Lexie B2 Hearing Aids Review: Great Sound, Geriatric Look

Whereas some shopper electronics corporations, like Sony, have jumped immediately into the burgeoning over-the-counter listening to assist market, others are getting there by means of partnerships. The most recent of those is veteran audio producer Bose, which is “powering” listening to aids from a producer known as Lexie. Not too long ago I took its newest mannequin, the Lexie B2 “Powered by Bose,” out for a spin by means of my auditory meatus.

Like the remainder of the business of late, Lexie’s B2s are self-fitting, over-the-counter listening to aids, which suggests you should buy them anyplace (not simply from a licensed listening to assist retailer) and regulate them your self, with out the involvement of a physician or audiologist. Great Sound, Geriatric Look Great Sound, Geriatric Look

However in contrast to the opposite OTC listening to aids I’ve tried of late, that are designed to suit fully throughout the ear canal, Lexie’s use a extra conventional design, with the electronics becoming behind the ear and a small wire connecting to a receiver which inserts within the ear canal. Whereas technically generally known as receiver-in-the-ear (RITE), the design has an look very similar to that of an old-school behind-the-ear unit. Great Sound, Geriatric Look

Having {hardware} exterior to the ear canal is problematic, foremost due to the way in which it appears. Whereas new-school in-the-ear listening to aids are nearly invisible, the RITE design telegraphs “I’m dropping my listening to” from throughout the room, which in all probability isn’t the aesthetic that almost all customers are on the lookout for. Whereas Lexie’s B2 is definitely svelte—every assist weighs simply over 3 grams—they’re removed from invisible, and the impact on one’s look is decidedly getting old. There’s merely no approach you’ll be able to faux these are earbuds. Great Sound, Geriatric Look

Getting began with Lexie was a bit comical, involving textual content verification codes that went nowhere and infinite pages of phrases and circumstances to scroll by means of earlier than I might begin utilizing the models. Fortuitously, the principle portion of the app is a lot better designed, that includes an intuitive interface that allows you to regulate “world quantity,” the general amplification degree, on one facet of the display screen and set your desire for bass or treble on the opposite. Further capabilities allow you to regulate the steadiness between your proper and left ears—or mute an ear individually—and select amongst preconfigured environments (noise indoor, outside, music, or on a regular basis). You’ll be able to set as much as 10 private environmental settings and select between two directional modes, whether or not you need to amplify audio from in every single place or simply in entrance of you. Great Sound, Geriatric Look

As is the case with most listening to aids, these extra refined settings could be hit-or-miss on the Lexie B2, because the grasp quantity setting is by far probably the most impactful. Nonetheless, I discovered that they are often value toying with if you happen to actually need to get nuanced about your audio expertise. Sadly, the Lexie B2 has no coaching function that allows you to measure your listening to loss or fine-tune your listening to, equalizer-style, which makes it all of the extra shocking {that a} 124-page guide is required to elucidate how all of this works. Great Sound, Geriatric Look

Placing the aids on can be one thing of a problem, and whereas there’s clearly a studying curve that may be overcome by the persistent, I by no means received to the purpose the place it was straightforward to slide a unit on with only one hand. Most problematic, although, is that I simply didn’t discover the models comfy. Though the gadget consists of ideas (Lexie calls them domes) in three sizes and two types—open or closed—I by no means discovered any that each match properly and didn’t ultimately begin to itch, although the smaller ones had been much less irritating. The silicone domes really feel delicate to the contact of a finger, however they sadly really feel a bit rougher within the ear.