My husband, Peter, thinks he has some mild hearing loss and often complains that I am a “mumbler” and soft speaker. Other people in my life don’t seem to have the same issues so I’m not sure if he chooses to selectively listen to me, or actually has difficulty.
Kim gave us a pair of the Nuheara IQ Buds to try out and review our experience. I’ll tell you right now that Peter loved the way they sounded and how amplified ambient sounds were. He kept knocking and drumming his fingers on the table just to enjoy hearing those small noises. I’ll also tell you that when he took the in-app hearing test, the results showed that he had perfect hearing. Obviously, this in-app test is not nearly as extensive as a traditional hearing test and he was skeptical of his results-- my guess is that he likely has an auditory processing disorder rather than actual loss. Nonetheless, he still enjoyed using the ear buds and playing around with the settings within the app.
Although Peter loved the sound quality and amplification when wearing the ear buds, he complained that they felt too bulky and he probably wouldn’t wear them out of the house. He also had a little difficulty with making sure they were all the way fit into his ear canal. Even though he keeps his long hair up in a bun, he had trouble getting a tight seal because small strands of hair kept getting in the way.
Seeing how excited he was about the small environmental sounds he was hearing and how little I had to repeat myself I’ve been trying to persuade him to keep trying them and wearing them for longer periods of time. With his long hair, the ear buds aren’t overly noticeable and really just look like a nice set of bluetooth headphones. All in all the Nuheara IQ Buds 2 Max provided great sound quality, were easy to use and set up, and would probably be a great option for someone who thinks they might be missing out on certain sounds or has a very mild hearing loss, but won’t mind the little bit of bulk that these devices have. And who knows, the next generation may be slimmer.