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GN has gone in big on artificial intelligence (AI)—and small on its compact packaging—as it launches its first AI-driven hearing aid today, ReSound Vivia. Hailed as the world’s smallest micro-receiver-in-ear (microRIE) hearing aid powered by AI, Vivia combines GN’s 360-degree natural hearing approach with a Deep Neural Network (DNN) for improved speech clarity in noisy environments. Alongside Vivia, GN also debuts the ReSound Savi essential product line, offering Vivia's same Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast capabilities at a more affordable price—though without the AI-powered enhancements.
Both ReSound Vivia and Savi will launch in the U.S. and Germany on February 20, with additional markets to follow. ReSound's sister company, Beltone, will also launch equivalent models—Beltone Envision™ and Beltone Commence™—as part of the global rollout in February.
ReSound Vivia is designed to "have it all," as the company is fond of saying, delivering exceptional speech in noise performance while maintaining a discreet design and long-lasting battery life. At its core is GN’s onboard dual-chip AI technology, which mirrors the brain’s natural way of processing sound. The Intelligent Focus feature prioritizes sounds based on the direction a user is looking, helping them focus on conversations more naturally, even in complex auditory environments like crowded restaurants, bars, and family gatherings.
GN says Vivia is powered by a separate cutting-edge DNN chip that significantly outperforms other AI hearing solutions. It enables up to 17 times more efficient sound processing, enhancing speech clarity while effectively minimizing background noise. Trained on 13.5 million spoken sentences in various languages and with varied vocal effort across 3.9 million tuned sound parameters, the DNN can perform 4.9 trillion operations per day to spotlight speech and reduce background noise, according to the company.
Internal research at GN suggests that 64% of users experience better speech comprehension in noise with ReSound Vivia compared to other AI-assisted hearing aids. Additionally, 89% of patients prefer the new Intelligent Focus over the company's previous-generation noise-reduction products. (Because Vivia and Savi are brand new, we have not yet tested them in the independent HearAdvisor lab, but we hope to report on their performance results soon.)
Importantly, the hearing aid also provides exceptional battery life, ensuring all-day performance without interruption: up to 30 hours of use on a single charge or 20 hours with Intelligent Focus and streaming combined. ReSound told HearingTracker that, although it would be rare for the DNN-powered Intelligent Focus to be employed all day, the hearing aid can operate in that mode for about 10 hours. A quick charge of 10 minutes gives you 2.7 hours of wearing time.
Charger options are the same as Nexia, where purchasers have the choice of desktop, standard, or premium chargers.
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Vivia is currently offered in three models: the microRIE, which is rechargeable, and the RIE 61 and RIE 62, which are the disposable-battery models (size 312 and 13, respectively). All are app-controlled and have a programmable push button, and the Vivia microRIE also features tap controls. The RIE 62 comes standard with a telecoil, and the other models can access telecoil (induction loop) systems via the MultiMic+ accessory. Vivia is available in 10 color options (including Navy Blue and Red) and four technology levels, and the microRIE has a CROS version for people with single-sided deafness.
GN Chief Audiology Officer Laurel Christensen, PhD, says it's very important how you train the AI in hearing aids. During a media briefing held in conjunction with the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), she pointed out that people rely on at least some noise for important information and enjoyment. No one really wants to completely eliminate the crackle of a campfire, the buzz of a restaurant, or children’s play and laughter. In these cases, we may only wish to reduce the noise appropriately to help us communicate effortlessly.
“It matters how you train deep neural networks, and at GN, we've trained the DNN on speech in noise—and not just any noise, but noise that everyone in this room would agree is noise, like speech babble in a cafeteria, airplane engine noise, or traffic noise. Once we've trained the DNN, we take a considered approach to reducing that noise so that all of the information is still available for the brain to do its job.
“And then to maximize speech intelligibility, we don't just train our DNN on words, but we actually train it on full sentences in many languages with various vocal efforts so that we get the entire nuance of the speech signal,” adds Christensen. “In all, we've trained our DNN on 13.5 million sound sentences, and these are conversations that would take over 25 years to have in real life. So our Intelligent Focus feature works intuitively to ensure that the AI homes in on the voices you want to hear—the ones you're looking at—and we take advantage of our natural response to turn and look at what we're [paying attention to].”
GN Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Dittberner, PhD, one of the chief architects behind Vivia and ReSound's previous-generation Nexia hearing aids, recounted a friend's experience with a competitor's hearing aid that overzealously classified heavy-metal music as noise, ruining his listening experience. "Maybe his mom was involved in the building of the algorithm,” Dittberner joked.
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However, Dittberner says this experience shows that AI devices need to be trained so they support people's own listening preferences and decisions, as well as perceptions of what signals are of interest versus what is noise. "In working with artificial intelligence, we've realized a lot of people see it as autonomous—like a self-driving car that acts by itself. But at GN, we prefer to see it as human intelligence augmented by AI. After all, the car needs direction.
