Sennheiser has unveiled the Conversation Clear Plus wireless earbuds. The announcement comes as CES 2023 kicks off with fanfare. The gadget has voice-enhancing features and environmental noise cancellation. The device is as close as it can get to a conventional hearing aid. It is cheaper than an OTC hearing aid but could be viewed as highly expensive as TWS earbuds.
The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus can
help people with early-stage hearing loss and is helpful even when in a noisy
environment. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced
plans to enable adults to buy cheaper hearing aid products for persons with
early or mild hearing loss. The approval has seen some companies like Sony and
Jabra already releasing wireless audio products of such kind. Although the new
Sennheiser earbuds are not official OTC hearing aid, they can serve that
purpose. They are sold as earbuds that feature advanced speech enhancement
technology and active noise cancellation.
The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus can
make voices more distinct and clearer for users in a variety of noisy
environments. Three listening scenarios are pre-configured into the wireless
earbuds. These are Relax, Communication, and Streaming modes. The different
modes offer varying degrees of noise cancellation and voice enhancement. They
also operate as a conventional product with Bluetooth connectivity. The battery
life of the Conversation Clear Plus is 9 hours, which can extend to 36 hours with
the case. The Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus earbuds come with a hefty
price tag of US$ 850 and can be pre-ordered from Sennheiser.
The hefty price tag of the Conversation
Clear Plus could limit its demand to a smaller segment of the audio accessories
market. However, if its audio capabilities match the Sennheiser description,
then it could be a cheaper alternative to OTC hearing aids. It has to be stated
though that it can only serve persons with less severe or mild hearing
problems.
