In case of a public hearing Hearing aids are essentially designed to replicate sound, so why don’t they work like standard wireless earbuds? JLab answers this question with its Hear OTC hearing aids and earbuds, and the answer is a resounding “yes, you can.”
JLab’s Hear may look like your average earbuds, but that’s because the company is known for its earbuds, with more than a dozen different shapes, sizes, and features on the market. Hear OTC is the company’s only hearing aid product, and it’s a 2-in-1 device that switches incredibly seamlessly between the two modes (though you can’t, and probably shouldn’t, use them simultaneously).
JLab Hear is technically not a true hearing aid, but rather a personal sound amplification product (PSAP) that has not been officially approved by the FDA as an OTC hearing aid, although JLab markets it as such. That said, in my testing it performed as well or better than many official hearing aids, although individual experience will undoubtedly vary.
Available in three colors — black, white, or beige (if you want to replicate the feel of old-fashioned hearing aids) — the chunky devices are unobtrusive and weigh just 4.94 grams each. While not uncomfortable, they’re bulky and can feel heavy to wear for extended periods of time. Once worn, there’s no hiding your hearing aids.
Photo: Christopher Null
For a commercial hearing aid, the device is simple and a little dull. It has four volume levels and four operating modes (noisy environment, restaurant, conversation, quiet environment). In small spaces, it’s hard to tell the difference between the operating modes, but outdoors, the “noisy environment” setting didn’t provide enough noise reduction and wind noise was a big issue. At higher volume levels, there was some noticeable hissing.
Turning the volume down and maximizing the background noise reduction option helped in this regard. In fact, I found these two changes to be generally useful in any type of setup. JLab does not offer any hearing tests or adjustments for hearing tests, so amplification is determined solely by the volume and mode settings.
When playing media or making a voice call on your smartphone, the Hear OTC quickly and seamlessly enters Bluetooth mode. This disables all the controls mentioned in the previous paragraph. This includes the volume setting, which is taken over by the device’s audio volume setting. Unfortunately, this also means that the noise cancellation feature is not available in Bluetooth mode, which is a big missed opportunity. It does, however, enable the equalizer feature available through JLab’s app. The equalizer has a traditional slider interface for 10 frequency bands, and it’s worth taking the time to tweak it to your liking. The bass response on the Hear isn’t the best by default, and a little upgrade here would make it even better.
