Eargo 5 hearing aids review
Many people rely on hearing aids, yet a lot of these devices seem to suffer from the same issues. Often, they are too large to fit discreetly inside of the ear or have excessive feedback that can cause headaches. Many also use small batteries that are difficult to replace.
Eargo claims to have solved these problems with the Eargo 5, which the company says are the world’s smallest in-canal, rechargeable hearing aids on the market. You can also custom tune the sound profile based on your preferences using the Eargo app on your smartphone.
We wanted to see if the Eargo 5 could really improve our hearing, so we decided to put the company’s claims to the test. In addition, we compared the Eargo 5 to other hearing aids we’ve tested. Here’s what we found out.
How we tested the Eargo 5
To test the Eargo 5, we wore them for several weeks going about our normal activities. These included things like eating at restaurants, spending time in other public places where there is a lot of ambient noise and even traveling on an airplane for a short trip. We tend to have problems hearing speech and other sounds clearly when there’s a lot of background noise, which made these kinds of situations the ideal places to test how the Eargo 5 performed. Due to the current pandemic, we also had to don and doff a mask constantly, which made us acutely aware of just how small and discreet the Eargo hearing aids are.
What is the Eargo 5?
The Eargo 5 are small in-canal hearing aids that are designed to be unnoticeable to others. Despite that, they still offer good sound quality with plenty of amplification, and you can custom tune the sound to fit specific situations or your personal hearing preferences. They include several tips in different shapes and sizes, which makes it easy for everyone to get the perfect fit.
The company places a high focus on convenience for the consumer and offers several methods for contacting hearing specialists, including in-app chats and video calls, phone calls and email.
How does the Eargo 5 work?
The Eargo 5 hearing aids work by amplifying specific frequencies to compensate for mild and moderate hearing loss. This is in contrast to many other personal sound amplification devices that amplify all sounds equally.
To determine what sound frequencies you have trouble hearing, you can use the Eargo smartphone app. You simply place the Eargo 5 in your ears and follow along with the on-screen prompts. After a roughly 10-minute screening, it will tell you what level of hearing loss you have and for what kinds of sound frequencies. You can repeat this setup process anytime you want if you feel like your hearing has changed.
If you don’t want to set up the Eargo hearing devices for custom tailored sound, you have the option of choosing between four presets, which are normal, phone, restaurant and TV. Alternatively, you can manually adjust the noise reduction to help block out distracting or annoying background noises.
As touched on previously, the Eargo 5 hearing aids are rechargeable, and they have a 16-hour battery life to carry you through a full day’s worth of use. They are exceedingly simple to recharge and rely on magnets inside of their case, rather than contact pins, so you don’t have to worry about lining anything up. It takes between 3 and 4 hours to get a full charge once they are depleted.
How does the Eargo 5 perform?
Overall, we were pleased with the performance of the Eargo 5 in most aspects. They lived up to many of their claims, most notably having good audio quality without much tinniness, being impressively discreet, and being easy to set up and use via the Eargo app. They never got in the way when donning or removing a mask or sunglasses, nor were they ever accidentally knocked out of position when scratching anywhere around our ears.
The Eargo 5 were also very comfortable and never caused any pain or discomfort to our ears. The battery life lasted as long as claimed and we never had an issue of waking up and finding out they hadn’t correctly charged overnight.
The above said, the Eargo 5 hearing aids weren’t without their drawbacks. They picked up more background sounds than we would have liked. The noise of the airplane was particularly intrusive. Thankfully, we were able to manually adjust them to reduce that somewhat. Kissing and other activities that involved touching our head or ears tended to create a loud sound as well. For example, fastening our mask made a very audible snap.
Eargo 5 cost
The Eargo 5 hearing aids retail for $2,950. However, they sometimes go on sale for $2,650.
Where to buy the Eargo 5
The Eargo 5 can be purchased on the Eargo website or from Amazon.
Eargo 5 pros
While sound quality is of the utmost importance in hearing aids and the Eargo 5 excelled in this area, we were perhaps most impressed by their comfort and ease of use. The app was incredibly intuitive for both setup and operation, even for someone not very proficient in dealing with electronic devices. Also, the small size made them super discreet and barely noticeable either by us or other people when worn. Being able to adjust the tuning of each ear individually was helpful too.
Eargo 5 cons
Unfortunately, the Eargo 5 are not suitable for those with severe hearing loss. Instead, they are best suited to those who have mild to moderate hearing loss and trouble hearing specific frequencies. They also don’t block out quite as much background noises as some may prefer, and sharp noises can be overly loud and painful.
Is the Eargo 5 worth it?
For the right user and in the right situations, the Eargo 5 hearing aids are a great choice. They live up to many of the claims made by the company, most notably being easy to tune to your preferences and impressively discreet. They also offer above-average sound quality as long as your environment isn’t too noisy, in which case everything can get a bit muddled.
If this sounds like something that would work for your needs, we recommend giving them a try. You can return them for up to 45 days for a full refund if you find they aren’t adequate for any reason.
Brett Dvoretz is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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