouraudiologistcantuneyourhearingaidsandsetyouupwithpresetmodesfordifferentsituations. Photograph:SigniaTheActiveProhearingaidsconnecttoyourphoneoverBluetoothandcandoubleasstreamingaudiomonitorsinapinch,butIcan’trecommendthemforthispurpose.Whiletheyturndownthevolumeoftheoutsideworldabitwhileyou’relisteningtomusicorwatchingamovie,theydon’tblockitoutlikeapairofnoise-cancelingearbudscan.Whatyou’releftwithisastrangecombinationoftheentertainmentprogramyou’reenjoyingandeverythingelse.WhilewearingtheActiveProsatthegym,itwaslikehavinganambientBonJovisoundtrackoverlaidontopoftheNetflixmovieIwaswatching,anditmademelongformyusualearbuds.Plus,there’slikenobassatall.SigniaActiveProHearingAidsRating:7/10$3,000atSigniaIfyoubuysomethingusinglinksinourstories,wemayearnacommission.Thishelpssupportourjournalism.Learnmore.PleasealsoconsidersubscribingtoWIREDSignia’sappofferssomerudimentarymanualcontrols—namelyvolume,whichInormallyhadpeggedatmaximum,plusabass-trebleslider.InUniversalmode,youcanfine-tunedirectionalhearing—forexample,bypumpingupaudioinfrontofyouwhileblockingnoisebehindyou.There'salsoaFaceMaskmode,whichisdesignedtoclarifythevoicesofpeoplewhosemouthsaremuffledbehindfacecoverings.Ifyouraudiologistsetsupdifferentusagemodes,youcanswitchamongthemintheapptoo.IhavemodesforNoisyEnvironment,ReverberantRooms,andTV,tonameafew.Theyalltendtoworkreasonablywellfortheirdesignatedpurposes,thoughthesoundneveroffersthecrystal-clearaudioexperienceI’vedreamedof.Inkeepingwiththeearbudtheme,theActiveProhearingaidscomewithachargingcasethatprovidesuptothreefull26-hourcharges,enoughtomakeitthroughalongweekendwithouthavingtojuiceupthecase.ThecaseitselfincludesbothUSB-CandQiwirelesscharging,whichmakesitextremelyflexible.Evenbetter,notonepersonhasaskedmeaboutmyhearingaids,becausenoonehasrealizedIwaswearingthem.Wearingearbudsinpublicissuchanormalpartoflifenowthatpeopleprobablythoughtnothingofthematall.Thatsaid,iftheyhadknownhowmuchthesethingscost—between$3,000and$7,000dependingonyourmedicalprovider—perhapstheirthoughtswouldhaverunelsewhere.Tobehonest,I’mprobablyjustnottothepointofhearinglosswherethiskindofcashoutlaymakessense.DuringtimeswhenIremovedthehearingaidsanddidn’thavethecasehandytostowthemaway,IfeltlikeIwassmugglingpreciouscontrabandinmypocketsforwhichIcouldgetshankedatanymoment.BestputthembackinsoIcanhearthefootstepsofthemuggersgainingonme,no?SigniaActiveProHearingAidsRating:7/10$3,000atSigniaIfyoubuysomethingusinglinksinourstories,wemayearnacommission.Thishelpssupportourjournalism.Learnmore.PleasealsoconsidersubscribingtoWIRED$3,000atSigniaTopicsaudioWearablesAccessoriesandPeripheralsReviewsShopping