Wyze hearing aids would be a fabulous idea. They do everything else good but cheaper, and decent hearing aids are crazy expensive.
1 Like
There is a real need for an affordable hearing aid. Would be a tremendous help to seniors on fixed income. They are a one way audio device and Iām sure with Wyzeās expertise you could come out with a device at reasonable cost. The market would be huge.
2 Likes
Iām a long-time customer. A few days ago I had an idea for a new product that I would like for you to consider. Iām 76-years-old and Iāll probably need hearing aids in a few more years. As you are well aware, good hearing aids cost thousands of dollars, must be custom fitted (for sound and fit), are often misplaced, and require lots of tiny batteries. These are all things that make them unpopular with old folks!
With the amazing expertise that you folks have at Wyze to make affordable devices (e.g. scale, watch) that others charge way more for, please consider making great hearing aids. With current technology, and your design and manufacturing resources, you could produce hearing aids that:
are programmable for each person's ears via an app on one's computer or smartphone to generate test tones in order to tailor the hearing aid to one's hearing response
can be fitted to one's ear(s) at home--thermal silicone?
can be re-programmed as necessary
charge wirelessly (inductively) by laying the ear-piece on a charging station
can be located when misplaced by emitting a high-pitched sound when activated via Bluetooth from one's smartphone??
cost less than $100 each
The market for such a product is HUGE!!
Roger
1 Like
So basically just like the Jabra earbuds?
I use them for hearing aids because they have a hearthrough function. Only catch is the batty doesnāt last long enough when hearing aid mode is active.
Tried Olives, cheaply made and again battery life.
Need something as good as the Jabra 75s but with better battery life.
There is a LOT more to hearing aids than just volume. Frequency response is the biggest issue. Plus adjusting the frequency settings depending on the situation. ā¦ and whether the sound should be given priority when it is coming from in front, or all around. ā¦ and SO much more. Plus, todayās hearing aids donāt just cram into the ear; they sit behind the ear with a small wire and tiny electronics going into the ear.
The lowest price on the best aids is around $3000 for a pair. Wyze is not going to be able to develop aids costing less than $100. I believe $500 for a pair would be quite acceptable to people who need hearing aids.
2 Likes
I gottta believe the $500 a pair market would be enormous. Itās worth a study.
What would it be like if Wyze made a hearing aid? Right now they are averaging $1000 - $3000 each so $2000-$6000 a pair of you want a half decent pair. Most health insurance doesnāt cover hearing aids. According to what Iāve read the hardware only costs around $100 each. Most of the people who need hearing aids donāt have them because of the cost. I could only imagine that a lot of the issue would be software development for utilization. Would definitely alter the market and be a cash cow for Wyze.
Iād think of it as tiny ear earwig with a microphone for noise cancelation, amplification, etc. Preset settings in app for different scenarios. From what I understand frequency selection could greatly help block out the white noise that is an issues for a lot of the hearing aids on the market. Could be used for the non hearing impaired as in ear noise cancelation headphones, for the hearing impaired as an amplification device and much more Iām sure.
Iāll be the first customer.
1 Like
Great idea. Would love to see a combo Bluetooth phone earpiece/hearing aide that LOOKS LIKE a regular white pair of Apple AirPodsā¦that could be worn on one or two ears. Many people do not like to wear hearing aidsā¦that LOOK LIKE hearing aids. Marketing them as hearing enhancers would work. A phone app that does an audiologist-like test by generating test frequency tones and adjusting for sameā¦would be icing on the cake.
1 Like
Good ideas. Now lets āgit r doneā
1 Like
Sorry, Larry, but no one who needs hearing aids wants them to look like AirPods. Quality hearing aids, today, are not visible.
Also, most android phones already have the ability to do a āhearing testā in order to adjust music tones. Itās results perfectly match those done by my audiologist.
Ohā¦maybe there are a few of us out here. I have a slight hearing deficit in my right ear. I would love to have a combo earbud that would act as a Bluetooth earbud for the phoneā¦and as a āhearing enhancerā sound amplifier with the audiologist style programmable equalizer app that one can tailor to oneās ear frequency loss curve by self testing with the Wyze hearing enhancer. I am not ready to lay out crazy amounts of money for tiny invisible tech in my ear ā¦ but a little amp in one ear that doubles as a regular Bluetooth phone earbud would be great. Other folks might find the ability to amplify sound in stereoā¦yet NOT amplify loud noisesā¦to be useful for other purposes. There are such gadgets for hunters, but I do not like the looks of the ear gear.
Iām back, from 2019, a recent announcement by the present administration, Joe supports allowing more competition in the hearing field. Now when half the population has something hanging from their ear size should not be as critical as it was in the past. I can see your name all over this, make Canada great again :
Funniest thing I have heard lately, a Wyze Hearing Aidā¦LOL
Hold on I canāt hear you my Wyze ear is locked up againā¦
Wellā¦as I am an elderly vet who happened to have a job where I shot guns a lot and often once in awhile ā¦ I really would like to have a little help for my worse (right) ear that is not an obvious hearing aidā¦and is cheap. For meā¦that would take the form of a single or two white earbuds that amplify surrounding soundā¦and look almost exactly like Apple Wireless earbudsā¦and that ALSO DOUBLE AS A BLUE TOOTH earbuds. I know that a combo set of earbuds that are bluetooth AND ambient sound amps would be a bit of an odd-ball productā¦butā¦ya gotta wonder if I am the only old guy out here who would buy such a gadget that gave hearing amplificationā¦in a device that looks like just another bluetooth phone bud. My ego just is not ready to wear something that LOOKS like a hearing aidā¦and my wallet is not ready to shed thousands for one of the the tiny amps with their tiny batteries that fit deep in the hearing canal.
My hearing aids are blue tooth capable - and they do not look like ear buds. Better: you cannot see them at all.
The major part of the aids sit behind the ear. There is a thin transparent tube containing a wire that goes over and into the ear. At the end of the tube is the āspeakerā.
Why would you want people to think that you are wearing ear buds all the time? Wouldnāt people think that you are not listening to them and are being rude by listening to music, instead?
Different stokes for different folks. I do not want to wear any sort of visible hearing aid at this point in my lifeā¦and my primary hearing deficient is my right ear. Ideally, I would like to have a single white bud in my right ear that is a sound amplifier whose equalization can be controlled in an appā¦and that bud would also double as a regular bluetooth phone bud to answer/talk phone calls. My little hearing enhancer in one ear would just look like any other bluetooth phone bud.
Hi
I feel Wyze has perfected the wireless / Bluetooth technology
Just a thought
It is about time Wyze could really upend the hearing aid market with reasonably priced hearing aids may be with a tiny receiver in the shirt pocket /clip
Wyze Bluetooth hearing aids would definitely bust some things up. Millions of users, young & old, would get on this train. Bose has started it but they are still $900 for a pair.
Just marketing them as hearing āenhancersā would work. I would like to be able to listen to an audiobookā¦and yet have enhanced hearing for events happening around me ā¦ like an out of control car about to run me down. Having simple slight amplification like my Samsung Earbuds 2 is not enoughā¦and the ability to adjust the eq curve and compression curves for outside noises via an app would be very useful. For exampleā¦one could hear whispers from a distanceā¦yet the clapping of hands inches from your ear would cause cut off. Headphones for gun sports and hunting have had this this loud sound cut off feature for many years.