REVIEW – A little over a year ago I reviewed the Alpha Pro, an Over-The-Counter hearing aid from Elehear. At the time, OTC hearing aids were still pretty new and the Alpha Pro at $999 was up to 5x less expensive than hearing aids bought through the traditional audiologist route. A lot has changed in a year with more options than ever available on the market. Elehear reached out with a brand new model that addressed some of the shortcomings, but more significantly a dramatic further reduction in price to $399. Let’s go!
What is it?
The Elehear Beyond is a pair of OTC (Over-The-Counter) hearing aids in a rechargeable case with it’s own battery. The partner app provides a pretty significant level of control over both the sound of the hearing aids and what the microphone responds to.
What’s included?
- Beyond Hearing Aids
- Charging Case
- Charging Cable (USB-A to USB-C)
- Assorted ear domes
- Cleaning brush
- Wax caps w/installation tools
- Wire Sizing card
- Quick Start and Manual
Tech specs
Click to expand
Beyond Aids
- HFA-FOG50 (Gain): 35±5bB
- Al noise reduction: Max 24dB
- Frequency Range: 125Hz-7000Hz
- Connection: Bluetooth 5.3 (Music streaming & Phone calls)
- Soft speech enhancement: Yes
- Microphone: 2 microphones per hearing aid
- Dimensions (W*H*D): 1.29*0.65*0.36 inches | 4.8g
Charging Case
- Single charge: 20 Hours Runtime
- Battery Capacity: 95mAh (Hearing Aids), 1000mAh (Charging Box)
- Charging Box Usage Time: 4 Extra Charges
- Charging Case Dimension (W*H*D): 4.09*2.34*1.33 inches | 120g
Design and features
Beyond are small, lightweight hearing aids that sit behind the ear that use a small translucent wire to run audio into your ear canal where the receiver will reside. The interchangeable domes allow for a customized fit both in dimension and the amount of transparency you wish to achieve.
The storage case provides a home that keeps your hearing aids safe, while using its internal battery to recharge them up to four times before needing its own refill.
The smartphone app allows for quick and easy settings adjustments, customization as well as initial test to help determine how profound your hearing loss is.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
Remove the Beyonds from the case, pull the protective film off each aid’s charging contacts and return them to the case. That film got much more obvious between the early samples and the final production units. I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t charging in the case, and it was that film was still in place. It’s much less visible in real life than this photo shows on the left, but Elehear clearly got some comments, because now it’s impossible to miss as you can see on the right.
Connect the charging case to a USB-A power source with the included cable and while letting it charge (up to 2.5 hours), get on your phone and download the Elehear app. Follow the instructions for pairing with your phone.
Performance
Right out of the gate I have to commend Elehear for the improvements made over the Alpha Pros I tested a year ago. I also want to acknowledge that they took feedback seriously from an early round of testing with the Beyonds, and made improvements to the hardware, user experience and application before releasing them. While there are still a few things I’d like to see improvements on, the Beyonds are worlds better and much more accessible due to the significantly lower cost of just $399.
My main complaint with the Alpha Pros was the size of the charging case. The new Beyond case did get smaller, but is unfortunately still WAY TOO big. I’ll put this simply. All of us are used to charging our gear daily and I would happily do that to get this case down to the size of an AirPods case, or that of the Horizon 7x RIC-S that are still my go-to aids. Moving on…
The elephant in the room is of course the hearing aid function of Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 which was released with iOS 18.1 and about which I’ll say this. Their hearing test is well executed, and will only offer the hearing function if you have a result that shows possible hearing loss. It was not able to detect the same level of loss for me that a hearing professional was. However, given the sheer volume of users with AirPods Pro 2, I hope that everyone will test their hearing. There’s a definite a stigma attached to hearing loss and wearing aids so I applaud Apple’s push to help. My main concern with the AirPods Pro solution is that 100% of the augmentation is done through a microphone and then the driver inside your ear canal. There is not an option for an “open” ear dome that some audio can pass through while the aid augments just the sounds you need help with.
