Some time ago, I started to notice that my hearing had lost some of its sharpness. As I was in my early 60’s at the time, that did not come as much of a surprise. Given that I continued to actively practice litigation, I decided that I needed to get hearing aids to protect against mishearing or not hearing something important during a trial, hearing, or deposition. I discovered that the hearing aids made a difference in my personal life as well, particularly in crowded social environments.
The style of hearing aid that I got at that time (and have continued to use since) was a small piece that went behind each ear with a tube connected to an earpiece that went inside my ear. That style of hearing aid worked well, even though I started to wear glasses full-time about the same point in my life. The hearing aids and glasses seemed to get along, notwithstanding the fight for real estate behind the top of my ears. If you have not looked at hearing aids lately, let me tell you that they cost a lot then and more now. The last set of hearing aids I purchased (near the beginning of the pandemic) cost approximately $5,000 for the pair. Yes, you can find less expensive ones and also more expensive units; but that appeared to be pretty much the right price point for a high-quality set of hearing aids.
Up until the pandemic started, I had what the audiologist referred to as a moderate hearing loss, typical of someone my age. About a month after I took the second dose of the Covid vaccine, however, I woke up one day and could hear nothing in my left ear. Fortunately, my right ear remained about the same. After prednisone shots and prednisone tablets and about a 4 month wait, my left ear had recovered about half of the hearing that it lost. From my perspective, even though I have stopped practicing litigation, the hearing aids had now become mandatory due to the loss of hearing in my left ear.
Compounding the problem, we have had to wear masks throughout the pandemic and that is likely to continue for some time. Unlike the glasses, the masks with over the ear loops did not play well with my hearing aids. Almost each time I took off the mask, my hearing aids got caught in the loop and came out of my ear. As you probably know, most masks have behind the ear loops. Some have head loops, but you cannot always find them, and some places require that you use the masks they provide, which, inevitably, have behind the ear loops. My concern about losing a hearing aid in a mask removal catastrophe was such that I stopped wearing them.
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to review the first generation of the Eargo hearing aids. I thought they worked pretty well, particularly for someone with a low to moderate hearing loss. The Eargo hearing aids had a different configuration and fit entirely into the ear canal. They key factor that made them so popular is that they worked well but did not require that you go to an audiologist and did not cost as much as other hearing aids. Unfortunately, when the hearing loss in my left ear became severe, I found that the original Eargo hearing aids lacked sufficient power to meet my needs. At the time, Eargo had moved several generations forward and was marketing its Eargo 5, with the Eargo 6 on the near horizon. The Eargo 5 offered a great deal more than the original Eargo, but not quite what the Eargo 6 promised. Accordingly, while I found the Eargo 5 tempting to purchase, I chose to wait until the Eargo 6 came out.
Eargo representatives attended this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. When I got there, I looked them up and took a good look at the Eargo 6. I decided that I should review them and made arrangements to do that. In the process, I discovered that they brought more power to the table and substantially improved my hearing. I also learned that Eargo had an app that worked with my cellular phone to control the hearing aids, allowing me to choose among a number of programs (you can keep up to four in your system at a time), and fine tune the operation by increasing or decreasing volume and noise filtration to suit the prevailing circumstances. Worth noting, the Eargo 6 was designed to address mild to moderate high frequency loss and does it quite well. The behind the ear devices generally work better with more severe losses, such as what audiologists call “profound”; but I have found that the Eargo substantially improved the hearing in my left ear, which now sits between the moderate and profound ranges.
Because the Eargo 6 remains entirely in the ear canal, it gets along beautifully with both glasses and masks. You still do not require a visit to an audiologist, although they have some on staff to help if you have a problem. The setup process has improved significantly as it now adjusts the hearing aids to your needs using a test administered through the app on your phone. I have no way of comparing the sensitivity of that testing process to an audiologist testing your hearing and adjusting hearing aids to your needs. I can only tell you that it proved sensitive enough that it adjusted the hearing aids quite satisfactorily for my needs. If you find you don’t like the setup or if your hearing changes, you can always run through the test process again. While the Eargo 6 does not come cheaply, it represents a very substantial reduction in required outlay by comparison to a high-quality set of hearing aids from an audiologist. The Eargo 6 sells for just under $3,000 a pair. It received Editor’s Choice and Best of CES acknowledgement at the Consumer Electronics Show and impressed me greatly with the flexibility and quality at its price.
My $5,000 set of hearing aids has some advantages over the Eargo 6. I cannot stream music through the Eargo 6. I also cannot use it as a telephone earpiece, which I can with the $5,000 pair. I have also noticed the $5,000 pair sounds a little bit better; but I only notice that if I listen to them right after the other. In fairness, however, I have never found the sound quality of the more expensive pair that good with streaming music. I strongly prefer Bose or one of the other top line headphone makers. Accordingly, while I used the $5,000 pair for telephone calls, I generally did not use them for music. I have developed a couple of work arounds for the Eargo. Either I use the Eargo in my left ear and my Apple Air Pods Pro in my right ear or I use a Bluetooth Bose over the ear headset (which work just fine over the Eargo). I have also experimented using standard in-ear earbuds for music and telephone in both ears, and they work better than either hearing aid in terms of music.
The Eargo 6 hearing aids do not require battery replacement. They come with a rechargeable battery that holds approximately a 16-hour charge. They also come with a charging case capable of recharging the hearing aids about five times until you need to recharge the case. The case charges with a standard USB-C cable.
You can order the Eargo 6 online and get a 45-day trial. If you find them inadequate, you can return them for a refund. I suspect that you will not end up sending them back. You can learn more about the Eargo 6 (and other hearing aids in the Eargo line) at: https://www.eargo.com. If you like, they even have a hearing test that you can take to see whether the Eargo line offers a good match for your hearing before you buy a pair, notwithstanding the 45-day trial period offer.
In addition to the Eargo 6, the company continues to offer the Eargo 5 ($2,450 a pair), the Eargo Neo HiFi ($1,950 a pair), and the Eargo Max ($1,450 a pair) in its current lineup. You can get basic comparison information among the models on the Eargo site at https://www.eargo.com/products-hearing-aids.
