Technologies
I’m a Headphone Reviewer. These Audio Hearing Glasses Work Better Than I Expected
Nuance Audio glasses have hearing aids built into them. They’re expensive but actually work for people with mild hearing loss.
Our Experts
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Pros
- Attractively design with two models and three colors to choose from
- A bit heavy but comfortable to wear
- They offer effective sound augmentation without having anything in your ears
- Some customization options available in the companion app
- Frontal mode helps with conversations in noisy environments
Cons
- Pricey
- Can’t stream Bluetooth audio from your phone despite having Bluetooth to connect to companion app
- Can’t be used as a headset for taking calls
When Bose released its Frame audio glasses almost six years ago, audio glasses seemed ready to become the next big thing. Despite several Bluetooth audio glasses and sunglasses releases since, the tech hasn’t really taken off. Though Amazon still sells Echo Frames, and smart glasses like Meta’s Ray-Bans include both audio and video elements, the hearing glasses I review here are entirely different.
The Nuance Audio hearing glasses somewhat resemble the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2, but are more specialized. They don’t stream Bluetooth audio from your phone, capture video or interface with AI. They’re basically glasses with hearing aids built in. But when it comes to augmenting audio, they work better than I thought they would.
However, they do cost a lot, listing for $1,200. They’re currently on sale for 30% off ($840).
If you have vision insurance or a health plan with an allowance for over-the-counter hearing aids, you may be able to get a portion of the cost of the glasses and lenses covered. You can also use funds from your Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account to help pay for them.
Ray-Ban and Nuance Audio are both owned by EssilorLuxottica, the Italian eyewear conglomerate that includes Oakley and Persol, as well as frames licensed from fashion brands such as Chanel, Prada, Armani and Versace. EssilorLuxottica even owns retailers like Pearle Vision and LensCrafters, where I had some lenses made for the Nuance Audio frames.
These frames come in two designs and three color options. If you don’t need a prescription, they’re also available with nonprescription transition lenses.
Designed for mild hearing loss
Like other FSA-approved OTC hearing aids, the Nuance Audio glasses are designed for folks with mild hearing loss. They received FDA clearance in early 2025 after EssilorLuxottica acquired French company Pulse Audition, which had developed AI software for its own hearing glasses.
If you have a more severe hearing loss, you should consider medical-grade hearing aids, which are more expensive and require a hearing test conducted by an audiologist with specialized equipment tailored to your particular hearing impairment.
I test headphones and earbuds for CNET. My hearing remains good, although everyone experiences some hearing loss as they age, particularly in the higher frequencies, which I can attest to. Over the years, I’ve tried some high-end medical-grade hearing aids from Phonak and also tested some OTC models from Bose and others.
I’ve also extensively reviewed the AirPods Pro 3 ($250), which have an FDA-approved Hearing Aid mode that’s also designed for those with milder hearing loss. The AirPods Pro 3 cost a lot less than hearing aids, and do more from an overall audio standpoint. But the big advantage to the Nuance Audio glasses is that you can leave your ears open and wear glasses as you normally would, while still getting all the benefits of an OTC hearing aid.
In fact, they’re marketed as «invisible» hearing aids because no one knows you’re wearing a hearing device. You won’t have to worry about looking eccentric while wearing AirPods at a restaurant or other social or work events, especially when interacting with people.
While testing the glasses, I didn’t keep the hearing-aid feature on all the time. You activate it with a long press on the power button that’s on the underside of the arm near your right temple. You can turn the glasses off in the same way, or simply fold them up. The glasses come with a carrying case and a wireless charging pad.
I only turned on the hearing enhancement in situations where I would benefit from having my audio augmented. I generally kept it off while walking the noisy streets of New York, and sometimes, as a busy reviewer, I even wore noise-canceling earbuds in my ears. Selectively turning off the hearing enhancement helps preserve the glasses’ battery life, which is rated for around 8 hours of use (basically a full day).
Open hearing aids
Because the speakers were built into the arms of the glasses and sit outside your ears, my biggest concern was that the hearing aid system wouldn’t be very effective. But that’s not the case. For some people, in fact, it may be too effective.
Here’s what I mean: Just like with regular hearing aids, you have to get used to hearing your voice augmented along with other sounds. Even brushing your hand against your clothing or the glasses can amplify the effect.
The glasses are equipped with six directional microphones. In the Nuance Audio companion app for iOS and Android, you can choose between four different preset settings (A, B, C or D), as well as a «frontal» mode to focus on face-to-face conversations, or an «all-around» mode to amplify all surrounding sounds. You can also adjust the volume up or down and control the level of background noise reduction (low, standard and high).
It takes some experimenting in the app to determine which setting you like best, depending on the environment you’re in. Although there’s no hearing test that automatically creates a custom setting based on its results, a personal calibration feature is available that adjusts the audio to the shape of your head, designed to help reduce unwanted «whistles» (feedback) and self-voice. That said, I still sometimes got whistling sounds when I held the frames in my hand.
