What’s new in Hearing Aid Tech: 2020-2021

Like most technology-based products every few years we get an updated, higher-tech version. Hearing aids are no different… we’ve come a long way from the ‘ear trumpets‘ of old. So here’s what’s new in hearing aid technology, 2020-2021 edition!

2020 Tech

In 2020 we saw some pretty cool updates to hearing aids. With newer technology and smaller microchips, hearing aids are able to do more and at faster speeds; turning them into even more complex ‘supercomputers.’

For instance, earlier this year Starkey and Phonak released hearing aids with “body tracking.” In the Phonak Virto Marvel Black, this means biometrics that are able to monitor your blood pressure. Their first step into health monitoring. Starkey Livio AI and Livio Edge AI also include body tracking as well as brain tracking, and their new artificial intelligence (or AI) features. AI includes things like find my phone, reminders, and transcribing text as you hear it. They’ve also talked about the AI feature eventually being able to translate languages as you hear them. Pretty cool right!

Signia also did some updates in 2020. The Signia Silk was again updated in 2020 with a new microchip and continues to be one of the smallest, non-custom hearing aids available.

The latest update from Starkey included the first-ever rechargeable custom hearing aid, the Livio Edge rechargeable Custom aid. Up until now, custom hearing aids, or what we call In-The-Ear or In-The-Canal hearing aids were only available with disposable batteries. This new update will be a game-changer for clients with dexterity issues in which the custom hearing aid is better suited to their needs and they don’t have to fiddle with small batteries anymore.

Definitely some incredible things to come out of in 2020 in regards to technology.

2020 Software Updates

With Covid-19 impacting the world in 2020, hearing aid manufacturers saw a unique need of their clients. If you have hearing aids, I’m sure you’ve experienced the added difficulty masks can cause when understanding speech. Most manufacturers have now introduced “Mask Mode.” This can be done on the practitioner’s side of the programming and for certain manufacturers and models of hearing aids are included in the hearing aids app. Ask your hearing provider for more information regarding your hearing aids and mask mode.

These small changes made to the hearing aid programming can make great improvements with the extra muffled voices caused by wearing masks.

2021 Technology so far…

As of March 2021, the newest release of hearing aids is the Signia Active Pro. In a similar style to their Signia Silk, these small non-custom hearing aids are fairly discreet. The added bonus, they are rechargeable! This sleek design was inspired by the various styles of wireless earphones we are seeing everywhere. When they are in your ears, they look like small headphones, not hearing aids.

We are excited to get our hands on a set of these and try them out!

I’m sure we’ll see more updated hearing aid technology later in 2021, but for now, they are keeping us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. If you would like to try out any of the new technology or have questions, call us, we’d be happy to help. 705-749-0707.