I took an online hearing test, entered the prescription, and used AirPod Pro’s 2 as hearing aids for a little over 6 months before getting Oticon Intents. For my hearing loss (68yrs old - high frequency loss)–mostly trouble in noisy environments, they worked as well as the Intents if not slightly better.
Airpods Pro pluses:
- Great audio all around (still use them for streaming a fair amount).
- Way way less expensive.
- Maybe slightly better performance in noisy settings due to total occlusion.
- Better for phone calls outside.
- Better iPhone integration.
Airpods Pro negatives;
- Battery life. Didn’t think this would be so much of an issue, but it is a hassle to deal with charging every 5 hours or so.
- Comfort. While I could wear the AirPods all day, after 3 or 4 hours, I would become aware of them and feel relieved when taking them out. I don’t notice the Oticons at all–have to remind myself to take them off before getting into the shower. YMMV.
- This is kind of a subtle difference and really only pertains to my kind of hearing loss, but all the sound coming through the AirPods is processed. This gives it the edge in noisy environments since it can effectively dampen background noise and boost voices, but isn’t as natural and is a little fatiguing to me. Because my low and mid frequencies are OK, I use open domes on the Oticons and in aggregate the sound is more natural.
- The need to explain AirPod use gets old.
I tried Jabra over the counter earbud style aids–nowhere as good as the AirPods. Kind of with I’d tried the Sonys.
Overall, while the Oticons are stupidly expensive, happy with the transition.