, Bose has finally launched its new self-fitting hearing aids—Bose SoundControl™. The new hearing aids look a lot like traditional medical-grade hearing aids, but promise a radically different do-it-yourself experience that allows you to “tune it yourself”, “skip the appointments” and “pay (much) less”. The new hearing aids come with 90-day risk-free trial, dedicated product support, and will be available to purchase on May 18 in select states for $849.95 for 2 aids
What’s in the box
- SoundControl™ Hearing Aids
- Open eartips in sizes 1, 2, 3 (tip 2 is installed on the product)
- Closed eartips in sizes 1, 2, 3
- Batteries, size 312 zinc-air (8)
- Carrying case
- Hearing aid brush
- Cable sizing tool
- Quick start guide
- Instructions for use
Tune it yourself
Unlike traditional hearing aids, Bose’s new SoundControl™ hearing aids are designed to be adjusted by the user. Citing a study conducted with researchers at Northwestern University, Bose touts “clinically proven results” using its proprietary CustomTune™ technology. Based on the research, Bose makes three primary claims:
- CustomTune™ provides audiologist-quality customization.
- Users were happier with sound quality compared to prescription-fit users.
- On average, there was no difference in hearing-in-noise performance or hearing benefit between CustomTune™ and prescription-fit.
The Bose Hear App (on Android or iOS) gives the users two primary controls:
- World volume – This control is the primary control for amplification. It adjusts the gain, compression, and output limiting across 12 bands to approximate the settings that would be required to professionally-fit 36 common audiograms.
- Treble – The treble control adjusts “spectral tilt” by applying “additional adjustment to the gain” across 12 bands.
In the research cited by Bose, most users found themselves in the ballpark of a good hearing aid fitting. This was established by running ear canal measurements to see how close research participants self-selected amplification output was to the output of a perfectly-fit hearing aid.