Skip to main content

HP is now in the OTC hearing aid game, powered by Nuheara

Sometimes, competition makes for some strange partnerships. Nuheara, an Australian company known best for its hearing-enhancing wireless earbuds, has announced its first set of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. But instead of marketing these devices under its own name, it has chosen to license Hewlett Packard’s HP brand. The new hearing aids will be known as the HP Hearing Pro, and they’ll sell for $699 when they become available at Amazon and other major retailers later this year.

The announcement adds another player to the OTC hearing aid space, following similar debuts from Sony, Jabra, and Bose.

HP Hearing Pro by Nuheara.
Nuheara

The HP Hearing Pro will combine some of the most popular wireless earbud features, like active noise cancellation (ANC) and IPX4 water resistance, with the benefits of a true hearing aid. Nuheara says the earbuds have been “clinically proven to be substantially equivalent to a professionally fit hearing aid,” and offer a 30% improvement in speech in noisy environments, improved ability to follow conversations, and “clinically validated, natural sound quality.”

Those who are familiar with Nuheara’s previous products will note the similarity between the HP Hearing Pro and the $399 IQbuds2 Max — both earbuds have a similar shape, and the charging cases are essentially identical. Nuheara hasn’t yet said how much capacity the Hearing Pro’s case will carry, but we do know that each earbud is expected to last for  up to eight hours on a full charge.

All of the Hearing Pro’s functions will be controlled by an HP-branded companion app for iOS and Android. The app will also be the key to personalizing the buds — a process known as self-fitting. Nuheara’s own Ear ID software is used to test the wearer’s individual hearing thresholds from low frequency to high frequency in each ear, then automatically programs the HP Hearing PRO hearing aids for each ear.

The process allows for a quick and easy acclimation experience, according to Nuheara, with the entire acclimation experience taking about 10-15 minutes from unboxing through customization.

The full details about the Hearing Pro are available at www.hphearingpro.com, but as of the time this article was published, the site was still displaying a “Something new is coming … ” message, without any other info. We are expecting a full set of specifications from Nuheara in the coming days.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the HP Hearing Pro support wireless charging.

Editors' Recommendations

Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…
Sony to bring over-the-counter hearing aids to the masses
sony ws audiology announce partnership ota hearing aids widex moment sheer aid

Sony announced today that it has partnered with Danish hearing device experts WS Audiology to develop consumer-friendly, over-the-counter (OTA) hearing aids that users can "just pick up and use as naturally as contact lenses," Sony's Osamu Hajimoto says in a video from Sony Global.

Sony and WS Audiology announce partnership | Official Video

Read more
Expect to hear more about hearing, now that the FDA’s new hearing aid rules are here
Man wearing Olive Max hearing aids.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established a new “over-the-counter" (OTC) category for hearing aids. It lets adults with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss buy hearing aids from general retailers and online. In the past, these devices were strictly controlled and required a visit to an audiologist.

Scrapping some of the old regulations is intended to increase access to hearing health by eliminating barriers and lowering costs within the hearing aid industry. It should also encourage a number of new entrants, which could significantly increase choice. So what does the new normal look like for hearing aids?
Over-the-counter hearing aids are the new normal
Two types of air-conduction hearing aids that will now be considered OTC hearing aids by the FDA. Sandra Stafford / Digital Trends

Read more
Olive Max provides low-cost alternative to hearing aids
Man wearing Olive Max hearing aids.

Hearing aids have traditionally been very expensive investments, both in money -- with prices that can easily end up in the thousands -- as well as time, with visits to an audiologist being a requirement. But lately, a slew of new wireless earbuds have been showing up as cost-effective alternatives, and Olive Union's Olive Max might just be the most affordable choice yet. The Olive Max will sell for $549 when they become generally available in the fourth quarter of 2022, but for a limited time, they can be pre-ordered starting April 5, 2022, for $299.

The Olive Max look a lot like the kind of wireless earbuds you might see someone wearing at the gym -- like the Powerbeats Pro -- and that's exactly the point. "Today, true wireless earbuds are everywhere," Olive Union's press release says, "allowing Olive to make design decisions that create hearing health technology that look, feel, and function just like them -- so only the wearer decides if someone should know about their hearing health."

Read more