In late July I ordered a pair of Audi Atom Pro OTC hearing aids, list price as of this writing, $249. I’ll explain why these very affordable hearing aids may be a great option for most users, but less so for some environments.
The Pro model was chosen over the base model Atom for a few reasons. There was a special offer of $149, the PRO comes with a portable charging case, are somewhat smaller in size and have background noise cancellation – more on that later. For only an extra $50 over the base model that was quite a deal.
If you have looked at other reviews you will see that Audien receives high marks on their audio quality. I will say straight away, I fully concur.
Shown in the photo is the charging case and my Atom Pro hearing aids. Not shown is a charging cord, a tool to manually adjust volume level, a cleaning tool and additional size tips – for my ears I found the smallest size best.
My Small Town New Hampshire Experience
When I received my Audien Atom Pro hearing aids I was spending a month near N. Conway, NH. Peaceful morning walks with the dog, time with my daughter and adult grandson, who will be off to college after the summer. Quiet most days, some work on my computer, trips to a local senior center, some movies or TV series in the evenings. I quickly discovered these hearing aids far exceeded my expectations. They were looking like keepers.
Audien recommends going slowly to find the best size tips, volume level, and allow your ears time to adjust. All that is very good advice, but I have had other hearing devices, so I admit to moving a bit more quickly, but systematically. I spent about a week getting familiar with my new hearing aids, finding the settings that worked best for me and allowing my ears to adjust.
After less than 2 weeks I determined the best setting for my surroundings and hearing was about 1/3 total amplification. A small flat head screwdriver is supplied to easily change amplification. Too high and you get feedback and normal conversation feels like people are raising their voices with you. A very good test is to ask a family member with good hearing to set the optimal TV volume. For the first time, since my Bose Hearphones finally gave out, I didn’t require subtitles.
Lunch at the senior center was another good test. I didn’t need to just nod and pretend I heard, I could actually join the conversation. Lunch at a favorite local restaurant was a bit more of a challenge, for the first time I found the restaurant uncomfortably loud.
My only other issue was one I decided I could work around. My daughter has a very nice induction range, in my mind far superior to either electric or gas. On higher settings there was very significant feedback to my hearing aids. I simply took them out for my meal prep when requiring those settings.
A big plus for Audien is that they are genuinely committed to addressing any concerns, they offer great support. I decided to consider purchasing a 2nd set of just the Atom Pro hearing aids to allow me to set those at a lower amplification for some environments – Audien had already made an offer of a 2nd pair at a reasonable price.
However, before making any additional purchases I would need to test my new hearing aids in a very different living environment…
My New York City Experience
More than half my time is spent in New York City. I love the city, at 77 I do a lot of walking every day, take the NYC transit to meet with friends for lunch, theater, walks in the parks, NY Yankees games, along with numerous other cultural events.
My first full day back to the city I had a procedure scheduled for NYU Langone Health. I put in my Atom Pro hearing aids and headed for the subway, being certain to take the charging case, but hoping not to need it.
Subway cars are loud, but I left the hearing aids in until a very loud group of teenagers arrived, I was glad to have the charging case. I got out at Grand Central, reinserted my Atom Pro’s. On 42nd St heading toward Lexington Ave the traffic noise was unbearable. Again, into the charging case.
At NYU Langone I reinserted my hearing aids. At checkin they use a scan of my right hand to bring up my profile and begin the checkin process. That equipment, even more so than the induction range, caused feedback at a very high level. Reinserting the hearing aids after checkin I had no further issues and was happy not having to ask the medical team to repeat things.
My Conclusions
I thought long and hard about what to do during my test period with my very affordable Atom Pro hearing aids. After NH I was ready to commit to them.
Prior to searching for new and affordable OTC hearing aids I owned the Bose Hearphones for going on 5 years, until Bose discontinued those and replaced them with a different model that I find unacceptable – a review of that experience is in the works. The features I was giving up with any affordable in ear hearing aid that I utilized and loved most about the Bose included:
- Bluetooth streaming to 2 devices
- Blocking of any or all outside noise
- Supplied presets for normal conversation, tv, focused and group conversation. All of the presets could set for individual hearing, adjusting for base or treble, higher or lower for left/right ear. Easily switched by app.
- Calls, when connected to a phone, could be answered and any other bluetooth connected device was automatically silenced.
- Excellent battery life and very high quality Bose audio.
Even without those above Bose Hearphone features I would rate my New Hampshire experience 5 stars with the planned addition of a 2nd pair of Audien Atom Pro heating aids.
After my NY City experience I decided to return the Atom Pros. Audien, of course, hoped I would decide to keep the Pros, but the return process could not have been easier. They even sent me a free shipping label. I received a full refund soon after they received my returned hearing aids.
I hope the above was useful, please feel free to leave comments, I will be more than happy to try to answer any questions. You should feel very confident ordering from this fine company.
