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Eargo 5 / 6 reviews?

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Edited

Just wondering if anyone on here has personal experience with the Eargo aids? I am considering picking up a set of used Eargo 5 units for trial. The size and is interesting to me. My loss is mild/moderate on the high freqs, which from research seems to be what the Eargos can handle. I can’t see spending close to $3k for new ones (I have Phonak P90s) but a new set (open box) for less than 1/3 that price is almost at the “buy now” price.

I can’t seem to find a real user’s picture of the aids in the ear. Every picture seems to be a stock Eargo advertising picture or review. Thoughts? Junk?

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Can’t answer your question, but I would like to ask why you don’t like the P90s?

I trialed the 5; interesting fitting concept; but they weren’t adequate for my hearing loss. They were very comfortable & inconspicous.

I now have the More 1s. I started my hearing aid journey by doing research and buying the Eargo 6s online. I used chat. They gave me the military discount of 20% which I could not get if I self-ordered. My deceased dad served in the US Coast Guard during WW2 mop up operations, so he was technically a WW2 vet, although he didn’t serve in the conflict.

The Eargo6s came fairly quickly in the mail. You have to do a hearing test given through your Eargos in a quiet place. As Dr. Cliff’s review states, the test and the target matches are quite good. In some ways these are are a relatively inexpensive breakthrough technology because they are in-ear but the petals keep the from occluding your canal, allowing outside sound in, if you, like me, have good lower frequencies.

It worked well for me and I recommend them highly. I would recommend the 6s to you without reservation. I can’t speak about the 5s because they are different than the 6s in certain ways that I now forget. They’re not waterproof for one. Dr. Cliff pointed out issues that I noticed with my pair, however.

Why did I return mine? I’m a musician and am VERY sensitive to sound quality. I couldn’t get sound quality that I could live with. My sound deficit begins to appear going up from 2k and it was in the HFs that I kept on getting a feedback delay, i.e., car beeps (fasten seat bell dings, etc). I also would get HF feedback beeps, which also drove me crazy. Additionally, they itched my ears and bothered me. Another problem for me was that I’d lose the string and would get worried that I was going to lose them in my canal. I had to go with the larger petals due to the size of my canals. One time I was really unable to find the string and my wife had to fish it out for me.

They work, but weren’t good enough for my requirements. I think they are good and serve a great purpose but I had to move on. They cost me 2360 (2950 - 20%). I ended up with the More 1s that ended up costing me 40 dollars more because I found a German tech on eBay who programmed them for me and sold them to me for 2400. The more 1s serve my needs very well.

Best to you!

The P90s are my first hearing aids. I had to buy them quickly, visit one day, purchase the next when I was back stateside on leave. Only had those 2 days, so no time to trial anything. I’m overseas on assignment. I am unable to wear the aids during work, I can get along without them, have been. But my job requirements are such that wearing them or needing them would be a no go. The idea of the near invisible Eargo units would be the ability to possibly wear them more freely during the workday in some situations.
Thanks everyone for the answers. Appreciate it. Still on the fence…

I would get custom-fitted in the ear canals hearing aids based on what you have expressed. Eargos are too generic and they don’t do sound compression and it makes a difference not having it in . I had the 5 for a month and returned them due to the feedback loop making the sound choppy. I also returned them due to the fit, they were uncomfortable for long periods of time. The market is full of which are way better and just as invisible. I recommend Costco they have the biggest bang for the buck. They have the Rexton M-CORE iX which are quick fit and small like the eargos

In reply to @richardsondc

That’s fine. I have places I go where devices (wireless anything in general) aren’t allowed. I’ve asked a friend who works there all the time what are allowed, since mine would not be. I never got an answer.

WH

Yep. Actually anything electronic, whether wireless or not are a no-go. But outside those areas needing a would also impact clearances…

I took the plunge, bought a set of Eargo 5 (used) for a great price. A price I was willing to pay for a test.

Will update in a few weeks once I have them and see how they work for my situation/ears.

Eargo 5 - first day of use. (I have been using my P90Rs, my first set of aids, so comparisons only valid vs P90s)

They are invisible. Unless someone put a flashlight to my ear and looked in you would never be able to see them. For my situation, this opens up a lot more use options for me around colleagues when outside of work. Situations where I can not use the P90s.

The Soundmatch test results look comparable to my in office /test. But the Eargo graph doesnt show any frequencies or db values, just a graph with a shaded graph indicating your results.

So far I am happy with them for what I paid but I dont think I would be happy at $3k. My ears dont seem to mind them being inserted, but it is a bit uncomfortable at first. The style P90s are more comfortable, might be because I have been wearing them for a few months on/off. However the Eargos are awesome for wearing glasses or masks, because there is nothing outside the ear. The Eargos are so far in your ear, I was able to put on and off my fullface motorcycle helmet, a few times, without dislodging the eargos.

The charging system/crade is super easy to use. All wireless. The magnets hold the aids in securely. The charger also has a battery internal to it, so you can recharge the aids 4 or 5 times before needing to plug it in. Great for trips!

Cons- there is no volume min/max notification, so you can keep pressing the volume up/down and it doesnt tell you when you reach the end. Annoying.
Tap to change the program - I have not had any success. The phone program seems to work fine to change settings.
I think they are amplifying more of the overall sounds so they sound louder than the P90s generally. I think I have them on the lowest volume setting. There is a way to tune each program you are using them with, but I havent really tried that yet.
I can’t find a way to turn them off. As soon as you pull them from charger they turn on. But no way to turn them off without charging them. I see the charger’s power level in the app, but havent found how to see the charge level on the eargos yet.
Obviously they dont have the tunability that the P90s have. Nor the bluetooth or other features. But for plain aids, so far they are ok.

