Consumer earbuds can now function as legitimate hearing aids, not just improvised workarounds. In September 2024, the FDA authorized Apple’s Hearing Aid Feature for AirPods Pro 2 as the first over-the-counter hearing aid software, making a pair of earbuds you might already own into a clinical-grade device for mild to moderate hearing loss. Even without that specific hardware, both iPhones and Android phones offer built-in sound amplification tools that can meaningfully boost your ability to hear conversations and environmental sounds through any compatible earbuds.
AirPods Pro 2: The FDA-Authorized Option
If you own AirPods Pro 2 (or the newer Pro 3), you have access to the most capable earbud-based hearing solution currently available. Apple’s Hearing Aid Feature received FDA marketing authorization, meaning it meets the same output limits, frequency response standards, and noise requirements that apply to dedicated over-the-counter hearing aids sold in pharmacies.
To set it up, open the Health app on your iPhone, tap Search, then Hearing, and scroll down to “Take Hearing Test.” The test walks you through a series of tones at different frequencies and volumes, then generates a personal audiogram, a map of exactly which sounds you struggle to hear. The software uses that audiogram to customize amplification specifically to your hearing profile. If you already have a professional audiogram from an audiologist, you can use that instead. You can also export a PDF of your results to share with a hearing healthcare provider later.
Once the hearing test is complete, the Hearing Aid Feature adjusts amplification, left-right balance, and tone automatically. You can fine-tune all three manually in your AirPods settings. The feature runs continuously while your AirPods are in your ears, amplifying the sounds around you in real time.
Transparency Mode as a Hearing Boost
Even without running the full Hearing Aid Feature, AirPods Pro owners can customize Transparency Mode to act as a basic amplifier. In your AirPods settings, turn on Custom Transparency Mode, and you’ll get sliders for amplification (how much louder sounds get), transparency balance (left vs. right ear), and tone (boosting higher or lower frequencies). There’s also an ambient noise reduction slider that lets you dial down background noise while still hearing voices clearly.
A few additional tools make this more practical for everyday hearing assistance. Conversation Awareness automatically detects when someone starts talking to you, lowers whatever media you’re playing, and enhances the voice in front of you. Conversation Boost goes further by focusing your microphones on the person you’re facing, which is especially helpful in noisy restaurants or crowded rooms. You can also adjust Own Voice Amplification separately, so your own speech doesn’t sound unnaturally loud in your head while everything else is boosted.
One setting worth knowing about: Loud Sound Reduction caps environmental noise that comes through Transparency Mode, protecting you from sudden loud sounds like sirens or construction. It’s on by default, but you can toggle it off if you find it’s cutting out sounds you actually want to hear.
Android and Samsung Alternatives
Android doesn’t yet have an FDA-authorized hearing aid equivalent, but it offers several tools that get you partway there. Google’s Sound Amplifier app works with any wired or Bluetooth earbuds. It captures audio through your phone’s microphone and lets you boost quiet sounds, reduce background noise, and adjust the left-right balance independently. It’s free, pre-installed on most Android phones, and found under Settings > Accessibility.
Samsung Galaxy phones have their own set of hearing features built into the Accessibility menu. “Amplify ambient sound” works with any connected headphones to increase the volume of conversations around you. The feature adds an accessibility shortcut to your navigation bar so you can toggle it on quickly. Samsung’s Adapt Sound lets you create a personalized sound profile based on your age range or a custom listening test, then applies that profile system-wide, including to amplified ambient audio. You also get a left-right balance slider to compensate if one ear hears better than the other.
Samsung’s Sound Detectors add a different kind of hearing assistance. They can alert you visually or with vibration when they detect a doorbell or a baby crying, useful if you tend to miss those sounds even with amplification.
Why Ear Tip Fit Matters More Than You Think
None of these features work well if your earbuds don’t seal properly in your ear canal. A poor seal lets outside noise leak in unfiltered, forces you to crank up volume to compensate, and reduces bass clarity. Clinical research confirms that ear tips that don’t seal properly reduce sound transmission and allow background noise to interfere with what you’re trying to hear.
Ear canal size and shape vary significantly from person to person, affecting bass response, clarity, noise isolation, and comfort. Most earbuds ship with silicone tips in small, medium, and large sizes. Try all three. The right size should feel snug without pressure and noticeably muffle outside noise even before you turn anything on. AirPods Pro have a built-in Ear Tip Fit Test (in Settings > AirPods) that plays a short tone and tells you whether your seal is good.
If none of the included silicone tips feel right, memory foam tips are worth trying. Foam compresses when you insert it, then expands to conform to your specific ear canal shape, creating a more consistent seal than silicone. The practical difference is better noise isolation, fuller sound, and the ability to listen at lower volumes, all of which matter when you’re relying on earbuds for hearing assistance throughout the day.
The Latency Problem
One important limitation separates earbuds from traditional hearing aids: delay. Professional hearing aids process sound in just a few milliseconds, fast enough that the amplified sound reaches your brain in sync with visual cues like lip movements. Even a small increase in that delay can make speech feel disconnected and make it harder for you to speak naturally, because you hear your own voice on a slight lag.
Bluetooth audio can introduce delays of 40 milliseconds or more, sometimes reaching into the hundreds of milliseconds for standard streaming. Apple’s Hearing Aid Feature is specifically engineered to minimize this lag, which is part of why it received FDA authorization while generic amplifier apps haven’t. But if you’re using a basic Bluetooth amplifier setup on Android with standard earbuds, you may notice a slight disconnect between seeing someone’s lips move and hearing their words. Wired earbuds eliminate most of this latency, so if you’re using Google’s Sound Amplifier and find the delay bothersome, plugging in with a cable can help.
What These Tools Can and Can’t Replace
The FDA’s OTC hearing aid category covers perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. That’s the range where you struggle to follow conversations in noisy places, ask people to repeat themselves regularly, or find yourself turning the TV up louder than others prefer. For this level of hearing loss, a well-configured pair of AirPods Pro 2 with the Hearing Aid Feature is a genuine clinical-grade option, not a compromise.
For severe or profound hearing loss, earbuds won’t deliver enough amplification, and the frequency shaping isn’t precise enough to address the complex patterns that typically accompany more advanced loss. The FDA caps OTC hearing aid output at 111 decibels (or 117 with compression active) and requires frequency coverage from 250 Hz up to at least 5,000 Hz. Those limits work well for mild-to-moderate needs but fall short of what prescription hearing aids can deliver.
The biggest practical advantage of using earbuds is that many people who would benefit from hearing aids never get them, often because of cost or stigma. If you already own a compatible pair of earbuds and a smartphone, the barrier drops to zero. Running a hearing test through your phone and enabling amplification takes about ten minutes, and the difference in a noisy restaurant or a work meeting can be immediate.