Apple made waves when it introduced that its AirPods Pro 2, when mixed with iOS 18.1, may fulfill the function of OTC listening to aids. Given that OTC listening to aids can typically run as a lot as $1,500, it appeared too good to be true that the identical listening to advantages could possibly be had for simply $249 or much less. Better but, given the recognition of Apple’s wi-fi earbuds, there’s a good chance that those that may benefit already personal them (in the event you reside in a rustic the place Apple’s listening to help characteristic has been accredited).
So how good are the AirPods Pro 2 as OTC listening to aids?
To discover out, I checked out two key efficiency standards: the accuracy of Apple’s software-driven listening to take a look at, and their means to supply speech enhancement.
Testing the take a look at
Typically, prescription listening to aids are offered by a licensed audiologist. Before you get them, the audiologist will take a look at your listening to utilizing professionally calibrated devices in a sound-proof sales space. The outcomes, generally known as an audiogram, are used to customise the listening to aids for you. At-home OTC listening to aids carry out an identical take a look at through software program, and depend on the consumer to discover a suitably quiet location.
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My maternal grandfather struggled with listening to after he turned 60, and my father has reasonable listening to loss in a single ear. With that type of household historical past, I get my listening to professionally checked yearly to observe my very own well being.
Here’s how Apple’s audiogram of my listening to (December 2024) compares to my most up-to-date audiologist examination (October 2024).
While the Apple audiogram barely overestimated my high-frequency loss (presumably as a result of my take a look at setting wasn’t quiet sufficient), it precisely measured my sensitivity throughout different frequencies, together with the slight variations between my left and proper ears.
I shared the Apple end result with my audiologist, and she or he agreed that it seemed pretty correct, exceeding her expectations for an at-home take a look at.
In the lab
In a really perfect world, we’d consider the AirPods Pro 2’s speech enhancement utilizing each qualitative outcomes (gathered from folks’s real-world assessments) and quantitative outcomes (lab-based testing).
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to collect qualitative information, however I did get in contact with HearAdvisor, an unbiased listening to help testing firm. HearAdvisor has lab-tested a wide range of OTC and prescription listening to help fashions, together with the AirPods Pro 2, and maintains a broadcast listing of one of the best merchandise.
For OTC merchandise, the testing methodology evaluates units primarily based on 5 main standards utilizing the preliminary settings created by the software-based listening to take a look at. When potential, these settings are professionally tuned and the assessments are repeated to see if there’s a distinction within the outcomes.
The AirPods Pro 2 acquired a B grade, inserting them within the second tier of HearAdvisor’s rankings. While that doesn’t appear particularly noteworthy, the assessments revealed a considerable distinction between the preliminary and tuned outcomes. “Speech in quiet” and “speech in noise” — arguably a very powerful standards for any listening to aids — each elevated by greater than double (111% and 225%, respectively) after being tuned.
This means that whereas Apple’s audiogram technology could also be correct, the corporate’s tuning undercuts the potential of the AirPods Pro 2 to ship one of the best listening to enhancement.
Why would Apple do that, when presumably it has entry to the identical (or higher) evaluation know-how as HearAdvisor? “They might do that as a result of new listening to help customers typically favor less-than-prescribed acquire (in all probability to protect naturalness, at the price of intelligibility),” HearAdvisor scientific adviser Andrew Sabin advised me.
Curiously, the present king of the OTC listening to help hill based on HearAdvisor’s assessments is Sony’s CRE-E10, with an A grade, and an ideal 5/5 total rating for each their preliminary and tuned outcomes. Still, the CRE-E10 promote for between $898 and $1,199 (260%-480% greater than the AirPods Pro 2) and but they don’t ship equally massive will increase in efficiency.
The CRE-E10 proved 18.4% higher than the AirPods Pro 2 in speech in quiet, and 73% higher in speech in noise. Arguably, this makes the AirPods Pro 2 a superb worth, and a good way to experiment with listening to enhancement in the event you’re on the fence. Even if you find yourself turning the characteristic off, you’re nonetheless getting an excellent set of wi-fi noise-canceling earbuds for music and telephone calls.