“We were inspired to use AI to create hearing aids built for humans—where the human is in control and is the real decision-maker. Our whole philosophy is based on that. The core principle that we live by is that if the human isn't able to decide what the signal of interest is versus what is noise, then we are not designing the hearing aid right. What if, instead of thinking of it as artificial intelligence, we consider it to be intelligence-augmented...[In our case,] we've concentrated on how speech and human communication work in real life.”
ReSound Savi is the company's latest "essential" product line positioned for more cost-conscious consumers. Although it shares Vivia's Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast capabilities (see below), it does not offer its advanced DNN processing advantages.
As with Vivia, Savi hearing aids are available in three models: a microRIE that is rechargeable and two hearing aid models with disposable batteries (size 312 for Savi RIE 61, and size 13 for Savi RIE 62 that includes a telecoil). It comes in 5 color options and a choice between two chargers (desktop and standard).
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Both Vivia and Savi use Bluetooth LE Audio 5.2 and are Auracast-equipped. Like the previous-generation Nexia hearing aids, they provide wireless audio streaming for Apple iOS and Android, with hands-free phone calls from compatible Apple iOS devices.
Auracast is like an invisible PA system on steroids; it is widely anticipated to become the future “standard” for audio accessibility, giving theaters, places of worship, airports, bars/restaurants, and arenas new streaming and communication capabilities. These places will be able to use an Auracast transmitter, like a smartphone, laptop, television, or public address (PA) system, to broadcast audio to an unlimited number of nearby audio receivers, including hearing aids, cochlear implants, earbuds, or any other Auracast-enabled audio device. Users of Auracast-enabled devices will also be able to share their own audio (music, podcasts, video audio, etc.) with other devices equipped with Auracast technology.
With the Vivia and Savi launches, GN also introduces what is reportedly the world’s first app that integrates an Auracast Assistant for hearing aids. This streamlined process simplifies selecting Auracast streams, even with smartphones and devices that don’t yet have an Auracast assistant built in. The Auracast Assistant can connect you with an Auracast sound stream with a single tap in the ReSound Smart 3D™ app.
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Said GN Hearing Division President Scott Davis in a press statement, “ReSound Vivia and ReSound Savi represent a significant leap forward. Now you can have it all with ReSound Vivia, which combines world leading sound quality, all-day battery life, and the smallest size on the market for discretion and comfort, so users can hear their best without compromise. With ReSound Savi, we're making our cutting-edge connectivity, including Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast, accessible to a wider audience. These two product lines demonstrate GN's unwavering commitment to delivering innovation that brings people closer to each other and the things they love to do."
At present, GN's newer ReSound, Beltone, and Jabra Enhance devices are the only hearing aids that are fully activated to receive Auracast broadcasts (i.e., no future firmware updates are needed like other "Auracast-ready" hearing aids). Apple and Windows 11 PCs can also pair directly with hearing aids with Bluetooth LE Audio. Finally, some newer Android phones with the new Bluetooth LE Audio standard also offer the ability to change the hearing aid pre-sets in the native settings of the phone.
GN announced improvements to its fitting software, as well as aligning domes and receivers for comfort and acoustic performance across the Vivia and Savi product lines.
New microphone filter covers that can be replaced in the field were also introduced, which should reduce repairs. Although not as frequently an issue as clogged receivers, which typically accumulate wax and moisture as they sit inside the ear, microphones located on the top of RIEs are also exposed to dust, dirt, and the elements.
All three models in both the Vivia and Savi families have an IP68 rating, the highest level of ingress protection possible against debris and moisture for hearing aids.
AI technology continues to transform the hearing industry. Dittberner points out that, even today, AI-driven hearing aids can benefit from users' adjustments, learning to respond better in various listening situations. Indeed, ReSound was among the first hearing aid companies that published articles on machine learning in hearing aid fittings.
“In the years to come, we'll see continuous learning enabled in hearing devices, which will lead to personalized data sets trained into the instrument, and the user will have complete control over it,” he says. “Further, I can see the possibility of hearing devices that make use of distributed learning. It's a bit like Keanu Reeves discovering that he knows Kung Fu in the film The Matrix; we'll be able to share individual learning worldwide to people's devices without them having to train the devices themselves. Imagine you can have a device that has basic training today, but a week from now—because millions of people are using it—you can wake up to a device with a whole new set of data...You can benefit from unlimited performance.”
For more information about ReSound Vivia and Savi hearing aids, please visit the ReSound website.
Karl Strom ist der Chefredakteur von HearingTracker. Er war Gründungsredakteur des The Hearing Review und berichtet seit über 30 Jahren über die Hörhilfeindustrie.