BeHear NOW: Digital Personal Hearing Amplifier for Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss, Rechargeable Battery, Bluetooth Connection. Self-Tunable, Enhances Hearing for Live Speech, Mobile Calls, TV Watching.

Quick background; I have mild to moderate hearing loss. I am looking for a device that will allow me to hear conversations in a noisy environment such as restaurants. All my hearing loss is higher frequency (2k and above).First the Pros for the device:Great build qualityWonderful customer service/support from the staff at W&HGood price for a device like thisGreat hearing assessment toolLots of customizationCons:Doesn't isolate conversations in a noisy environment (for me)Design (This is personal preference. I don't like the dangling ear buds)Battery lifeNo Google integrationI was weighing buying these or the Bose Hearphones (which I have not yet tested). I bought these because they were half the price and the reviews seemed good. My initial impressions were that the build quality was quite nice and good packaging. I do not like the dangling ear buds that just hang down the front of your shirt. I prefer the ones that magnetically clip up in the device (like the Bose Hearphones). This is just a personal preference, so I'm not faulting the company for the design. Installation of the software was very easy and paired immediately. The hearing assessment tool was very easy to use and quite accurate. I have had my hearing tested by an audiologist and this assessment was quite close to the professional assessment, so kudos to the company for that. They have obviously done work to make that as accurate as possible. Once I put them on and started listening for the first time it was an interesting feeling. I was drinking water from a glass. I went to grab it and could hear the ice rattling in the glass quite clearly. My daughter was in the other room folding some papers and I could hear her folding and tapping the sheets. I was quite excited at this point that these would, indeed, help me. I had some folks talk and I could hear them quite crisp, but it was digital (robotic) sounding. Not bad, but was quite obviously a processed sound.The next day I was headed to an Atlanta United soccer match. I figured this would be a great time to really test them out. Outside, the Home Depot Back Yard blast was going on with loud music and games. I put them in and turned them on. I could still hear the music and the announcing, but it had dropped the low frequencies and balanced the volume so it wasn't surging. I started playing with the noise reduction and trying to hear voices more. I couldn't. I asked my family to speak, but I couldn't really hear them more clearly than anything else around me. I tried to face them directly, hoping it was directional, but it didn't seem to help much. But the testing continued.Into the stadium we went. During the game I could hear the announcements and hear the background noises, but everything was leveled. No surges causing me pain, which is what happened without earplugs. Loud environments truly cause pain, especially when I'm trying to focus and hear conversations. As the game went on, the loud train horns were now just a normal sound and weren't too loud. I could still hear everything going on around me, but all at the same level. That was wonderful. However, conversations with my family were still just normal level, and they had to yell and I had to read lips to get what they were saying. No real improvement there. I checked battery life and was down to about 45% after 3 hours of use. That was a bit discouraging.After the game we headed to Outback Steakhouse. Another good opportunity to test. The evening was more quiet than most, but still a lot of background noise. I popped them in and could again isolate glasses clinking and people dropping silverware. That was neat, but unfortunately, my family was still no highlighted in the hearing. I played with the different modes and the only one that ever worked to improve hearing for conversations was "live music". The indoor, outdoor and crowd modes all just muffled everything so I couldn't really hear anything. I played some more with the customization. Still couldn't really get them clear without also bringing up all the other noise. So in the end, I was disappointed these weren't going to be my solution.The next day I decided to test battery life without the active listening turned on. I put them on at 8am, turned off the active hearing, and just let them sit. I would check them occasionally with a phone call or quick video on my phone. The battery continued to drain at a high rate. By 4pm I was down to 35%. With my LG HBS-800 headsets (regular bluetooth headsets) I will get around 2 weeks of use before I have to charge. These I'm going to have to charge daily and not use the active hearing much. I have contacted the company about battery life, but haven't heard back from them on it.However, this company has been FANTASTIC in response to questions. They have taken a good deal of time to respond to each and every question I have asked and worked with me to try and optimize my hearing. I must give them credit for truly caring about their customers an the customer experience. They got an extra star rating just for that alone.The last thing is that the device does not currently support Google assistant. There is no button to call it up, which is something I use daily. I asked them about it and they have plans to integrate it in a future firmware update, but as of now, you have to physically hold your phone to make calls, send texts, ask Google questions, play music, etc. That's simply a poor design. With this level of technology and integration that should have been in from the beginning.To sum up, it's a wonderful start to a product that should indeed help many people with their hearing issues, but it doesn't enhance conversations in a noisy environment and it definitely needs to have Google integration. Their customer service is top-notch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future.

