Whereas some shopper electronics firms, like Sony, have jumped immediately into the burgeoning over-the-counter listening to help market, others are getting there by partnerships. The newest of those is veteran audio producer Bose, which is “powering” listening to aids from a producer referred to as Lexie. Lately I took its newest mannequin, the Lexie B2 “Powered by Bose,” out for a spin by my auditory meatus.
Like the remainder of the business of late, Lexie’s B2s are self-fitting, over-the-counter listening to aids, which implies you should purchase them wherever (not simply from a licensed listening to help retailer) and alter them your self, with out the involvement of a health care provider or audiologist.
However in contrast to the opposite OTC listening to aids I’ve tried of late, that are designed to suit fully inside the ear canal, Lexie’s use a extra conventional design, with the electronics becoming behind the ear and a small wire connecting to a receiver which inserts within the ear canal. Whereas technically often called receiver-in-the-ear (RITE), the design has an look very like that of an old-school behind-the-ear unit.
Having {hardware} exterior to the ear canal is problematic, foremost due to the best way it appears to be like. Whereas new-school in-the-ear listening to aids are just about invisible, the RITE design telegraphs “I’m shedding my listening to” from throughout the room, which in all probability isn’t the aesthetic that the majority customers are on the lookout for. Whereas Lexie’s B2 is definitely svelte—every help weighs simply over 3 grams—they’re removed from invisible, and the impact on one’s look is decidedly ageing. There’s merely no method you may faux these are earbuds.
Getting began with Lexie was a bit comical, involving textual content verification codes that went nowhere and countless pages of phrases and circumstances to scroll by earlier than I may begin utilizing the models. Happily, the principle portion of the app is a lot better designed, that includes an intuitive interface that allows you to alter “world quantity,” the general amplification degree, on one aspect of the display screen and set your desire for bass or treble on the opposite. Extra capabilities allow you to alter the steadiness between your proper and left ears—or mute an ear individually—and select amongst preconfigured environments (noise indoor, open air, music, or on a regular basis). You’ll be able to set as much as 10 private environmental settings and select between two directional modes, whether or not you wish to amplify audio from all over the place or simply in entrance of you.
As is the case with most listening to aids, these extra refined settings may be hit-or-miss on the Lexie B2, because the grasp quantity setting is by far essentially the most impactful. Nevertheless, I discovered that they are often value toying with if you happen to actually wish to get nuanced about your audio expertise. Sadly, the Lexie B2 has no coaching characteristic that allows you to measure your listening to loss or fine-tune your listening to, equalizer-style, which makes it all of the extra stunning {that a} 124-page guide is required to elucidate how all of this works.
Placing the aids on can be one thing of a problem, and whereas there’s clearly a studying curve that may be overcome by the persistent, I by no means acquired to the purpose the place it was straightforward to slide a unit on with only one hand. Most problematic, although, is that I simply didn’t discover the models snug. Though the system contains suggestions (Lexie calls them domes) in three sizes and two kinds—open or closed—I by no means discovered any that each match effectively and didn’t ultimately begin to itch, although the smaller ones have been much less irritating. The silicone domes really feel gentle to the contact of a finger, however they sadly really feel a bit rougher within the ear.
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