16 hours Ago By David Snelling
It’s been a little while coming but Apple has finally pushed out a long-awaited upgrade to its most premium AirPods. It’s called ‘Hearing Test’ and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Having been told to keep an eye on my hearing during a recent check up I thought it would be a good idea to try this latest release and see how healthy my ears really are.
It’s incredibly easy to use, and I’d recommend everyone with the latest AirPods Pro 2s give it a go. You simply pop the buds in your ears and then head to Settings and tap AirPods on your iPhone. As long as you have the latest iOS update installed, you should then see the option to ‘Take a Hearing Test’.
You’ll then be asked to answer a few question including if you’re suffering from a cold or have been to a loud gig in the past few days. Apple also needs to check that you are over 18. As long as those answers are correct and you’re sitting in a quiet room, you’ll be good to go.
The test is just like you have at a clinic, with the buds letting out different tones and bleeps at variable volumes. When you hear something, you just tap the iPhone’s screen to register your hearing reactions. Both ears get tested one-by-one with the whole process taking less than 5 minutes.
After giving it a go, I got my score which showed that - whilst not perfect - I have little to no loss of hearing loss. Being able to take this test from home using just the phone and AirPods means I can now give my ears a check to see if things are deteriorating. It's thought that around 1.
5 billion people around the world live with hearing loss and many may not know it's happening to them. Although it can’t be reversed there are some things that can help including the use of hearing aids. This is something else Apple is hoping to bring to UK soon thanks to a function on the AirPdos called ‘Hearing Aid’.
This uses the buds to help people with mild to moderate hearing loss hear sounds more clearly. Sadly, that function is still awaiting approval from UK health officials, but Apple says it is working hard to bring it to British AirPods owners in the future. Hearing Test is available now though.
It is supported on AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware paired with a compatible iPhone or iPad with iOS 18.2 or iPadOS 18.2 and later, and is intended for people 18 years or older.
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