I’ve been covering I have had WIRED hearing aids for almost three years now and I often talk about them with users and potential clients when I wear them in public. No matter what I tested, during that time, one brand name kept popping up: Jabra.
The Danish brand has a long history of producing a variety of audio equipment, but I always associate it with the Bluetooth headphone craze. The brand entered the over-the-counter hearing aid market early (via acquisition) and hasn’t let up since then, steadily introducing new over-the-counter hearing aid models.
The latest of these is the Jabra Enhance Select 300, the brand’s smallest and most advanced model yet. You wouldn’t really know an aid just by how it looks. These are fairly standard behind-the-ear models that, while small (2.64 grams each), don’t offer any significant surprises. The dignified gray base sits close behind the ear, with a silver cable snaking into the ear canal. There is a button on the back of each aid.
Photo: Jabra Enhance
Jabra comes pre-loaded with many of the purchasing processes to ensure your assistive device arrives pre-configured. You can take an online hearing test, or upload a professional audiogram like I did; either option allows Jabra audiologists to make appropriate adjustments to the product before shipping. The company also requires you to fill out a lengthy medical questionnaire to rule out any hearing-related medical issues before sending the product. Eventually, the digital chat can get a little annoying: During the shopping process, Jabra will even ask about your credit rating, and if you say your credit is bad, suggest monthly payment plans for its lowest-priced products. Once you place your order, Jabra will send you an introductory email and invite you to schedule a session with an audiologist to walk you through the hardware and app. Granted, some of these features are helpful, especially the Zoom orientation, but Jabra could do with giving the automailer a bit of a break.
There’s a lot to explore once your hearing aids arrive. For example, if you’re not sure which type of earbuds is best for you, you’ll have plenty of room to experiment, as the company sends seven different earbud pouches for you to try, including open, closed, and tulip varieties. size tips. I counted 70 different tips in total, and I have no doubt that Jabra would happily send more if I asked.
With the earbuds installed (I usually test with the earbuds turned on), I noticed that the receiver made a tinkling sound when I inserted it into my ear (Jabra calls it “Smart Start”), so having the assistive device on my ear became Easier some canals. The controls are very basic: a button on the right assist raises the volume on both, a button on the left lowers the volume on both, and either assist will loop if you hold the button for a while. programs (four in total). seconds.
Of course, you get more out of your hearing aids if you connect them to a mobile app, and Jabra actually has two apps to choose from. The Enhance Pro app first appeared in the app store, but the Enhance Select app is newer. They work in much the same way, but since the boost option is newer, I’ll mostly write about it. You’ll primarily use the app to switch between four modes: Omni, Restaurant, Music, and Outdoor, all of which are self-explanatory. Each mode has additional options associated with it; for most, you can select Noise Filter to mute ambient sounds, or Speech Clarity to boost conversation volume. These can be further customized via three EQ sliders corresponding to bass, mid and treble frequencies. Volume can also be set globally in the app or individually for each ear. Of particular note: any customizations you have made to the program other than “All Around” mode will be reset to defaults once the hearing aids are returned to the charging case.