I have moderate hearing loss. I have in the past used the TYPICAL HEARING AIDS that sit precariously on the top of the ears. These have two compounding problems.1) Very expensive. Consider that the tech that goes into these is maybe 1/100 th of what goes into a smart phone. I consider these a scam.2) They are very easy to lose. They sit on the back of the ear and one needs to direct attention away from daily activities to making sure the hearing aids are still hanging on. If you lose one and go for a replacement, you are met with "That is an outdated model, we don't carry replacements". For an extremely expensive high-profit item they could carry spares for 10 years. Sez me.The BeHears do not have either of these problems. They're not cheap, but reasonable for what one gets.The bluetooth is programmed to be very aggressive. It will interfere with other bluetooth devices in the house. I have to to a power reset on the bluetooth transmitter for my TV because the behear somehow interferes with it. Bluetooth, ideally, should only connect when directed to. I have to turn the bluetooth in my car to be able to use the behears, because of interference.So I have to keep the behears in a metal enclosure to keep them from causing mayhem in my home.If the behears are turned off they WILL TURN THEMSELVES ON in order to interfere with other device.This bluetooth problem made me zap one star.They take some getting used to. If you have used the $$$$ hearing aids in the past, these will still take getting used to. Give them time. For one thing, you hear your own voice more than with the hearing aids. If you have not worn hearing aids, you will likely require more time to get used to them. It's worth the wait.For me they are a great help, but not without these ANNOYANCES:Right off, when I got them they came with the clips pictured that hold the wires in the loop. These were not strong enough and the wires kept slipping out. So I replaced them with wire ties. Problem solved.The fact that there these wires exist is the worst annoyance. They are always dangling there, unattractive and getting in the way. I wear these on my walks when I have sunglasses with a holder string and a hat with a securing string. These both get maddeningly entangled with the BeHear wires. Even the strings from my pandemic mask get into the act and I have to spend a minute to untangle things when I get home from my walk.The most important improvement for the BeHears for me would be to replace the wired transducers with bluetooth ear pods. Either proprietary or third party that the user could purchase. Pods go online in the low 20s.Another improvement a high definition codec for the Bluetooth. This is a missed opportunity, as the drivers are high quality, so with hi def audio these would deliver excellent sound quality.When I have it in the mode to listen to music or TV, the ambient sounds are like they are coming from inside a manhole. Ambient conversation is difficult to understand.My hearing loss is in the high frequencies, like many hearing-challenged. So the BeHears incorporate EQ that boosts highs in the ambient sound. Excellent. But when in the bluetooth mode for listening to music the EQ is not applied and the music sounds muffled. So what I do is use the equalizer in my phone to restore the high frequencies. Pretty good sound, but not hi def.When listening to TV, the TV's bluetooth transmitter is in front of me and the BeHear module is in back of my neck, resulting in poor BT reception from just a few feet away. On the other hand, I can walk into the other room and reception is fine. Go figure. To help with bluetooth reception I got the : "[2020 Upgraded] 1Mii Long Range Bluetooth Transmitter/ Receiver for TV PC Home Stereo " and connected that to my TV. That helps the reception a lot.The control buttons on the wires are not spaced sufficiently for me and I often push the wrong button.ADVANTAGES:Having spilled all that trash, I must state that these are INDISPENSABLE in my life. Listening to TV, I can still hear my daughter from down there in the manhole.Out on a walk, I don't feel safe with buds that block out ambient sounds. With the BeHears I am still tuned into the 'hood.Driving is a different experience with the BeHears. Just for driving alone they are worth having. I am able to listen to my phone and hear the cops' sirens coming after me (or other traffic sounds) simultaneously. Also, when using the navigating function in my phone the navigation lady comes through loud and clear, she's not drowned out by ambient noise or by music.