Yeasound RIC800 Hearing Aids Review: Good Audio, Glitchy App

While the bulk of innovation successful the over-the-counter proceeding assistance marketplace revolves astir much modern in-ear models, a caller marque called Yeasound is proving there’s inactive immoderate beingness near successful the accepted behind-the-ear (BTE) proceeding assistance space. The institution is comparatively new, but it’s really a subsidiary of Yealink, a Chinese telecom shaper that’s been making headsets and telephone hardware for 25 years.

Yeasound’s BTE proceeding immunodeficiency presently travel successful 2 versions. I tested the higher-end RIC800 model, which includes AI-powered sound reduction, an automatic speech-focusing system, and enactment for Android successful summation to iOS. (The RIC700 is Apple-compatible only.)

The units different look identical and adjacent measurement the same; I measured a azygous portion astatine 2.76 grams, which is lone somewhat heavier than immoderate of my favourite BTE proceeding aids, similar the Jabra Enhance Select 700. Physical controls are constricted to 2 buttons connected the backmost broadside of each unit. These are chiefly utilized to power measurement (independently for each ear) but tin besides beryllium utilized to interact with telephone calls via a streaming connection.

Onboard Audiogram

The archetypal halt for astir users volition beryllium the iYeasound mobile app, which offers a simplified location surface that puts each the essentials beforehand and center. The in-app proceeding trial sets a baseline for however frequencies are adjusted. I alternatively enjoyed Yeasound’s proceeding test, which is rather expedited successful examination to others connected the market. While the trial works the aforesaid way, delivering pings of assorted frequencies and measurement to each ear, it eschews lengthy and unnecessary pauses betwixt each test, truthful you tin decorativeness the full trial successful astir 5 minutes alternatively of 10 oregon more. The results are plotted connected a accepted audiogram for posterity; my results were somewhat much assertive than my canonical audiogram suggests, but they were adjacent capable for an OTC merchandise and an informal, in-home test. Unfortunately, if you already person an audiogram successful hand, it can’t beryllium imported, and Yeasound’s investigating results can’t beryllium manually edited speech from taking different test.

With the proceeding trial done and my audiogram loaded, I was acceptable to embark connected the Yeasound idiosyncratic acquisition successful earnest.

The main surface of the app offers 5 biology modes: Adaptive, General, Noisy, Music, and Outdoors, each mostly self-explanatory. Volume controls for each receptor look beneath the mode selector. You won’t find immoderate sound cancellation options here, though. For those you request to drill into the Sound Setting system, which is unsocial for each of the 5 modes but Adaptive. Here you tin astir set low, mid, and precocious frequencies (though thing much refined than that), opt for 1 of 3 sound simplification levels, and take betwixt utilizing an all-around microphone, a forward-facing mode, and an adjacent tighter absorption mode.

The Adaptive mode is wherever the RIC800’s AI features travel into play, and if you alteration it you forgo each of the further controls mentioned above, with measurement the lone modification offered. This sounds liberating, but I preferred utilizing the General mode overmuch of the time, with my ain fine-tuning proving much effectual than the algorithm’s, particularly aft pushing sound cancellation to its maximum level. This mode had a small little hiss—a noticeable occupation successful the Adaptive mode erstwhile the measurement level creeps up—and it felt little boomy, particularly erstwhile investigating with closed receptor tips. With unfastened receptor tips, the 2 modes were astir a draw. (Open, closed, and hybrid receptor tips are included successful the container successful assorted sizes for you to experimentation with.)

On the whole, I recovered the units’ audio assistance to beryllium effectual if imperfect. Mid-level frequencies often felt a small muddy and muffled, a occupation that extended to a lesser grade to lower-frequency tones. Noise cancellation was amazingly good, however, and the units tin beryllium pushed to precise large levels without introducing important distortion.