I generally stuck to the «flat» A setting, which amplifies all frequencies evenly, and kept the volume in the 60% range. (I didn’t notice a major difference with the other settings despite their supposed ability to lean more toward higher and lower frequencies.) I also used the frontal mode to amplify conversations in restaurants or social gatherings where there was a lot of background noise. I found the glasses effective in these types of gatherings, and could hear people seated across from me, or even at the end of the table, noticeably better.
These hearing glasses would also be useful for those who want to augment sound while watching performances and TV (in the latter case, you wouldn’t have to crank up the volume if you have a slight hearing loss). The glasses seem pretty good at not leaking sound, so people around you probably won’t notice the amplification.
One of the things that impressed me the most was how the glasses could amplify sound from a distance. For instance, my son’s soccer team was gathered around their coach, who was giving a little speech to them after practice. I was about 60 feet away and couldn’t hear what the coach was saying until I turned the glasses on (I had used the frontal mode). Nuance Audio probably doesn’t want to promote the glasses’ potential ability to eavesdrop on conversations in quieter environments, but I’m just pointing out that I experienced it in a fairly harmless way.
Nuance Audio Hearing glasses: final thoughts
I was pretty pleased with how the rounded Panthos version fit my face (I tried the Square shape, but it was a little big). Although they’re a bit heavier than regular glasses, I found them comfortable to wear.
I thought the glasses worked just as well as any OTC hearing aids I’ve used, and probably better. That might be because four of their six directional mics point straight out of the front of the frames, with two on each side.
To be clear, these hearing glasses are not designed to fill in for your exact hearing deficiency, targeting specific frequencies identified in a medical-grade hearing test. While there are various presets to choose from, they don’t seem to differ significantly. Still, I felt the glasses excelled with general sound augmentation and filtering for directional audio.
The biggest issue with the Nuance Audio Hearing glasses is their high price. If they were priced closer to what the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses cost (less than $500), I think folks wouldn’t have much to complain about. But when you surpass $1,000, people tend to be more critical.
I’d prefer it if they had a charging case like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, rather than a case and a wireless charging pad. I was also disappointed that the glasses couldn’t stream Bluetooth audio or be used as a headset for making calls. Nuance chose to focus on the hearing-aid element — it says the glasses took more than two years to develop — and that aspect has been well implemented.
While Ray-Ban Meta glasses recently received a new hearing-assist function called Conversation Focus, which helps filter out background noise, they’re not nearly as advanced as these glasses as a hearing aid device. Still, it’d be nice if the Nuance Audio glasses were more versatile. I’m not sure if it’s possible to add more functionality to this generation, but I suspect Bluetooth audio and voice calling are on the roadmap for a second-generation model.
Those are my only real gripes. Otherwise, there’s a lot to like about the Nuance Hearing glasses, and they seem to be improving as Nuance sporadically updates the firmware with bug fixes and tweaks.
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Technologies
McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunter Meals Include Bright Purple Nugget Sauce
The Derpy McFlurry mixes popping boba pearls and berry sauce into a soft-serve dessert.
McDonald’s has seen success with themed combo meals, including its holiday Grinch Meal. Now, the fast-food chain is capitalizing on Netflix’s Oscar-winning animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, with new upcoming menu items and both a breakfast meal and a lunch/dinner offering. Let’s hope you like the color purple.
The HUNTR/X Meal, named for the K-pop girl group in the movie, is a 10-piece chicken McNuggets meal that includes a medium drink and three special menu items.
Ramyeon McShaker fries come with a small bag of soy, garlic, sesame and spice seasoning, along with regular McDonald’s french fries. You sprinkle the seasoning into the provided bag, dump in the fries, shake it all up and eat.
The meal includes two new sauces for the fries and nuggets. Hunter sauce is a sweet chili sauce mixing notes of chili, garlic and pepper. But my favorite item on this new menu is Demon sauce, a bold mustard sauce with some heat and a bold purple color. There’s just not enough dark purple food out there.
There’s also a new dessert, the Derpy McFlurry, which blends creamy vanilla soft serve with berry-flavored popping boba pearls, served with a swirl of wild berry sauce. McDonald’s named it for the supernatural feline, Derpy Tiger, from the movie.
If breakfast is your bag, the new morning meal is the Saja Boys Breakfast Meal, named for the movie’s boy band.
It includes a Spicy Saja McMuffin sandwich, which is a sausage McMuffin with egg and a spicy Saja sauce, hash browns and a small drink.
Both meals come with a photocard for one of the bands and a Derpy card. The Derpy card includes a QR code you can scan to unlock online content about the film.
The full KPop Demon Hunters menu should be available at participating McDonald’s beginning March 31.
The McDonald’s Grinch meal (and its accompanying patterned socks) sold out quickly, so KPop Demon Hunters fans may want to mark their calendars and nab a meal when they are released.
