Fresh From the Bench: Olive Pro Hearing and Bluetooth Earbuds

The Olive Pro Hearing and Bluetooth Earbuds were brought to market by Olive Union during 2021. These are 2-in-1 true wireless earbuds and smart (FDA-Registered class II) hearing aids, featuring a modern design that was intentionally conceived to look like futuristic Bluetooth earbuds to combat the social and economic barriers of hearing loss. When the company temporarily paused its sales efforts in the US, Brent talked with the company to find out what happened and their plans to adjust and return to market. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2022.

After debuting its Olive Pro 2-in-1 FDA-Registered class II hearing aids in 2020, smart hearing company Olive Union returns with a second and more ambitious product. The new Olive Max take the concept of affordable hearing health a step further, exchanging the convenience of compact true wireless earbuds for a large, around-the-ear (wrap-around) form-factor that the Japan-based company believes will be able to deal even with severe hearing loss.

Great articles, practical projects, reviews, and audio technology previews start the year in full force! That's what our readers will find in audioXpress January 2022, starting with an update on new materials and engineering approaches for loudspeakers, and articles by Charlie Hughes, Scott Dorsey, Frans de Wit, Ken Bird and Mike Harkins. Brent Butterworth reviews the Olive Pro earbuds, while Raj Senguttuvan from Knowles discusses differentiation for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) design and development.

Making Audio Augmentation useful for everyone, or pursue the regulatory requirements of OTC hearing aids. This article offers a useful perspective regarding the guidance documents published by the US Food and Drug Administration regarding improved access to hearing aid technology. The agency proposes a rule to establish a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids - to be sold directly to consumers in stores or online without a medical exam or a fitting by an audiologist. But most audio manufacturers are better off by not pursuing this FDA-approved OTC market. Doing so will simply hinder critical experimentation and innovation.

Olive Union - the smart hearing company on a mission to make affordable hearing health a reality for everyone - is officially making its 2-in-1 true wireless earbuds and smart hearing aids available for purchase in the US for $299. According to the company based in Tokyo, Japan, the Olive Pro design combines FDA-Registered class II hearing aids with true wireless stereo and was intentionally made to look like conventional Bluetooth earbuds to combat the social and economic barriers of hearing loss.