Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by yojo on Sunday November 23, 2025 @11:02PM (#46030257)

I got my father-in-law to try AirPods Pro 2 last year. He’s needed hearing aids for about a decade, but wouldn’t get them, I think for vanity reasons. I’m at the in-laws for thanksgiving and he’s wearing the AirPods now.

From the other side, it’s night and day. We can have conversations. He can hear my kids. The TV volume is set to reasonable levels.

Sample size of one, but it’s been a tremendous improvement. A lot of places are closing out the second gens right now for $140. I’d give it a go. It’s a pretty low price of entry for something that could literally be life changing.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by dhosek on Sunday November 23, 2025 @11:26PM (#46030380)

I would absolutely love for Apple to make proper hearing aids or license their chipset to a HA maker. Before I became completely dependent on HAs I had a set of Beats headphones with the Apple wireless chipset in it and the ease of switching between devices with it was amazing. With my current HAs I essentially only can use it for sound with my phone.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by mountainriver on Monday November 24, 2025 @12:53AM (#46030784)

This seems like such an easy win for them, hopefully they see the value

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by dhosek on Monday November 24, 2025 @02:19PM (#46038020)

The big problem is that I want prescription-level HAs and the regulatory apparatus around this is complex enough that they probably don’t want to bother.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by remh on Sunday November 23, 2025 @11:52PM (#46030509)

Thank you! My family member is in a similar boat. I guess I found my christmas present for him.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by shellfishgene on Monday November 24, 2025 @02:37AM (#46031356)

We also did this for my mom, but keep in mind this is a bit of a crutch that may keep them even more from getting a real hearing aid. My mom later had to go to the hospital, and because of battery life and other problems we regretted not pushing for a real hearing aid earlier. This caused real problems in the hospital.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by aaronbrethorst on Sunday November 23, 2025 @11:22PM (#46030363)

I did the same with my mom. Big improvement for her. She’s also subsequently gotten ‘real’ hearing aids and finds them much more fiddly to use than her AirPods Pro. She’s 83, FWIW.

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Re:Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? by pugworthy on Sunday November 23, 2025 @11:38PM (#46030431)

Yes I’d love HAs as easy to use as AirPods. AirPods with the HA form factor would have some real advantages, even for those not hard of hearing.

I don’t ever hide my hearing aids but the discrete nature of them is great.

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