Hearables in 2023: Comfort Must Come First

Predicting what trends we’ll see in hearables in 2023 seems like a fool’s errand. With the release of the OTC hearing aid rule in the United States, these are predicated on devices that can be comfortably worn for long stretches of the day in a form factor that people are willing to wear in social settings. Without that foundation, these interesting and useful applications will not achieve mass-adoption. Anticipating CES 2023, Andrew Bellavia looks for the Next Big Thing in Hearables and the Multiple Sides of Comfort.

If you are an audio industry professional, unless you have been on holiday on some remote island without Internet, you must have noticed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally issued the long-expected rule establishing Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aids - five years after the original OTC hearing aid act was signed into law on August 18, 2017. Will hearing aid companies really adjust and understand "consumer" behaviors? How do hearables fit in that environment? Could these products be influenced by "brand loyalty"?

A day past from the introduction of a new, category-defining hearing-aid model from ReSound, another GN Group brand announces the launch of a new hearing enhancement convergence product. The new Jabra Enhance Plus are described as true wireless earbuds designed to bring hearing enhancement for clearer conversations, as well as music and calls in a state-of-the-art miniaturized design. They look like regular TWS earbuds, but are in fact OTC-class self-fitting hearing aids.

Futuresource Consulting announced the forthcoming availability of the new 'Worldwide Hearables Report'. According to the company's research, the growing appeal of aftermarket headphones is opening up the new ‘hearables’ sub-segment, catering for those with hearing loss and alleviating much of the expense and stigma attached to hearing aids. Amid these market developments, Futuresource will carry out in-depth original research to explore the enabling technologies, the underlying consumer attitudes, motivations and the size of the hearables opportunity.