Summary:
Audien Hearing has launched the Atom X, reportedly the world’s first touchscreen-controlled OTC hearing aid, designed to simplify use, improve comfort, and enhance accessibility for people with hearing loss.
Key Takeaways:
- The Atom X eliminates complex controls by integrating touchscreen adjustments into the charging case, addressing dexterity and vision challenges.
- Four proprietary sound modes—Comfort, Conversation, Crowd, and TV—help users adapt and optimize hearing across different environments.
- Available through major retailers, the Atom X offers advanced features like Bluetooth streaming, noise cancellation, and built-in UV cleaning.
Audien Hearing, an over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid brand, has announced the launch of the Atom X, which it calls the world’s first touchscreen-controlled hearing aid. The in-ear Atom X hearing aids are designed to address and solve for some of the most formidable pain-points of hearing loss and hearing aids. There are no apps, no tiny buttons, and they’re available without a prescription for only $389.
Many hearing aid users struggle with reduced dexterity, age-related vision changes, and memory shifts—all of which can reduce one’s ability to operate the complex controls associated with hearing aids today. Besides featuring state-of-the art technology and design within the hearing aids themselves, the Atom X CaseControl integrated touchscreen allows users to adjust volume, switch environmental modes, and monitor battery levels with a simple tap of the charging case.
Additionally, the Atom X addresses the number one reason people stop using hearing aids: early rejection due to difficulty adjusting to the new experience of using a hearing aid. Its Comfort Mode is designed to ease new users into their new audio experience, while enabling others to take a break with a gentler sound experience. The full Atom X proprietary sound setting modes, optimized for everyday environments, include:
- Comfort Mode: Softens the sharpness of high frequency sound and overall intensity, provides a more soothing sound profile for those adjusting to hearing aids or just needing a break from the day.
- Conversation Mode: Optimized for speech clarity, it enhances high-frequency consonants ( “s,” “f,” “sh,” “ch”) that are critical for speech understanding.
- Crowd Mode: Reduces background noise while maintaining focus on speech by using dynamic noise reduction to improve understanding in busy places like restaurants, stores, and social gatherings.
- TV Mode: Helps amplify TV broadcasts the way they were meant to be heard, reducing ambient distractions and enhancing voices coming from the screen.
In addition, the Atom X allows users to stream audio via Bluetooth while adjusting the level of their surroundings that they can hear at the same time, referred to as Transparency in the touchscreen, to ensure spatial awareness and safety during walks, conversations, or daily routines.
Extensive ergonomic research informed the Atom X’s discreet in-ear design optimized for all-day comfort across a range of ear sizes and fit preferences, including those who typically find earbuds too bulky or irritating.
“With the Atom X, we set out to reinvent the way everyone interacts with hearing aids,” says Ishan Patel, CEO of Audien Hearing. “We put the insights learned from one million users into a product that addresses the biggest challenges and hurdles to hearing health. The Atom X makes powerful hearing support feel as effortless as it should be, from the moment someone opens the case to the moment they rejoin conversations with ease, furthering our mission of making hearing more accessible to everyone.”
Technical specs and features include:
- Battery: 48 hours of total listening time with case
- Noise / Feedback Cancellation
- Volume Levels: 10
- Built-in UV Cleaning
- Bluetooth: optional feature for streaming or hands-free calling
The Atom X hearing aids come with a charging case, USB-C charging cable, power adapter, cleaning brush, 6x replacement buds, and wax guard kit. They are available for purchase now for $389 in Walmart stores, and on Amazon, Audien, and Walmart websites. They will also be available at Walgreens, in-store and online, in November.
For more information, visit the Audien Hearing website.
Featured image: Audien Hearing
