ReSound Vivia in Dripping Springs
One of the smallest rechargeable aids made, with a chip that does nothing but pull speech out of noise.
The short version
ReSound is a Danish maker with a long record of getting to wireless features first. Vivia is its first hearing aid built around a chip devoted entirely to artificial intelligence.
About ReSound.
ReSound's strength is connectivity, and Vivia carries that forward with a second processor that handles nothing but separating speech from background noise. Splitting the work across two chips is what lets a hearing aid this small do that much sorting without spending the whole day's battery on it.
Two things tend to matter most to patients. Intelligent Focus reads the direction you turn your head and brings that voice forward, so a conversation across the table stops competing with the room. And the rechargeable model is genuinely small without giving up a 30-hour day. In exchange, the AI feature is the hungriest thing the aid does, and steering it by head takes a week to feel natural.
If ReSound is on your list, the question worth bringing to your evaluation is how you plan to wear it, since Vivia comes as a small rechargeable and as two battery models. Bring your phone along too, so we can test the streaming rather than take it on faith.
The strengths, in detail
- Speech pulled out of the noise
- A second chip does nothing but sort voices from background sound, trained on 13.5 million recorded sentences, about as much conversation as a person has in 25 years.
- Focuses on whoever you face
- Intelligent Focus reads the direction you are turned and brings that voice forward, following your attention rather than asking you to redirect it.
- Battery life that outlasts a long day
- Up to 30 hours on a charge, and ten minutes on the charger buys back a couple of hours if you forget overnight.
- One of the smallest designs made
- The rechargeable microRIE is among the smallest aids of its kind, and it comes in ten colors so it can sit quietly against your hair.
- Auracast working out of the box
- Vivia receives Auracast broadcasts now, with no firmware update to wait on as theaters and airports switch over.
- Option for one-sided hearing loss
- For people who hear well on one side only, there is a version that routes sound from the quieter ear across to the better one.
The tradeoffs, in detail
- You aim it by facing the speaker
- Intelligent Focus follows where you look. That fits most conversations, and it helps less when the voice you want is behind you or off to one side.
- The AI setting shortens the battery day
- Leaving the AI feature running pulls 30 hours down to closer to ten.
- Hands-free calling still favors the iPhone
- Audio streams to iPhone and Android alike, but answering a call without reaching for your phone is an Apple feature on most setups, which is worth testing with your own phone.
An honest fit
Who the ReSound Vivia suits best.
No hearing aid is right for every ear. Here is a plain read on where the Vivia earns its place, and when another option would serve you better.
A good match for
- People who want the smallest rechargeable aid made without giving up the features
- Anyone who follows a conversation by turning toward the person speaking
- Patients who are out for long days and would rather not think about charging
- Loop or Auracast users at church or the theater
Probably not for
- If the voices you most need to hear come from behind or beside you
- If you carry an Android phone and hands-free calling matters a great deal
- If your hearing loss needs more power than a small aid can give
Not sure which column you land in? That is exactly what the evaluation settles. Your results, not a brochure, decide the recommendation, and every fitting here is verified with real ear measurement.
Already wearing ReSound? You do not have to have bought them here. We clean, reprogram, and repair most makes and models, often while you wait. See hearing aid repair.
Compare the six
The other brands we fit.
ReSound is one of the brands fit and serviced here. The same strengths and tradeoffs are written up for each of the others.
A Danish maker with a long research tradition in how the brain makes sense of sound.
Denmark PhonakSwiss engineering with a catalog that covers nearly every wearing style and budget.
Switzerland SigniaCarries the engineering lineage of the former Siemens hearing division, with a broad current lineup.
Germany StarkeyAn American manufacturer with deep roots in custom-molded, in-the-ear instruments.
United States WidexA Danish maker known among wearers for its pursuit of natural sound.
Denmark
Next step
Wondering if ReSound fits your ears?
Vivia asks a great deal of a very small device, and whether that holds up comes down to your ears. A hearing test settles it.