Why Oticon Built Zeal™
Oticon must have seen clear gap in the hearing aid market: users want something truly discreet that still delivers rechargeability and streaming. People want this hearing aid to be easy and without the need for a fully custom device, keeping the cost down. Until now, there simply wasn’t a hearing aid that was completely in the ear and also charged and streamed audio reliably. Oticon Zeal™ fills this gap, combining modern convenience with an in-the-ear design that many users prefer for comfort and discretion.
What Makes Oticon Zeal™ Different
Oticon Zeal™ is a brand-new in-the-ear hearing aid style built from the ground up. Instead of relying on traditional shells and suspensions, it appears, from what we understand, Oticon built with encapsulation technology, where all electronic components are fully surrounded by a hardened resin. Resign types like epoxy, silicone, and polyurethane. This allows the hearing aid to be significantly smaller, while also making it more durable and resistant to drops, moisture, sweat, and earwax.
Encapsulation also improves heat distribution, reducing stress on internal components and helping extend the life of the hearing aid, an important factor for a rechargeable device worn all day, every day. This is nothing new in medical manufacturing.
Engineering for Performance and Comfort
Oticon shared that every internal component in Oticon Zeal™ was designed and positioned, with electronics nested tightly around the rechargeable battery. This optimized placement improves both audiological performance. The improved performance includs feedback handling and binaural communication, and an overall robustness.
Fit and comfort were rigorously tested during development, with evaluations in over 1,500 ears using both simulations and real-world wear. The result is a discreet, non-custom, yet digital hearing aid that fits with either domes or optional custom MicroMolds, and physically fits about 2 out of 3 people.
A Smarter Approach to Connectivity
To deliver reliable streaming in such a small device, Oticon made a bold choice: a novel external Bluetooth® Low Energy antenna. Placing the antenna outside the hearing aid improves connectivity without increasing device size. The antenna is carefully tuned to work with skin contact, helping maintain strong connections even when your phone is in a pocket or bag.
This antenna also serves three purposes:
- Bluetooth® LE Audio connectivity
- A pull-out string for easy removal
- Improved in-ear retention and comfort
Its curved shape follows the natural contours of the ear, balancing discretion with stability.
Oticon Zeal is built on the same Intent™ chip platform as the Oticon Intent hearing aids.
The Zeal brings the power and intelligence of Oticon’s latest technology into a discreet, in-the-ear design. This means Zeal delivers the same core benefits as Intent, including advanced sound processing that adapts to your listening environment, supports clear speech from all directions, and reduces listening effort throughout the day. By using the Intent chip, Oticon Zeal offers the performance, reliability, and future-ready connectivity users expect from Oticon’s newest hearing aid family, now in a completely in-the-ear, rechargeable, and streaming-capable form factor.
Built to Last
Oticon Zeal™ underwent extensive real-world and extreme-condition testing, including drop tests, humidity and sweat exposure, and long-term wear simulations. These tests confirm that Zeal™ is designed to handle daily life while delivering consistent performance over time.
