ReSound’s Smart Hearing aids connect to your smartphone

During today’s CES Unveiled event, I met with ReSound, a company making smart – they say the world’s smartest – hearing aids with Bluetooth connectivity and smartphone app control.

ReSound’s Linx 2 hearing aids connect with each other and feature onboard signal processing to cancel out background environment noise appropriate to the environment – for example, they can sense when the wearer is involved in a conversation with someone nearby – and modify the way they process sound for that situation.

With Bluetooth connectivity, they also offer the benefit of transporting your phone’s audio to the hearing aid – like a Bluetooth headset – but they can also have their configuration modified by an app running on your Android phone (they also support iOS).

The app allows users to change things like volume, background noise filtering and alter direction sensitivity using the app. ReSound says that Linx 2 wearers can hear far more sound from the world around them after the hearing aids have been properly calibrated by a professional – everyone’s requirements are a little different.

ReSound’s Android developer was on-hand to explain how it works:

The Linx 2 is still a hearing aid rather than a consumer audio device, so you’ll still go through your hearing specialist before you can get your hands – or ears – on a pair. The company says that they’ve seen the average age of users drop since introducing their smart technology that connects to your phone, but there’s still a worryingly long time between the time at which people think they’re starting to lose their hearing and the time at which they seek professional help.

ReSound offers a couple of hearing aid products alongside accessories like remote controls, microphones and even a TV streamer that transports TV audio to your hearing aids. Their products are available in a number of countries worldwide, including Australia.