Hearable device developers and hearing aid companies continue to bring new hearing assistance technology to consumers at affordable prices. Since the Senate approved the Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act in 2017, we’ve written about a wide range of devices you can buy without physically visiting an audiologist. Last year we wrote about The Aura, nearly invisible hearing aids from Audicus that fit in the ear canal.
Audicus is back with Spirit, the company’s most advanced hearing aids. Audicus sells The Spirit hearing aids for people with mild to severe hearing loss. That target market descriptor is significant because many over-the-counter hearable companies recommend their devices for mild to moderate loss. Audicus doesn’t claim the Spirit are suitable for patients with profound hearing loss, which is the most extreme impairment short of deafness. With the Spirit, patients can take a hearing test, receive a test analysis, order hearing aids, and remotely adjust the aids as needed, all without leaving home.
The Spirit hearing aids combine several significant hearing aid features and capabilities including Bluetooth audio streaming, iOS and Android smartphone voice compatibility, rechargeable batteries, and now remote adjustments. As we saw with the much more expensive Phonak Audeo Paradise hearing aids, Spirit users can tap a button in the hearing aid’s mobile app to contact an audiologist for customized hearing care.
To get started with Audicus Spirit hearing aids, you can send the company a clinical hearing test, take the Audicus test online, or take a test at an Audicus Hearing Clinic if you live near Lone Tree, Colorado or New York City. The next step is choosing the Audicus hearable you want. Audicus sends the hearing aids directly to your home by mail with free support by company technicians. Audicus currently has five hearing aid lines, ranging in price from $499 to $1,399 per ear. The Spirit hearing aids are the top-of-the-line, so you’ll pay $2,798 for a pair. Considering that price is about half of the average cost of hearing aids just four years ago, the Spirit aids are a bargain. Audicus also sells its hearing aids as an all-inclusive service starting at $39 a month. I guess you might call that membership “HaaS”: hearing as a service.
