I took AirPods Pro 2's Hearing Test and it was mixed news, but everyone
should do it right away

Date:
Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:30:00 +0000

Description:
Ive used these headphones since launch, so its surprising to get such a big upgrade after so long

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As I wander towards my mid-40s, the aches and pains are starting to become more regular. Things arent working as well as they once were, and I have to deal with days of tiredness and lack of sleep that a simple few drinks can bring.

As such, Ive become really aware of how my senses are performing - after all, once they degrade its not easy to restore performance and Ive noticed something recently: I cant hear my daughters as well as I used to when were out and about on the street.

Its not massive, but it wandered into that I probably should do something about this category, before then doing nothing about it because Ive got a stack of washing to do and, well, Netflix isnt going to watch itself.

So when I heard that Apple was going to be upgrading its AirPods Pro 2 to
help those with hearing loss, I was intrigued. How would that work? Could
they actually be a real competitor to professional hearing aids?

Well, it turns out I only needed to wonder about part of that, as UK health officials havent approved them for use as clinical hearing aids, unlike in
the US.

But, with the launch of iOS 18.2, we do now have access to the Hearing Test, which creates a detailed audiogram to help map out where any hearing loss might be present

Even though Im likely to get some bad news, I decide I cant hide from the truth any longer. I slip the headphones into my ear holes and take a deep breath. (Image credit: Apple) The truth unfurls

The test begins by checking the fit of the earbud and assesses whether your location is quiet enough. I passed both these tests with flying colors and I cant pretend that I didnt feel a smidge of joy about this achievement,
despite it only showing that Im able to put headphones adequately in my ears and can sit in a not-loud room.

Actually, I didnt even really do well at the second part while my iPhone believed I was in a quiet enough environment, the test (which is a series of progressively quieter beeps) was slightly ruined by the distant hum of cars scooting by, so I had to decamp to an even-less-noisy part of the house.

However, once I was in the right setting, the test felt good and thorough.
Its a simple case of tapping the screen when hearing a beep, across a range
of frequencies and volumes, to discern where my hearing is strongest.

I heard a lot of phantom beeps, where the sound was sometimes so quiet that even thinking about the beep made it play in my head (rather than actually hearing it), and sometimes I found I was guessing when the sound might have been and convincing myself Id heard something.

I tried to be a good little rule-following boy and only tapped when I felt Id heard something, but it got really hard as the beeps became quieter. (Image credit: Apple)

The frustration began to set in I was almost certain there were sounds being played, but I couldnt hear them. My fears about having hearing loss were
about to be confirmed, and I wondered how fast the deterioration may be. A surprising result

The results are in. I look down, and I cant believe what Im seeing: I had little to no hearing loss, despite the swathes of silence in the test making me sure Id only heard half the beeps.

I was able to still hear in the normal ranges! Maybe my body isnt starting to let me down as much as I worried it was!

However, Audiologist Ashish Shah slightly punctured this joy when she told me that this result is as expected:

For someone of the age of 41 we would not generally expect to find a hearing loss and therefore would expect results to be within the normal range of 0-20dBHLm; she said.

However, hearing loss does not discriminate so there can be onsets of early hearing loss as well as conditions and external factors such as noise which can have an impact on anyone's hearing.

I was also left with some questions because the results graph, called an audiogram, was a little hard to understand.

Despite being told I have little to no hearing loss, there were still some dips in the graph that, according to the explanation of the results, put me into the mild hearing loss camp at some points.

Is that natural, that everyones ears have fluctuations through the audio frequencies, or is that something to be wary of? (Image credit: Apple)

Bad news: its the latter. My graph dips somewhat at the 4Hz and 6Hz frequencies, and Shah says this is something Ill need to think about:

A dip at 4kHz like that would indicate some degree of noise-induced hearing loss; this could be consistent with noise exposure recreationally or through work such as excessive exposure to loud music or loud machinery. More to do

While I like the ability to test my hearing and learn the shape of my hearing capabilities, I do think that theres more Apple can do here.

Whether its helping you dig further into the results, encouraging you to go and see a specialist or just something as simple as turning on the Headphone Safety in your iPhone (which caps the volume to a certain level to protect your eardrums), the results feel quite basic.

Shah also suggests that my results or anyone with less-than-perfect results on the Hearing Test mean I should think about getting myself checked out, as its not just hearing prowess that can be measured and assessed by a professional.

It is always a good idea to see an audiologist in these circumstances as its not only about conducting a hearing test, of which a Pure Tone Audiogram is only one element.

But its always beneficial to also have an audiologist then also check the health of your ears. Early intervention is also far more beneficial when it comes to our senses that impact communication.

Theres one other thing thats niggled me too while I understand that the AirPods Pro 2 havent been approved as clinical-grade hearing aids in the UK,
I dont see why my results cant be used to improve the AirPods performance.

For instance, why cant I use my personalized audiogram to calibrate how music and movies sound to my ears? This is possible in the US as part of the full Hearing Aid feature, but annoyingly not in almost all of the rest of the
world even though I think just tweaking the music output shouldn't really count as a medical adjustment.

But the Hearing Test feature has certainly impressed me. When everyone
started strapping heart rate monitors to their wrists, the sudden influx of heart health data that arrived helped save lives; being able to diagnose the potential for hearing loss in millions of people or just track their hearing health over time is a great thing to have available.

So, even if I do find that I start struggling to hear certain frequencies, Im glad I went all in and did this test. Its a good reminder to look after my ears even more, and to not be afraid to keep doing this test regularly to see if anything changes.

Id much rather spot a decline in my ability to hear rather than hide away
from the fact it might be happening You might also like The best earbuds of all kinds you can buy today The best AirPods options compared My dad tried AirPods Pro 2's new hearing aid mode, and he loved the instant hearing boost even though he never uses earbuds



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/i-took-airpods-pro-2s-hearing- test-and-it-was-mixed-news-but-everyone-should-do-it-right-away


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