You don’t have to be practically deaf to make use of a listening to assist. Many medical doctors urge sufferers to get began with the units early, earlier than listening to loss turns into essential. Olive Union’s Olive Max is the primary listening to assist I’ve encountered designed for this particular goal, constructed for customers with “mild to moderate” listening to loss, which the corporate defines as 26 to 55 decibels of loss. That’s proper according to my prognosis, so I figured I’d be an ideal candidate for these new units.
Out of the field, you’re more likely to say what I—and everybody I’ve been round—instantly stated after I first laid eyes on the Olive Max: They positive are large. Like, actually large. Each appears to be like like a Bluetooth headset from the early 2000s, besides you need to put on two. At least the models, in a two-tone white and grey design, look sporty, together with a wrap-around ear hook that helps maintain them in place. They additionally carry an IPX7 water-resistance ranking. But at greater than 12 grams every, they’re a strong 4 or 5 occasions the load of a typical over-the-counter listening to assist. A complete of eight completely different ear suggestions, in three completely different kinds, are included within the equipment to make sure you get match.
Photograph: Olive Union
As listening to aids, the Olive Max models work roughly as marketed, and informal customers can pop them out of the field and into their ears to get began with minimal fuss, although getting them hooked over your ear correctly will be tough, particularly for those who put on glasses. Controls on the again of every assist deal with quantity (independently for every ear) and let you choose certainly one of 4 environmental modes (TV, Meeting Room, Outdoor, or Restaurant). You also can use the buttons to toggle “Hear-Thru mode,” which helps you to flip off environmental audio processing altogether for those who merely need to use the Olive Max as Bluetooth earbuds.
You can fine-tune your listening expertise within the My Olive app—although, bizarrely, the listening to assist handbook doesn’t point out that an app exists, and even that you need to use the listening to aids as Bluetooth earbuds. (You need the My Olive app (Android, iOS), not the incompatible Olive Smart Ear app.) The app permits you to make the identical changes because the bodily controls, however it additionally affords a noise-reduction and feedback-cancellation characteristic (professional tip: max out each of those), and it features a extra detailed graphic equalizer that allows you to fine-tune frequency response additional.
You can’t check your listening to instantly inside the app, though a brief questionnaire will hook you up with varied “AI-recommended presets” based mostly in your age and some different fundamental inputs. If you need something extra refined, you’ll must delve into the equalizer by hand, however that is principally a trial-and-error state of affairs. It’s additionally value noting that the My Olive app consists of an audio remedy system designed to assist individuals with tinnitus. I don’t undergo from tinnitus so I wasn’t certified to check this characteristic.
Photograph: Olive Union