Olive Union launches 2-in-1 hearing aids and earbuds

Olive Union has announced Olive Pro, a pair of true wireless hearing aids that pull double duty as a pair of earbuds. Much as they may look like a regular pair of “pro” wireless earbuds, with the traditional short stalks, they’re designed to help folks with mild hearing loss. The company says that the hardware is packing artificial intelligence that will “isolate unwanted noises and enhance music, conversations, TV and more.”

Users concerned about hearing loss don’t need to visit a medical professional and can get set up in around five minutes. Once you’ve developed a custom sound profile, the earbuds will tune the ambient audio to amplify sounds you need to hear, while screening out those you don’t. Most crucially, especially for a device that isn’t just to throw tunes into your brain, the battery has a stated life of 18-plus hours.

The advent of true wireless earbuds has been a boon for people with mild hearing loss, both from a technological and cultural perspective. There’s less taboo about wearing earbuds all day, and the technology is becoming a lot cheaper as a consequence of their popularity. The Olive Pro can be pre-ordered at a discount price of $149 via Indiegogo -- a decent saving on the planned retail price of $299. Should you throw down your cash today, you’ll should expect your hardware to arrive at some point in the first quarter of 2021.