Hearing loss is one of the most common health conditions worldwide, affecting millions of people across all age groups. For people that suffer from hearing loss, it can be hard to understand what’s being said, making it more difficult for them to follow and participate in everyday conversations. While traditional hearing aids can help, many people can feel self-conscious about wearing them or simply find them uncomfortable to wear for long periods of use. Another drawback is their high cost, as hearing aids are often priced far beyond what most people are willing or able to spend. For those looking for a discreet hearing solution that’s comfortable to wear and available at a fraction of the cost of standard hearing aids, check out the Nuance Audio Glasses, developed by EssilorLuxottica.
The Nuance Audio Glasses are smart glasses for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, which feature a lightweight, stylish design, while also integrating built-in hearing assistive technology powered by directional microphones and open-ear speakers to provide a comfortable and natural listening experience. The glasses come equipped with light-responsive Transitions lenses by default but can also be fitted with prescription lenses.
They also boast built-in button controls, two different hearing modes including Frontal Mode and All-Around Mode, Bluetooth connectivity, and offer up to 8 hours of battery life. Via the Nuance Audio App, users can choose from four preset sound profiles optimized for different hearing needs, customize the background noise level with three noise reduction settings, adjust their volume level, switch between hearing modes, and monitor their battery.
Designed as a first-of-its-kind invisible open-ear hearing solution, these smart glasses combine a world-class eyewear design with advanced sound engineering, delivering discreet, all-day hearing support without compromising on style and comfort.
Here’s our comprehensive review of the Nuance Audio Glasses, where we talk more about all the unique features these smart glasses have to offer you.
DESIGN & SPECS
Starting with the glasses’ design, these smart glasses are available in two different frame styles, including Square, which has a wayfarer-inspired design with a square frame, and Panthos, which sports a sleek, rounded design. Both models are available in two stylish color options: Black and Burgundy.
Similarly to regular eyeglasses, both models are also very lightweight, which makes them comfortable to wear, even during long periods of time. In terms of their sizing options, the Square model is available in lens width sizes 54 and 56, while the Panthos model is only available in size 48.
For their lenses, the Nuance Audio Glasses come equipped out of the box with a set of Transitions Gen S lenses featuring a gray or emerald tint depending on frame color as a default non-prescription option, which are premium-quality, light-responsive lenses designed for adaptive light control that help you see better from day to night. These lenses darken in seconds to block 100% of UVA and UVB rays and fade back to clear in less than two minutes.
Alternatively, you can also go with a set of Blue-Violet-Light filtering lenses, which help reduce exposure to blue-violet light from the sun, digital screens, and indoor fluorescent light.
For those who need prescription lenses, you’ll be happy to know that these smart glasses can also be fitted with a set of prescription lenses as an optional upgrade, which can be tailored to your exact prescription.
Finally, to help address and reduce hearing loss, the Nuance Audio Glasses also feature built-in hearing assistive technology, for which they integrate an array of beamforming microphones powered by directional amplification technology, which helps enhance speech clarity in noise environments by creating a focused beam in the direction you’re looking towards.
The sound in this targeted area is amplified, while the surrounding areas remain unaffected. This results in maximum amplification for the voice of the person that’s standing directly in front of you, effectively addressing the challenge of understanding speech in noisy environments for those with mild to moderate hearing loss.
In addition, the glasses also come equipped with a set of open-ear speakers located above each ear that reproduce sound directly into your ear canal with a low-latency response time.
The glasses’ ingenious combination of microphones and open-ear speakers is what ultimately enables users to have a comfortable and natural listening experience, particularly in noisy environments.
USE CASES
When it comes to their potential use cases, know that the Nuance Audio Glasses work as an all-in-one hearing and vision solution for different situations, including:
- Restaurants & Crowded Places — For times when you’re struggling to follow conversations in noisy environments like crowded restaurants, the glasses’ directional microphones actively reduce background noise, allowing the user to focus on the voices of the people their sharing a table with, thus making dining out more enjoyable.
- Workplaces — For work environments such as busy meetings and crowded offices, the glasses’ enhanced speech clarity helps users stay sharp and confident throughout the day.
- Family Gatherings — For big family gatherings, the glasses’ built-in hearing technology helps amplify speech naturally to make conversations clearer and more engaging, ensuring you don’t miss out any important detail.
INTERFACE / CONTROLS
For controlling the glasses’ operation, the Nuance Audio Glasses feature built-in button controls, which make it easy to select their hearing mode, even for less tech-savvy users.
Integrated on their right temple, the glasses have a multifunction button that enables you to cycle through their two hearing modes.
Those include Frontal Mode, which focuses on face-to-face conversations by enhancing voices directly in front of you (within a 20° angle of focus), ideal for conversations in noisy settings, and All-Around Mode, which picks up and amplifies sound from all directions for general awareness.
CONNECTIVITY
For pairing them with their mobile app, these smart glasses utilize Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity.
BATTERY & BATTERY LIFE
For their power, the glasses come equipped with a rechargeable battery that offers users up to 8 hours of battery life on a full charge (note that this will depend on how strong you set their audio amplification settings).
To charge them, you just need to fold the glasses and place them on their dedicated charging pad (included with each purchase).
A battery status light glows in orange when the glasses’ battery is under 80% and in green when it’s over 80%.
THE SMARTPHONE COMPANION APP – The Nuance Audio App
Users are required to install the Nuance Audio App on their smartphones (available for iOS and Android devices) to be able to set up and customize the glasses’ audio settings.
Via the Nuance Audio App, you can choose from four preset sound profiles with different pre-configured amplification settings (A, B, C, D) based on your personal hearing needs.
The app also lets you customize the level of background noise you want to hear, for which you can choose between three noise reduction settings to reduce background noise and amplify the voices of the people in your proximity you in real-time.
You can also adjust the glasses’ overall volume by adjusting their sound amplification level on a scale from 1 to 5, as well as switch between hearing modes with just a tap.
Lastly, the app also lets you track the glasses’ remaining battery life.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Inside their package, users will find: their Nuance Audio Glasses, along with the glasses’ charging pad and its USB-C charging cable, a foldable storage case and a cleaning cloth, plus a user manual and a quick start instructions manual.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, these smart glasses offer people with mild to moderate hearing loss an all-in-one hearing and vision solution that helps people stay engaged in their daily lives. Unlike traditional hearing aids, these glasses eliminate the need for separate devices by seamlessly integrating hearing assistive technology into a lightweight, stylish frame, all without requiring a prescription or an audiologist visit. They’re discreet, very comfortable to wear, and deliver great audio amplification, especially in noisy environments.
The Nuance Audio Glasses are available in two different designs: Square and Panthos (both available in Black and Burgundy colors).
If you’re interested in purchasing them, know that each pair starts at $1,200 (costs a little more if you need them with prescription lenses), which is approximately one-quarter of the average price of traditional prescription hearing aids.
You can order them online directly from EssilorLuxottica’s official shopping page.
For US residents that want to buy them at a local store, the Nuance Audio Glasses are available at LensCrafters, Target Optical, Pearle Vision, and other authorized optical and audiology practices and retailers.
For European residents, the glasses can be purchased in selected EU countries, including Italy, France, Germany and the UK.
