Nowhere is the speed of consumer electronics development more apparent than in the market for true wireless stereo earphones. These devices are often called “hearables” and bear little resemblance to traditional wired earphones even if they share the same core function of music playback. Hearing aids, on the other hand, are primarily intended to selectively amplify live speech. But TWS hearables can be worn wirelessly in a person's ears just like hearing aids.
, “By creating dialogue on noise levels, Apple is nudging consumers to consider their hearing health far more often and comprehensively than ever before.”In addition to potential changing attitudes to hearing, consumer brands like Apple are driving innovation at a rapid pace. An increasingly popular feature in modern TWS hearables is hearing personalization. Its function is like self-fitting hearing aids in that the user takes a hearing test to create a personalized profile.
While some in the industry advocate for a gain limit on OTC hearing aids, there are no limits to the gain that can be applied for hearing personalization of music. A TWS hearable device that performs a hearing test and applies a correction algorithm to music at any level is still just an unregulated consumer product. But if the correction is applied to the microphones for live speech, the device then becomes a regulated hearing aid.