Anyone who knows me knows that I am very hard-of-hearing. It's a real disability, and few people recognize it as such or understand the problems that it creates. The social isolation of not being able to hear is huge, and most people (especially in public) don't realize that you can't hear them. They think that you are stupid, or that you are rude in ignoring them.
I've worn hearing aides for the past 30 years, but usually only for certain social situations. All my previous hearing aides were only good in one-on-one conversations in quiet rooms. They were useless in any kind of restaurant or party setting.
I have had about four pairs over the years, and the audiologists kept saying "This model is great, it is so small that no one will know you are wearing a hearing aide." They had it all wrong, every one of them. I'd tell them that I was not vain and would prefer having a large trumpet that I could point to whomever I wanted to hear.
So like many people, I'd rarely use the old hearing aides, and when a time came up where I needed to use them, I'd open the case, take them out, put in a battery, and 50% of the time, the battery would be dead because I used it a month ago and they die so quickly when exposed to air. Also, the manufacturers say that the batteries will die even if you seal them back up -- but in my experience, that is not true. So I will seal the batteries up, 50% of the time they will work. Most of the time I just give up and don't even put the hearing aides in.
My hearing has gotten worse in the past five years, or maybe it's because I don't talk to people much these days.
Helpfully, in the past few years, the FDA has allowed companies like Bose (who make great headphones for audiophiles and music lovers) to make "hearing-assisted devices." These are hearing aides, but they are not allowed to call them that. It's a very good thing.
I have been using a pair of Bose Hearphones for the past two years, and they are great! I can actually socialize and talk to people in restaurants and parties now. The below are some notes and tips on using the Bose Hearphones that I've learned over these past two years.
I plan on using the Bose over my existing hearing aides. They seem far easier to have around and to keep charged up. I did prefer adjusting the volume using my phone -- you can do the volume and directionality adjustments on the headset, but it is confusing and somewhat difficult to do since the controls are on a short cord to your ear, too short to see with your eyes. My phone matched up instantly with the Hearphones every time I turned the Hearphones on. The app is really easy to use. Just volume, treble/base control, and you choose the directionality. That's about it. Nothing to it.
I don't think that the Bose Hearphones will be a game-changer or change your life, but they will certainly help in social situations. Hopefully we'll use them more just because they are easier to charge and handle, and have better directionality. They don't cost that much more than other Bose products and offer noise cancellation (I think, seemed to do it for me) and the ability to listen to music from a bluetooth device like a phone. Oh, my Samsung Note 4 phone was made in 2014, and I bought it refurbished for $150. I am sure that your phone will work with the Bose app, but if it doesn't, getting a used or refurbished phone that is fairly recent can be incredibly cheap these days.
Here's a link to the product page:
https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/wellness/conversation_enhancing_headphones/hearphones.html
I recommend these Hearphones highly, and I use mine a lot more than my "real" hearing aides. I like them because they are fairly large, I can get them up and running on my ears fairly quickly, and they keep a charge for a long time (6 hours? longer?). I can charge them using any phone charger since they charge using a standard micro USB cable and any phone charger. I like earbuds (some folks do not).
I don't have to fuss with small batteries and small devices. I don't really like the part that fits around the neck, but that's because I have no neck, or a very thick one. I generally only use them in social situations and phone calls. They have been great for situations like dinner with family anf friends. I've put them on once in a while just to hear the birds sing in the morning. I don't wear them for more than a few hours at a time.
You can buy Hearphones from Bose online and return in 30 days at their cost. You can see them in person at a Bose store, but maybe not a Bose factory outlet.
Only thing I don't like is that they don't sync up to my phone every time (in the past, I've figured a solution to the problem by just sticking to the same phone and not switching phones). I rarely actually mess with my phone and sometimes just use the manual controls to control volume, which can be difficult to figure out. In fact, I use them this way now mostly: I set them up with my phone (volume 60, front direction) and after that just put them on and off without using my phone. I do usually have the same phone nearby because if the Hearphones don't sense the phone nearby they will say all kinds of annoying things over and over. They work GREAT when I talk on the phone. They also can serve as noise cancelling headphones and to let me listen to music with noise cancelling working.
I just learned something about bluetooth headphones/earbuds recently. If you sync a pair of headphones (particularly these) to one device, then it's a real pain (perhaps impossible) to try to sync those headphones to another device. I have a pair of Klipsch earbuds, minimal directions etc -- sync'd them to a Dell laptop. Tried to then sync to a MacBook Air. Could not. Read instructions, tried over and over with the power button crap, blue light blinking. Could NOT sync until I went to the Dell laptop and disconnected the Klipsch headphones from the Dell laptop. Only then could I sync to the MB Air -- and it was easy.
Bluetooth headphones supposedly can go into a mode where they will reset their partnership with one device and will sync with another device -- but in practice I've found that may be impossible -- it is FAR easier to disconnect from the original device and then sync to another device. Some bluetooth headphones can sync to two devices or more at once, but these do NOT seem to.
I think that happened with a pair of Hearphones that I gave my dad. We had huge problems trying to get them to sync to his phone, but I think it was because we switched phones. I've heard that these don't sync well with iPhones. I use an Android Google Pixel. I keep that Pixel phone with me for everything, and I particularly don't try switching the Hearphones from one phone to another.
With my dad, he used them once, then the dang Hearphones did not sync to his phone, and he never tried again. I tried showing him the manual controls but no joy. With old folks, if it is not dead simple, they won't use it. Show it once, if it doesn't work for them once, that's end of story.
My suggestion: Get the Hearphones, set up on your main phone with the Bose app, dead simple -- just choose volume and direction. Then keep it that way. When you turn the Hearphones on, be sure that your original phone is on and nearby -- that way the Hearphones will be happy. Most of the time you won't need to fuss with the phone settings or the manual control settings on the Hearphones. However, both the phone app and the manual controls are actually pretty simple and easy to use -- it just takes some practice, getting used to the device.
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