Samsung Galaxy S25 and Auracast

I’ve used Samsung Galaxy phones for the last decade and recently upgraded from Galaxy S21 Ultra to the newest S25 Ultra phone.

The S21 mostly worked with my Jabra Enhance Pro 20 aids from Costco for adjusting programs and listening to phone calls, but would occasionally lose connectivity. That seemed to be mostly the fault of the Jabra app (from Resound GN), since it could be fixed by force stopping the app and clearing the cache. in the app settings. Android has long had a number of useful accessibility functions for hearing aid users, at least on Samsung phones, including age-related profiles and the ability to adjust left-right balance (I have differential hearing loss) as well as access to Google’s Live Transcribe function.

The Galaxy S25 works on a whole different level. To begin with, it explicitly supports Bluetooth LE and Auracast. And it works! I can play music on the phone, broadcast it with Auracast and listen through my aids or through Samsung Buds 3, or any other Auracast-enabled devices. The audio quality is far better on the Buds, of course, but you can set the equalization in the Jabra app to make it acceptable through the aids for most purposes.

In the Android accessibility settings, you can add a shortcut to the home screen taskbar that will open the window you get by clicking on the settings option for your aids in the Bluetooth Connections menu. This identifies your aids, shows their battery levels, and allows you to search for and connect to any available Auracast broadcasts. You can also switch from there between the 4 standard programs programmed into your aids (called “Presets”), however applying custom enhancements or switching to a saved custom program still requires opening the Jabra app.

Connectivity is also far more stable and reliable with the Galaxy s25 than it was with the S21.

After a month, I am convinced that Auracast has the potential to be a real game changer for hearing aid users. As of now, the only Auracast devices I am personally aware of are the latest Samsung phones and tablets, and hearing aids from Resound (including Jabra), but there will surely be more soon. I can hardly wait for this technology to be in widespread use.