Background
If you use a smartphone, you will likely already use Bluetooth. Perhaps you use wireless earphones, which require your phone to ‘transmit’ the sound from your phone to your earphones. Or, possibly, your phone magically connects to other devices, such as a heart monitor. The easiest way to understand Bluetooth Hearing Aids (a strange name for essentially wireless transmission) is to think of all Bluetooth systems as a ‘transmitting device’ and a ‘receiving device’. The naming of this technology as Bluetooth involves a tenth-century Danish King. However, I will leave that discussion for another time!
How do Bluetooth Hearing Aids work?
If you don’t use a smartphone, then the benefits of Bluetooth hearing aids are limited. Essentially, Bluetooth hearing aids provide two areas of functionality.
- They allow you to stream phone calls, music, podcasts, and radio directly from your phone to your hearing aids.
- They allow you to control and adjust your hearing aids from your phone using an app.
However, not all Bluetooth is the same (nothing is ever simple), and it is important to understand the different types of Bluetooth connectivity and how this affects you as a hearing aid user. If you are still unsure if you need hearing aids, see our previous post ‘Do I need hearing aids?’
Bluetooth Classic
Classic Bluetooth is the traditional Bluetooth that most people use with their laptops, phones, or in-car music streaming services. Typically used for audio transmission, this ‘radio signal’ allows you to connect to things like headphones or loudspeakers. It is widely used in a range of everyday technology devices.
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) is a slightly different Bluetooth technology. This is a low-energy form of Bluetooth, and as it is low-power, it uses less energy to function (and hence less battery usage). One use remains audio streaming and simple connectivity from a phone to other devices (hearing aids); however, the technology has other uses that are outside of this discussion today.
Advantages of Bluetooth Classic
The main advantage of Bluetooth Classic is that it allows hearing aids to connect to any phone with Bluetooth streaming capabilities. So, even if you have a relatively old smartphone, your Bluetooth Classic hearing aids should be able to connect to it.
Phonak hearing aids, including the new Phonak Infinio Sphere, use Bluetooth Classic. This means that both iphone and Android phone users can connect seamlessly to their hearing aids and enjoy hands-free calling, with their hearing aid microphones picking up their voice when making calls (essentially the phone doesn’t need to be near you).
Disadvantages of Bluetooth Classic
The main disadvantage of Bluetooth Classis is its power consumption. This means that if you stream music or podcasts or take a lot of calls on your phone, your hearing aids will lose their power more quickly. As most hearing aids are rechargeable, this could mean that your hearing aids lose power during the day. Thankfully, hearing aid technology is improving all the time and energy consumption and battery life are constantly improving.
Advantages of Bluetooth Low Energy (LE).
Bluetooth Low Energy technology is newer and has the great advantage of consuming much less power than classic Bluetooth (thus ensuring a longer battery life for your hearing aids). This is why it is considered by many to be the future standard for Bluetooth connections.
Bluetooth Low Energy technology is already used in Apple’s mobile products such as the iPhone. This allows hands-free calls, similar to the Bluetooth Classic and Phonak hearing aids.
Disadvantages of Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)
Most Android devices still use Bluetooth Classic technology. If your hearing aids use Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), you can stream calls to them. However, your phone will still need to be near you to pick up your voice (not quite hands-free calling as described above for the Bluetooth Classic and Phonak aids).
However, Android launched its Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) feature at the end of 2019. Although it can function only on a handful of phones so far, this means that soon, Android users will have the same streaming options as Apple users already enjoy.
What is Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) and Auricast?
Technology is always changing and improving. The introduction of Auricast is a new feature that will become more used in the UK and worldwide.
Auricast is a feature that allows an audio source transmitter to broadcast to unlimited audio receivers (think different people). Imagine being at a talk by a well-known figure. You sit at the back and have your Apple AirPods earphones with you. With Auricast, you could pop your earphones in and listen to the talk through your earphones. The person sitting beside you could also listen using Bluetooth LE earphones. This technology has many uses, and the ability for one transmitter to connect to multiple people will bring about enormous benefits, especially for children and adults who wear hearing aids.
Auracast is the future of connectivity. Once fully rolled out, it will allow public venues to stream any sound with a higher quality and lower battery consumption than we’ve seen from any streaming technology in the past directly to both of your hearing aids.
Over the coming years, we’re likely to see Auracast replace the outdated hearing loop systems built into public venues, allowing multiple hearing aid users to connect to audio simultaneously in public spaces.
For hearing aid users, I would expect all manufacturers to include Bluetooth LE in future models to ensure that everyone using hearing aids will be in a position to receive Auricast signals wherever they are.
Summary
Bluetooth technology has allowed people with hearing aids to stream audio from their devices (smartphones, laptops) and to adjust their hearing aids directly from their smartphones using an app.
Currently, hearing aid manufacturers use different Bluetooth technologies, each with advantages and disadvantages.
The main advantages of Bluetooth hearing aids include:
- They make listening to media easier
Bluetooth hearing aids have opened many opportunities for listening enjoyment and convenience. You no longer need separate earbuds when you want to listen to music; with Bluetooth hearing aids, you can have your earbuds comfortably in your ears at all times, ready to go for all your streaming needs.
Podcasts will also become easier to engage with, making it clearer to listen while going about.
You can also link Bluetooth hearing aids to your TV so you can enjoy all your programs easily.
- Phone conversations are easier
Talking on the phone can be a big part of life for many people with hearing loss.
Without facial cues to help you use your lip-reading skills, communicating without a visual aid can be incredibly taxing and difficult.
Streaming phone calls to your Bluetooth hearing aids will be a massive benefit over using a landline or speakerphone. This is because the sound is being delivered straight into your ears and as a result, you’ll be able to hear phone calls more confidently than ever before.
- Improves video call experience
With Bluetooth hearing aids, your FaceTime or other video calls will be much clearer. This will make communicating with relatives more manageable and enjoyable.
- Makes using Google Maps easier
If you use Google Maps often, having the audio streamed directly to your hearing aids will give you clearer directions.
- You can adjust them yourself
Bluetooth hearing aids connect directly to an app on your phone, which means you can make adjustments any time you want without having to go into your audiologist’s office.
With the app, you can alter the volume, change programs, and access your Telecoil program. You can also create custom programs and access a wind or restaurant program.
- Find my hearing aids
Another useful feature of Bluetooth hearing aids is the ability to find them with your phone if you ever lose them. But remember that this only works if your hearing aid is on and charged, meaning you won’t be able to find a hearing aid with a dead battery.
Deciding which hearing aid is right for you requires careful thought. For further information, see our earlier post, ‘Investing in hearing care’. Here at The Hearing Space, we will take the time to get to know your hearing needs and help you make the right choice. We want to demystify the process of choosing hearing aids and will only ever recommend the most suitable devices based on your needs. Book online or call for an initial enquiry.
0113 8730444