If you wear glasses every day and conversations are getting harder to follow, you might like the idea of one device that does both. Nuance Audio glasses tuck hearing support into frames that look like regular eyewear.
Yes, you can put prescription lenses in Nuance Audio glasses, and you can add options like light-adjusting or blue-violet light filtering lenses. Your lenses come from the prescription you get at your eye exam, so they’ll match how your eyes see today.
How Nuance Audio Glasses Work
From across the room, Nuance Audio glasses look like any other pair of frames. Small microphones sit along the front, and open-ear speakers built into the frame send amplified sound toward your ears.
Because nothing goes inside your ear canal, you can still hear what’s happening around you. The microphones focus on voices in front of you, making it easier to follow the person across the table in a loud restaurant.
Nuance Audio glasses are FDA-cleared as over-the-counter hearing aids. That category is meant for adults 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, and you don’t need a hearing test or an audiologist’s prescription to get a pair.
Prescription Lenses for Nuance Audio Glasses
Nuance Audio glasses ship with non-prescription Transitions lenses that darken outside and clear up indoors. If you need vision correction, we can replace those with prescription lenses made for your eyes.
Prescription lenses can correct nearsightedness, where faraway objects look blurry. They can also correct farsightedness, which tends to make reading and close-up work harder on your eyes.
Lens Add-Ons You Can Choose
Want a few extras? You can order your prescription lenses with Transitions or blue-violet light filtering. Some people prefer the filter if they spend long workdays on a screen and deal with digital eye strain.
Nuance Audio doesn’t offer standard sun lenses for these frames, so pick light-adjusting lenses if you’d like a tint outdoors. That way, you won’t have to switch to a separate pair of prescription sunglasses and leave your hearing support at home when you step outside.
Frame Styles and Sizes
You’ll wear these frames from morning to night, so choose a shape you like in the mirror. The original Nuance Audio glasses come in square and Panthos shapes. (Panthos is a softer, rounder style, if you haven’t heard the term before.)
The newer Nuance Audio Plus adds an Upturn shape and 5 color options, including amber and deep blue. Both lines come in more than 1 size.
Fit affects your hearing and your comfort. A frame that slides down your nose can move the speakers away from your ears, so choose frames that sit securely and ask our opticians to adjust them for you.
Who Are Nuance Audio Glasses For?
Nuance Audio glasses can work well for adults who already wear glasses and have started noticing small changes in their hearing. If you put your glasses on first thing every morning, your hearing support comes along without an extra device to remember.
Early signs of hearing loss can include:
- Speech that sounds muffled
- Trouble following conversations in noisy places
- Asking people to repeat themselves
- Turning up the TV louder than others in the room like it
- Trouble understanding people on the phone
These glasses aren’t designed for severe hearing loss. If you can’t hear speech in a quiet room or your hearing changed suddenly, see a hearing health professional before you choose a pair.
Things to Think About Before You Buy
Charge your glasses every night, the same way you’d charge your phone. On a full charge, the original Nuance Audio glasses can run up to 8 hours, and the Plus model can run up to 10.
Your battery may drain faster in noisy places or at higher volumes. In a loud room with the volume turned up, the original glasses may last closer to 5.5 to 7 hours, so keep the charging pad somewhere handy if you’ve got a long day out planned.
Set your volume and listening mode through the Nuance Audio app on your phone. One mode focuses on the person in front of you, while another picks up sound from all around. Give yourself a few days with each setting before you decide which one suits your routine.
Get Your Prescription Ready
Nuance Audio glasses can only correct your vision as well as the prescription inside them. If it’s been a while since your last exam, your eyes may have changed, and an updated prescription gives your new lenses a better starting point.
At Total Vision Little Tokyo, our optometrists can check your vision and help you choose lenses and frames that fit how you spend your day. Book an appointment, and bring your current glasses and your questions about hearing glasses with you.
