How do Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 compare against hearing aids? I put them to the test

<p>Can these earphones, with less cost and stigma than real aids, be a gateway for millions with untreated hearing loss?</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2025/sep/09/sign-up-to-the-filter-us-our-newsletter-guide-to-buying-fewer-better-products">Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things</a></p></li></ul><p>I didn’t think much about it when I asked my partner to repeat herself. But then I did it again. And again. And one day, my audiologist delivered the verdict: after years in war zones standing too close to things that went boom, I had moderate high-frequency hearing loss. I needed hearing aids. The option she showed me cost $7,000.</p><p>The sticker shock hit harder than the diagnosis. In the US, insurance typically won’t cover hearing aids, which meant I was on the hook for the full cost, out-of-pocket. I found a compromise at Costco: the <a href="https://www.jabra.com/hearing/enhance-pro-20">Jabra Enhance Pro 20s</a> for $1,600. I spent the next month acclimating to their digital processing until it finally sounded normal.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter-us/2025/oct/31/airpods-pro-3-hearing-aids">Continue reading...</a>