Can AirPods Pro Really Help You Hear Better? find it out

Apple devices attract attention not only for their high price but also for their innovative design, technology and features, a combination that usually results in quality products that satisfy the consumer. Now, another device from great technology is in the spotlight, but this time with a scientific basis that demonstrates a useful health feature: AirPods Pro can, yes, make you feel better.

The statement is made on the basis of research Posted in iScience, which claims that the pair of headphones can perform as well as the hearing aids prescribed by doctors, and that they usually cost much more (depending, of course, on the prescription, the manufacturer and the brand sold). However, there are caveats!

As revealed by The limit, the study recruited 21 participants to test the performance of AirPods Pro and second-generation AirPods Pro with a premium ($10,000) and a more basic ($1,500) hearing aid. In Brazil, a second generation AirPods Pro can cost R$2,000 to R$2,500. Hearing aids can range from R$3,000 to R$30,000.

Participants were asked to repeat the sentences they were told while using the device. The results showed that AirPods Pro performed comparable to entry-level hearing aids in quiet environments, with only slightly worse performance than premium hearing aids. Already the second generation AirPods had the worst performance of the four devices, even though, in practice, they have double the noise cancellation.

The good news is that the AirPods Pro are cheaper than the second generation version and come with Listen live And Conversation enhancement, options added just to include people with hearing impairments, part of the accessibility package. According to the study, these types of features are quite effective, but they don’t make them suitable replacements for hearing aids, especially for people with more advanced hearing loss.

The Other Side of the Coin (or AirPods Pro)

For the researchers, the finding is interesting, especially since there is a stigma around using traditional hearing aids. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)a US health agency equivalent to Anvisa in Brazil, has authorized the sale of hearing aids without a prescription, which makes their use even more feasible for people who have a mild to moderate condition.

However, despite the good performance of AirPods Pro, the study classified it more as a type of personal sound amplifiers (PSAP, its acronym in English), which are not customized to suit a person’s specific hearing loss, being intended to users with normal hearing who want to increase the sound, : Product type (PSAP) is not regulated by the FDA, as it does not meet the requirements for hearing impaired patients.

AirPods Pro use Bluetooth (Image credit: André Fogaça/Look Digital)

Also, earphones may not be as comfortable for everyday use as hearing aids require. Furthermore, for occasions such as dinners or meetings, the use may be considered inappropriate for not having the already known (and respected) appearance of a hearing aid.

The conclusion of the study is: AirPods Pro may be a useful hearing aid, but consumers should not confuse them with hearing aids. With the release of over-the-counter hearing aid sales and purchases in the United States, several companies are investing in new products and designs; Sony is an example of this, the company has already launched two such products. Apple and Samsung on the other hand still preferred to innovate based on the advancement of the software and the inclusion in the devices accessibility option.

Can AirPods Pro Really Help You Hear Better? Discover first appeared on Olhar Digital.

Source: Olhar Digital

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *