Oticons Latest Hearing Technology: Oticon Intent

The hearing aid manufacturer Oticon has just released a completely new platform of hearing aids, known as Oticon Intent. Developed using their latest BrainHearing insights, Oticon Intent hearing aids support the brain’s natural way of processing sound. These devices have been designed to understand listening intentions, using 4D Sensor technology*. By analysing movement, environment, and conversations, they recognise individuals’ auditory preferences, dynamically adjusting to provide truly personalised support.

Introducing Oticon Intent

Oticon Intent hearing aids are available in a mini receiver in the ear style, which is rechargeable using a new Oticon charger. These hearing aids provide up to 20 hours* of battery life on a fully charged battery, with the enclosed lithium-ion battery having a lifespan of 5 years. Compared to previous Oticon hearing aids, Oticon Intent features a larger rechargeable battery to accommodate the increased processing demands within the hearing aid.

Oticon Intent hearing aids are suitable for individuals with a mild hearing loss all the way up to a severe to profound hearing loss, due to the receiver power available. Additionally, these hearing aids are available in nine different colours including a new and appealing sky blue.

Oticon Intent Technology Levels

There are four technology levels available for the new Oticon Intent hearing aids. Intent 1 is the premium level offering with all features available, down to the Intent 4, which is the bottom tier of technology. Each time you go down a technology level from Intent 1, features and customisations are taken away from the hearing devices. Although, dropping down technology levels does also decrease the cost of the devices. It is helpful to discuss with a hearing care professional which technology level is right for you and your needs.

The top 2 technology levels of the Oticon Intent hearing aids have a motion sensor inside them to identify your acoustic environment. The sensor uses head and body movement, conversation activity and acoustic environment to control the signal to noise ratio enhancement that the hearing aids give you. A signal to noise ratio is the difference between the speech that you would like to hear and the background noise that you do not want to hear. This means that the better the signal to noise ratio is, the better you will be able to understand speech. Previously, this amount of signal to noise ratio enhancement has been fixed depending on how it has been set by your audiologist. Now, the Oticon Intent hearing aids will vary the amount noise reduction based on your environment, whether you are moving or in an intimate conversation. These 4D sensors kick in when needed automatically.

Oticon BrainHearing Technology

These devices are backed by extensive clinical studies as Oticon partnered with the Technical University of Denmark to design these devices. Oticon has expanded on their Deep Neural Network (DNN) from previous hearing aid models More and Real. This DNN mimics how the human brain works. The DNN learns what sounds are important sounds to you such as speech and what sounds are noise that we don’t want to hear as much of. The Deep Neural Network 2.0 is used in the Oticon Intent hearing aids and this upgrade means the hearing aids can now further reduce noise in the top tier level 1 Oticon Intent devices.

Wide-ranging connectivity via Bluetooth Low Energy

The new Oticon Intent hearing aids also have tap control for answering phone calls, they are Auracast compatible and uses LE Audio Bluetooth for better sound quality. Additionally, if you are an iPhone user, these hearing aids use Bluetooth low energy. You are also able to control your hearing aids using the Companion phone app.

These hearing devices have been reviewed as being better than the previous generation technology known as Oticon Real. Research has shown that the new technology of the 4D sensors and Deep Neural Network 2.0 has led to a 35% improvement in speech intelligibility in comparison to the previous Oticon Real hearing aids. However, these new devices are only good if they have been fit uniquely to you and your hearing by a hearing care professional.

At Knox Audiology, we take pride in our team of university qualified and experienced audiologists, who are committed to providing trusted, friendly, and professional hearing services, catering to all your unique hearing needs.

To find more about Oticon Intent or to arrange a trial, please reach out to us, call 03 9800 5697 or contact us online.

*4D Sensor technology only available in Oticon Intent 1 & 2.
* Expected use time for rechargeable battery depends on use pattern, active feature set, hearing loss, sound environment, battery age and use of wireless accessories.