This is one of the big improvements on Elehear’s Beyond aids. They’ve included different types of ear domes including the open style I was recommended to use by the first audiologist I talked with regarding hearing loss early in 2021. There are certain sounds and higher registers that I need help with and the open domes allow all sounds to pass through only assisting where I need it. The result is a much more natural experience that does not feel like you’re blocking out the world and then piping it in through a filter.
That said, as soon as you start streaming music or audio, you will absolutely notice the loss of depth and bass if you are not using a closed dome that seals your ear canal to provide the response you’re looking for. I spend a solid hour in the morning driving to work, and another on the way home. I enjoy my car stereo with my hearing aids only “adding” the missing elements instead of sealing off my ears to get good audio, and mixing in driving sounds.
Another major thing to consider is the message that any “earbuds” send visually. They pretty much say, “I’m listening to something, don’t bother me”. Maybe that will start to change as more earbuds begin to tackle hearing augmentation, but for now it’s a bit of an uphill battle, or at least prompts an audible discussion, “I’m using these to be in our conversation, not to tune you out”.
Elehear’s Beyond do not have that issue as they sit behind your ear with a small clear wire that comes over the top and dives into your ear canal in a very discreet way. It’s quite likely that no one will even notice that you’re even wearing them. I know I have some grey hair coming in, but that wire is still pretty tricky to spot.
They’re definitely visible from behind but still possible to conceal depending on the amount of hair you have and how you style it.
Elehear includes a #2 length wire installed on the Beyonds. If you use the included measuring card and find you need a size 1 or 3, reach out to their customer service team. The open domes are shown here along with the blue left, right red receivers that they push onto.
The Beyonds are very light weight and don’t bounce around. I’m either wearing prescription glasses or contacts and readers so pretty much 90% of the time and I have to say that I’ve had very little problem with glasses interfering with the aids.
The app is pretty easy to use and with the audible feedback as you make changes you’ll be able to narrow in on what works for you. The power on sounds are normal, and there are no voice announcements as you switch modes which are both great improvements over the previous Alpha Pros. It’s also worth noting that the physical volume rocker controls on the Beyonds mean that you can make changes without having to pull out your phone. Just note that you’ll need to do so on each ear.
The hearing test works well and my result showed that I do have some hearing loss. (Apple’s test said “little-to-none” which felt dismissive by comparison).
As was the case with the Alpha Pros, any AI that is automatically adjusting to address additional environmental noise, it seems to work although hard to tell exactly if anything is happening. For me, it’s enough that I’m just hearing better. I do find myself adjusting volume and tweaking some settings depending on my environment. Things like air conditioners or a server-rack fan can become an overwhelming “main” sound vs. something I can tell the Beyond’s to tune out. These are scenarios where I’m more likely to just remove the aids from my ears, but again my hearing loss is not as profound as others.
During my review period, I was able to test multiple versions of the app as it was in development with firmware updates able to be pushed to the hearing aids. It’s great to see continual improvements in performance and user experience. There was one specific firmware update where the volume went from low to almost full on restart. I had them on the table in a meeting when that occurred and they started squealing enough for everyone to look around for the source. I expect Elehear caught that bug quickly as subsequent updates have had no further issues, but a word of caution to not have them in your ears when updating just in case.
What I like about Elehear Beyond OTC Hearing Aids
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Good selection of ear dome types and sizes
- Function all with hearing test and multiple settings
- Great price
- Charging case
What needs to be improved?
- PLEASE Cut the case size in half. One full recharge would be plenty. (Or provide a carry case with no battery as an option.)
Final thoughts
The Beyond OTC hearing aids show a remarkable improvement in performance and the ability to purchase for just $399 without a doctor visit is nothing short of revolutionary. My remaining gripe is the still gigantic charging case, leaving me to find a small, pocketable earplug case to use for them in between charges. Regardless, I hope more users are able to discover they need hearing assistance via whatever avenue they can and find help from Elehear.
Price: $399
Where to buy: Elehear and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Elehear. Elehear did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
