Stream Audio Directly Into Your Hearing Aids With Superb Clarity.

Bluetooth technology allows two devices to communicate with each other wirelessly. It has become a very popular way of transmitting audio, its used in Apple's AirPods, hands-free in-car phone calls, smart speakers and many other things. In the last few years Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids have generated a real buzz and now all the major manufacturers offer it in most of their hearing aid models.

Streaming phone calls directly to your hearing aids is a huge improvement over a convential phone call. If you are someone who is reluctant to use the phone because they struggle to hear it then Bluetooth hearing aids may be the answer.

Bluetooth audio is very clear and crisp in itself but another reason that phonecalls via Bluetooth are much easier to hear and understand is that when your hearing aids are streaming they can block out much more of the environmental sounds around you and focus on the caller. This is akin to wearing noise cancelling headphones: you can choose to hear no background noise and just the stream.

How Do Bluetooth Hearing Aids Work?

Two bluetooth-enabled devices that want to communicate with each other need to be "paired". Most hearing aids are in pairing mode for a few seconds after they are switched on, so to initiate the connection between your aids and you phone you need to have them close to each other, then switch the aids on (usually by closing the battery door), set your phone to look for new bluetooth devices and within a few secondss a "do you want to pair this device" message will pop up. Once you've said yes your hearing aids should remain paired with the phone forever.

After the pairing has been done, your aids and your phone will connect with each other automatically when they are both switched on and near to each other. This means that any calls you receive will automatically play directly in your hearing aids, you will hearing the ring in your aids too. The same happens if you decide to play a Youtube video or something on Spotify: the audio plays in your hearing aids automatically.

Made For iPhone

Many hearing aids are now "Made for iPhone" devices. All of the big-name manufacturers have at least one model that is Made for iPhone: Oticon's Opn S, Signia's Styletto Connect, Phonak's Marvel and GN ReSound's LiNX to name but a few. 

A Made for iPhone device intergrates very closely with Apple's devices, this means that you are able to control your hearing aids from the main Apple menus of your phone. For example, you can easily set volume and hearing programme from the pop up menu on the iPhone.

If you are an iPhone user then a Made For iPhone hearing is definitely worth considering.

Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)

It is important to note that many hearing aids use a particular kind of Bluetooth called Bluetooth LE (low energy). This means that they can only connect to device that also support Bluetooth LE. It is important that you check your phone and any other devices you plan to connect to before considering which hearing aid is right for you.

Some hearing aids do support normal Bluetooth, currently Phonak, Unitron and Hansaton offer these.

Bluetooth Is a Real Game Changer

Many people saw bluetooth as a "nice to have" for a long time but I believe its more than that: it enables you to talk on the phone so much easier and makes listening to music a pleaure again.