Backed by mounting evidence of high user satisfaction with the natural sound quality of its Widex MOMENT hearing aid platform, Widex USA Inc. today announced its first-ever rechargeable behind-the-ear hearing aid offering PureSound™, LED indicator, telecoil, and direct streaming to iPhone and Android. With the new Widex MOMENT BTE R D, patients with hearing loss from minimal up to severe-to-profound can now benefit from Widex’s unique natural sound processing.
“With 91 percent of users reporting satisfaction with Widex MOMENT sound quality[1], we’ve applied this patented technology to our first rechargeable BTE solution,” said Dana Helmink, Senior Director of Audiology and Clinical Education at Widex. “Featuring sound like no other, the Widex MOMENT BTE R D is designed to give patients greater control over their hearing experience while offering direct streaming across popular devices like iPhone and Android. Hearing care professionals now have even more options for fitting patients with natural sound and convenient, flexible lifestyle features that enhance the use of their hearing aids.”
The rechargeable Widex MOMENT BTE R D hearing aid is fully compatible with the Android Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) standard, which allows wearers to stream music and calls directly to their hearing aids without requiring a separate accessory. It also supports direct wireless connections to iPhones, Widex TV Play, and WidexLink devices. Developed to meet the needs of even the most demanding hearing aid wearers, Widex MOMENT BTE R D runs for up to 37 hours on a single charge and 24 hours total when used for roughly 8 hours of streaming — more than enough battery life for those who spend much of their day streaming.
The Widex MOMENT BTE R D has the option of using a standard ear hook and two thin tubes for a better fit regardless of ear size and shape. Either can be used to take full advantage of PureSound with ZeroDelay™ processing, which eliminates delay-based distortion in Widex MOMENT hearing aids and improves sound perception. Recent Widex studies have shown that 90 percent of users found the sound of their own voice to be natural when wearing Widex hearing aids featuring PureSound, compared to their current hearing aids. A full 95 percent said the overall sound of PureSound was natural.
“Delay impacts many levels of sound perception,” Helmink continued. “With PureSound, we’re finding patients overwhelmingly prefer the naturalness, clarity, and localization of the sound they experience from Widex MOMENT hearing aids to what they get from other devices.”
Widex MOMENT BTE R D hearing aids come standard with telecoil and feature a new HCP-programmable LED indicator and, unique to this model, a separate preference control switch to help patients use their hearing aids more easily. HCPs can enable the LED indicator to flash different colors and patterns to communicate status to the wearer, such as on/off, low battery, or a successful Bluetooth connection or accessory pairing. As a result, the hearing aid wearer – or their caregiver – can easily understand the status of the hearing aids through a visual indicator, thus removing the guesswork.
The Widex MOMENT BTE R D is available in a range of colors, similar to other Widex MOMENT hearing aids. It comes with a standard charger and will soon be available with the Widex Charge n Clean charger, featuring a UV-C LED treatment to eliminate bacteria and viruses and temperature stabilization to ensure optimal battery performance.
HCPs will be able to perform fittings of the Widex MOMENT BTE R D via the new Compass GPS 4.3 fitting software.
Reference
[1] Balling LW, Townend O, Helmink D. Sound quality for all: The benefits of ultra-fast signal processing in hearing aids. Hearing Review. 2021;28(9):32-35.