New Hearing Aid Glasses Enhance Voice Clarity and Battery Performance

EssilorLuxottica has unveiled an upgraded version of its Nuance Audio glasses, now featuring the Nuance Audio Plus, which cleverly integrates discreet over-the-counter hearing aid technology. These glasses maintain a sleek profile, with temple arms that are only slightly thicker than standard eyewear, yet they pack in FDA-cleared hearing aid capabilities. The Plus model enhances sound amplification, improves voice clarity, offers additional on-device controls, and boasts a battery life of up to 10 hours.

The Nuance Audio Plus is available in the US in three frame styles: Square, Pathos, and Upturn, and comes in five colors: shiny black, shiny burgundy, deep blue, amber, and olive green. The starting price is $829, with additional costs for prescription lenses. The original Nuance Audio smart glasses will still be offered, starting at $699.

One of the standout features of the Nuance Audio Plus is its audio amplification enhancements, which significantly improve speech clarity in noisy settings. Users can utilize a companion mobile app to toggle between two modes: Frontal, which amplifies the voice of the person directly in front of you, and All-Around, which increases the volume of ambient sounds. The app also allows for selection from four pre-configured amplification settings and offers three levels of background noise reduction.

To reduce the need for frequent phone access, the Nuance Audio Plus glasses come equipped with on-frame controls, including a dedicated power slider and separate volume adjustments. Users can easily enter sleep mode to conserve battery by folding the temple arms, and unfolding them quickly powers the glasses back on. Additionally, these glasses allow users to answer incoming voice calls directly without needing to reach for their phone, although this feature is only compatible with iPhones and not supported on Android devices.