Not only are hearing aids expensive, but they’re rarely covered by insurance. That’s why Olive Union is launching a new, more powerful version of its popular budget hearing aids. Now available for pre-order, the Olive Max automatically cut unwanted noise, boost voices, and cost just $300 with an early bird discount.
Now, the Olive Max aren’t a high-end pair of hearing aids. They’re quite bulky and have a wrap-around design that people with hearing loss usually try to avoid—previous products from the company had the same problem. But for $550 (or the $300 pre-order price), the Olive Max offer a lot of features and cost thousands less than high-end alternatives.
The big feature, and this was missing from the 2020 Olive Pro, is background noise reduction. Olive Max automatically tames background noise and chatter to help you hear voices more clearly. According to Olive Union, the hearing aids will automatically “learn” to improve the noise reduction experience, and users can craft pre-sets for different environments.
Of course, the hearing aids also boost voices and can double as Bluetooth earbuds for calls, podcasts, music, or whatever. To ensure that you’re getting a balanced sound, the earbuds perform a five-minute test when you first set them up—the only problem here is that you’ll have to find a super quiet room (or closet) to get an accurate reading.
Customers should be warned that the Olive Max only offers eight hours of battery life, or a total of 18 hours with the charging case. That’s plenty for most situations, but not too great if you spend all day away from home (or forget to charge things).
Pre-orders for the Olive Max are available now at an early bird price of $300. The hearing aids will cost $550 once the discount pricing ends.