Technologies
Melania Trump Escorted by Talking Humanoid Robot at White House Tech Summit
The first lady shared the spotlight with the robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.
An unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a Figure 03 humanoid robot.
During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named «Plato» — provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.
The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.
Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands.
The humanoid was seen walking slowly down the red carpet at the tech summit and then delivering opening remarks.
«I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,» the Figure 03 humanoid robot said. It then said «welcome» in various languages.
The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could exist in children’s homes as an aid to their education to «boost analytic skills and problem solving and adopt in real time to a student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.»
The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to «empower children through education and technology,» according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and AI data analytics company Palantir.
The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education’s main priorities on the first day of the summit.
«If we’re able to scale these resources effectively by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instructions across countless fields, to hire volumes of people at a fraction of the cost,» McMahon said Tuesday at a round table meeting.
According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools.
The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. While the Department of Education hasn’t been officially abolished, it has undergone significant policy changes, funding cuts and workforce reductions.
The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among many who are wary of the technology’s role in the classroom. Critics took to social media to voice concerns that these machines could eventually replace teachers, stripping the education system of essential human connection, and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting.
On one Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, «Nice, getting rid of educators in favor of a robot,» while another flatly rejected the concept, stating, «No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.»
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Technologies
Nintendo Dropped a Switch 2 Update With a New Mode You’ll Want to Turn On Immediately
This new feature is one of the best yet.
A new firmware update hit the Nintendo Switch 2 last week. Among the multitude of small changes is a new feature that will give Switch 1 games a notable upgrade.
Version 22.0.0 for the Switch 2 went live on March 16 and is available for download to the console. The big new feature in the update was Handheld Mode Boost, which will give Switch 1 games a visual upgrade when played on the Switch 2 in handheld mode.
[Nintendo Switch 2 System Update]
Version 22.0.0 adds «Handheld Mode Boost». This will make Switch 1 games think that they are in TV mode even when in handheld.
Games can run at higher resolutions in TV mode, taking better advantage of the Switch 2’s 1080p screen. pic.twitter.com/aXOKWosFAw— OatmealDome (@OatmealDome) March 17, 2026
What does Handheld Mode Boost do?
Even though the Switch 2 supports backward compatibility with almost all Switch 1 games, there was an issue. The Switch 2 has a higher resolution screen: 1080p versus the older hardware’s 720p. When playing a Switch 1 game on a Switch 2 in handheld mode, the graphics looked blurry and jagged.
When enabled, Handheld Mode Boost makes a Switch 1 game act as if it’s docked, so it displays 1080p at 60 frames per second. This will give the visuals an immediate upgrade.
How do you enable Handheld Mode Boost?
Handheld Mode Boost has to be turned on to see the effect, and it takes a few steps:
- Select Systems Settings from the Home menu
- Select System
- Select Nintendo Switch Software Handling
- Enable Handheld Mode Boost
Is there a downside to enabling Handheld Mode Boost?
A user on Reddit tested the mode to see how it affects the Switch 2’s battery life. The test used Doom Eternal for the Switch 1 with and without Handheld Mode Boost. The test showed that the battery life decreased from 5 hours, 5 minutes to 3 hours, 43 minutes. That’s a 27% drop and should be taken into account when using Handheld Mode Boost.
How do I upgrade my Nintendo Switch 2?
If you have Software Auto-Updates enabled on your Switch 2, a pop-up window should come up whenever you start a game. If not, head to System Settings and choose to update the console from the menu.
What other features were added in version 22.0.0?
Handheld Mode Boost was the main star of the new firmware update, but there were a slew of other changes.
- Changed the on-screen text and animations when you load a virtual game card in the HOME Menu.
- Added the ability to save notes about friends on your Friend List. The note content is not displayed to friends.
- Added the ability to invite friends to GameChat rooms you’re participating in. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts.
- Friends who haven’t finished GameChat’s initial setup can now be invited to GameChat. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts or those who haven’t used a Nintendo Switch 2.
- Added the ability to rewind 10 seconds/advance 10 seconds with the ZL and ZR Buttons when watching a full-screen video in News or Nintendo eShop.
- Added the option to add the following data to «Automatic Uploads» from Album.
- Text-to-Speech, under Accessibility, can now read the text in Album and during first-time setup.
- Added the ability to see the breakdown of storage capacity by data type for the system memory and microSD Express card.
- Added the ability to perform an audio test when «Linear PCM 5.1 Surround» is selected for TV Sound in Audio.
- When Airplane Mode is activated, the previously set preferences for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC while in airplane mode will be saved and applied.
- Added the ability to individually enable or disable Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC during Airplane Mode from the Quick Settings.
- Added the ability to see a notification in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart device application when the Parental Controls PIN is input successfully on the console. This can also be set up to be a push notification to your smart device.
- General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.
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