3 days of use update-
Still using them. Still liking them.

Found out that you can fall asleep with them in and not worry about it - putting your ear against a pillow. I dont plan on doing it but I fell asleep laying on the couch.

The app is not nearly as customizable as the MyPhonak app, but the one advantage is there is no ‘waiting to connect’ delay. You open the app, open the menu and make a change (volume, program, treble, bass, etc) and it sends an ultrasonic sound to the aids and makes the change immediately.

Feedback- the only time I have the whistle feedback is when I stick a finger in an ear to push the aid further in or pull it out or itch. So in 99% of everyday life, never have a whistle.

Charger - the ability to charge the aids off the internal battery pack in the charger is great. The aids charge from dead to full in 2.5 hours. The charger takes 4 hours. It is smaller than the Phonak charger and why can’t the Phonak charger have a built in battery and not require you to pay $ and put something else on it that makes it even bigger? Phonak missed an opportunity here I think.

I’ve only used my P90s one time, this week so far. To watch tv through the tv connect, early in the morning so I didnt have to turn the speakers up.

The invisibility is the biggest “pro” in my book. No one can tell you are wearing aids…

Will update again in a few weeks unless something changes.

Edited
@richardsondc said:

Will update again in a few weeks unless something changes.

Ty Rich

I couldn’t stand the itch and they were constantly working themselves out of my ears! Glad you’re liking them, though. They’re good.

I think like anything, it depends on the individual’s ear size, sensitivity, wax, hearing loss, etc to be a ‘good fit’ or not. I do notice how they tend to want to work their way out of your canal after eating or something (guessing the mouth movement lets them wiggle around?). That is when I will notice myself pushing them back in and hear the feedback whistle. Even when they are not fully in, they would be nearly impossible to see so I’m not worried too much about it.

Yesterday I swapped the petals from Medium to Large to see if it would help secure the aids better (after reading this in the manual!). So far the aids are staying in place much better. I’ve worn them for 2 days this way and they are rarely slipping out of the canal. After eating or talking a lot, still secure. yay.

Yeah, that helps. I had the large petals in. They still wormed their way out! I guess I have big canals?

Probably my last update on this subject unless someone has questions…

I’ve been wearing the Eargo 5 for 2+ weeks straight, daily, from around 6am to 10pm.

Battery- no problems, no running out of juice. I dont know if they have a “low battery” warning or not, if they do I have not hit that level yet. But I am thinking they do not.

Comfort- I was putting them in with the retaining “string” oriented downwards to the floor. I switched and now put them in but rotate them 90 degrees so that retention string is pointing towards the back of my head. This seems to allow me to put the Eargos in a little deeper, hide the retention string inside the ear lobe and they do not dislodge/move around as much. I tried the Large petals but reverted back to the Medium and with this 90degree rotation they are much much snugger. Eating, talking, etc they dont seem to move. yay

Charger- the built in battery so you can charge with out having to plug in is a game changer. And the charger is much slimmer/slicker looking than my Phonak P90 charging case. Very happy with this setup. Winner hands down.

Programs - I spend 99.9% of my time in the “normal” program. They have a “mask” program and some others. I’ve tried them to see how they act but didnt like them. They appear to just increase the amplication. It was annoying.

Volume and the Noise Filter- these don’t do much. I found somewhere that someone claimed the volume adjustments only allow 2db change per click and only 2 clicks up or down. They stated the change range was too small and I agree. You can’t really tell a difference. So they are almost useless. The Programs you can edit (like MyPhonak editing, but not as complete) and it saves those changes permanently. So I’ve adjusted the tone/bass/volume to my liking and each time the aids start they have those settings. The Noise Filter has Off, Low/Med/High settings. I can’t tell much of a difference. The manual says it offers up to 20 or 25db filter, but I can’t tell. I leave it OFF.

Audio quality- compared to my P90s these seem to be more of a ‘blunt’ instrument vs. a scalpel. If that makes sense. These do work for me and I am happy. But it is a different environment to get used to compared to P90s. These seem to amplify the entire spectrum some, but where you have loss they ampllfy that the most. Maybe they amplify everything a bit to overcome the fact you have something plugging your ear canals? So when i put them in it feels like everything has been turned up a notch in volume. Not necessarily bad. With my P90s it doesn’t feel like that, it feels like it is more specific to my high frequency loss ranges. I’m not sure which is better/worse, just different. If I didnt have the P90s I would have no idea. Its possible also the P90s are not programmed the best.

Tap control - it works but it is way harder to do it compared to the P90s. I have given up and dont change programs anyway.

Cons- no low battery warning. Limited function of volume (would like more steps and greater changes). No option to turn aids OFF - so when cleaning or drying etc, they are always on. They are either in charger being charged and OFF or once removed they always go ON. Option to disable Tap control- to avoid me changing programs by mistake.

Overall - if you want invisible and your loss is high frequency, these are great. I only switch to my P90s when I know or want to bluetooth stream or give my ears a break. You can not see these, my wife can’t see them standing next to me, she asks whether I’m wearing them or not. I’m not sure they are worth the retail price, considering you can get much better units for same or less (KS10, etc). I bought mine had a huge discount and am very satisfied. If the P90s are a ferrari or lamborghini of aids, these are like a mustang. Not the same league, but still pretty sporty!

Hope this helps someone out.

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