Nicholas is 27 years old, and works in freelance Media Production. He is a ReSound ENZO user, which is the Super Power version of our popular ReSound LiNX hearing aid. We recently caught up with him near his home in Guildford, Surrey, to discuss his ReSound ENZO aids and hear his thoughts.
I will start off by saying that this review is fairly one-sided. I’m a huge fan of my ReSound ENZO hearing aids. My previous hearing aids were Phonak Nathos SP. They were good, obviously they got me here without too many problems!
But my ReSound ENZOs are truly just worlds apart. There is no comparison, and over the following few words I want to explain why I like them so much.
Design
Before I talk about the performance of my hearing aids, I want to cover my thoughts when you first pick them up – the physical side of things. The ENZOs have a much smaller hearing aid body than my old Phonaks, which is great because they’re lighter and less big so you just don’t notice them as much when wearing. The Phonak aids were quite large in comparison, cumbersome and heavy. I found that previously I used to have a lot of moisture build-up in the tubes, but also in ears. It seems like there’s a lot more air circulation with the ENZOs, though. They’re smaller so they feel less of an obstruction. Also the moulds and tubes are smaller and the design and material seems to be more ‘breathable’. As a result, they’re more comfortable and just feel more natural. You forget that you’re wearing them.
Out in the real world, the physical design of the aids is also great. I really love the waterproofing of the ENZO, as it means I don’t have to worry about water or sweat (ReSound ENZO hearing aids are treated with a hydrophilic nanotechnology to protect the internals from water damage). With my previous hearing aids, I always used to have to take them out out if I was walking in heavy rain or sweating lots on the turbo trainer. The fact I don’t anymore is nice, it makes my hearing aids seem more natural because I forget they’re there and don’t have to worry about ‘protecting’ them and taking them out to avoid damage.
Power & Control
Now onto the actual performance of the hearing aids and how they help me to hear! Sound quality and clarity is so much better across the board, wherever you are or whatever situation you are in. I found that although the Phonaks were strong enough (they were a Super Power model) I now feel they always sounded distorted compared to the ENZO.
The biggest benefit of the ENZOs for me is that I just think the sound processing is great.
With previous aids it’s like the hearing aids didn’t know what to do, or what sounds to prioritise. It was almost like they had a mind of their own, sometimes. They controlled sound differently, and the Phonak aids just had no idea what to prioritise. The ENZOs just seem to choose exactly what you want to hear at the right time.
The ENZO power also seems to go much further - for speech and background noise reduction. They’re in a league of their own. There is also much better control of levels and competing sounds - both intuitively with the hearing aids own processing, but also through the mobile app- which I love.
Smart Hearing
I have my phone on me all the time. I have an Apple Watch with the ReSound Smart app too, but I rarely use it. The screens and process of modifying programs, etc is much faster and easier on the mobile app. I really don’t think you need a watch to make best use of the ENZO hearing aids, it is expensive for not a lot of real benefit. But the mobile app on the phone is very useful. It’s not essential, by any means, as the aids work so so well on their own as standalone hearing aids, but I really rate using the mobile app too - it just makes the control of what you hear go from great to awesome.
Why ENZO?
So what made me go for ReSound ENZO hearing aids initially? My audiologist recommended a Samsung hearing aid (unsure which model, sadly) or the ENZO. I asked him which was better - having no real preference myself. He recommended the ENZO as the size and ear mould options seemed to be a better fit for my lifestyle as I’m very active. The mobile app was an added bonus - I’m always on my phone and it made sense to take advantage of this really useful way of modifying what I’m hearing.
The aids cost me about £4000. I paid most of it myself, with my parents helping out a bit too. It’s a really significant amount, I know, but it’s the best thing I have ever done. I love cycling and have some very expensive bikes, but the hearing aids are the best thing I’ve ever spent my money on - they’re just so good, and have had such a massive effect on my lifestyle and also my happiness.
Setup
Setting up the hearing aids was very straightforward, and done in just over an hour at my local hearing aid centre. I was offered a number of different ear moulds for my ENZOs - the standard mould, concha mould, and canal mould. I experimented with Nick, my audiologist at London Hearing, with all three and concluded that concha ear mould gave me the best results - in terms of fit, little irritation, visual appeal and feedback. I use the softest material possible, due to ear sensitivity.
My type of hearing loss only needed minor changes from the initial factory settings of the hearing aids, so it was even easier. I think this is another thing that impressed me about the hearing aids. They seemed to work very well almost straight out of the box - and the processing and understanding of how I like to hear things seemed almost intuitive. I only needed one other appointment after this, to make some small changes, and then I was completely happy with how the ENZOs performed. I haven’t felt the need to modify anything since, and I can hear exactly how I want to hear.
Adaption
The other interesting thing is that with other hearing aids it would always take me a few days to get used to them and really start to benefit from their hearing performance. With the ENZOs they worked almost instantly and after 2 or 3 hours it felt like I’d completely gotten used to them. Again I think this is just because the way they process sound is so intuitive and clever.
Battery Life
On the subject of battery life, they seem to last 10-12 days, depending on how heavily I use the hearing aids. My previous Phonaks would last about a week. I find this really interesting because they use the same batteries and I have the Bluetooth on all the time on the ENZOs. The Phonaks are just normal hearing aids - no Bluetooth connectivity - so I’d expect the batteries to last longer!
A Few Of My Favourite Things
I struggle to choose what is my favourite thing about my ENZOs. I love listening to music and watching videos, so direct streaming is awesome – just cut out all other sound and really get absorbed in what you’re listening to. Especially when you can watch things without people knowing as it’s all wireless.
I also definitely do more phone calls than I used to, as call streaming is brilliant.
I really like using Facetime on my iPhone too- that way I can see people during a call, as well as hearing them perfectly. It’s like you’re in the room with them, having a private conversation It’s brought me closer to friends and family as it’s just so much easier to speak to them.
That’s probably my favourite.
With thanks to Nicholas for all his time, and we wish him all the very best for the future. We are extremely grateful for his feedback on the ReSound Enzo hearing aids, and love to hear how our customers incorporate our products into their lives.
Follow Nick’s career as a young deaf media producer through his site www.nicholasmugridge.co.uk