Auracast isn’t just in hearing aids: it is also in a growing number of headphones and earbuds, including this set from EarisMAX.
Small, compact, and smart, they support Bluetooth and Auracast, offering great connectivity options. They can also be fine-tuned based on an audiogram and help with hearing in everyday use – similar to Apple’s AirPods.
They come in a small, rectangular box about the size of a bottle of after-shave. Inside are the earbuds, a carry case, and some silicone domes (called tips here) of various sizes to help you find that perfect fit.
The earbuds themselves are small and shaped like quotation marks: a tail grips them in your ears, making them easy to remove.
Essentially, all you have to do is find the right tip for your ear canal, place it on the part of the earbud that goes into your ear, and pop it in.
To control them, they need to be paired to an app on a phone. The process will be familiar to anyone who uses a phone app to control their hearing aids, whether for connectivity, switching between programmes, or adjusting volume or settings.
The EarisMAX app offers options to adjust the user experience, including beamforming – which can help hearing someone’s speech in the street or underground, or listening to phone calls, music, or television programmes.
A slider can further optimise speech understanding in conversations, and active noise cancellation (ANC) can also improve it. When in use, the earbuds’ internal microphones pick up ambient noise and feed it back into the Bluetooth audio stream, allowing background noise to be suppressed in favour of what people need to hear, such as speech, doorbells and emergency signals.
Essentially, it is designed to be versatile in a range of situations.
But what of Auracast? Well, the EarisMAX app includes its own Auracast Assistant, so if you have a phone without one, such as an iPhone, you can still tune into any Auracast you wish.
This operation is very straightforward: open the app, press Auracast Assistant, and then the Auracast you want to tune in to, and then … listen.
The sound quality is excellent, and we can adjust the volume easily from our paired phone.
The carry case acts as a portable charger, so that the earbuds will rarely run out of charge when on the move. It’s a bit like Phonak’s Virto Infinio in-the-canal hearing aids in that the EarisMAX buds will snap neatly into place so there is no ambiguity as to whether they are securely in place.
It takes about 90 minutes to charge the EarisMAX buds, and they last 8-12 hours on a single charge. The charging pot can be charged via a Qi wireless charger or a USB-C port. When fully charged, it can provide three charging cycles for the buds.
At just 51g, it is light and can easily slip into a pocket.
We were impressed with the build quality and the range of tips that came in the box. Being able to customise the sound to fit your hearing profile – and keep those settings stored – is an impressive feat. While they won’t replace proper hearing aids, they can be a useful stepping stone.
It is also hard not to be impressed by the buds’ sound quality. They are a showcase item for Auracast, pleasant to wear, and built with high-quality materials that make them feel like a premium purchase.
They cost around £216, and can be ordered in the UK from Sarabec. VAT Relief is available in some circumstances, reducing the price to £179.99.
For more details, log on to: https://www.sarabec.com/product/earismax-buds
For more on the EarisMAX earbuds, visit: https://www.humantechnik.com/produkte/auracast/earismax-buds
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