Oticon Own Hearing Aid

Oticon Own represents a complete update of the company’s Opn Custom Solutions in-the-ear (ITE) line of hearing aids that were introduced 4 years ago. Powered by the company’s new Polaris chip platform, it features five styles, in five technology levels, and in five different colors, for a discreet hearing solution with powerful technology.

HearingTracker Audiologist Matthew Allsop provides his perspective on the new Oticon Own custom hearing aid line. Closed captions are available on this video. If you are using a mobile phone, please enable captions clicking on the gear icon.

Notably, the product line’s invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) style is the smallest of Oticon’s hearing aids to date and, along with the also-tiny completely-in-the-canal (CIC) style, can employ up to a level 90 dB receiver. Its in-the-canal (ITC) and half-shell and full-shell ITE models can fit up to level 100 receivers—meaning the entire product line can be used for a very wide range including people with severe hearing loss.

Oticon Own borrows much of its technology from the Oticon More (the predecessor to Oticon Intent and Oticon Real) and employs the company’s successful BrainHearing approach for easier listening. Likewise, the on‑board Deep Neural Network (DNN)—available in the top-three technology tiers of Oticon Own—make it the first custom hearing aid to use this proprietary machine-learning technology and artificial intelligence (AI) that adjusts hearing aid settings by recognizing literally millions of sounds and listening environments.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the distinguishing features of Oticon Own.

Advanced processing wrapped in a discreet (often invisible) customized hearing aid

Custom hearing aids are truly just that: they’re manufactured to fit your own one-of-a-kind ear and ear canal. Your hearing care provider takes an impression or scan of your ear, resulting in its unique shape and contours being replicated in the hearing aid shell. In this way, Oticon Own is made to fit your own ear shape and can be customized in 1 of 5 styles—ranging from IIC to the full-shell ITE—as well as 5 colors that match your skin and appearance.

In terms of how it looks, Oticon Own remains a more discreet option for hearing aid wearers—and departs from some of the company’s competitors who have opted for a more “hearables”-type design that “hide in plain sight” as a wearable earbud. Oticon boasts that its invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) hearing aid is the smallest they’ve ever made and is completely invisible in 9 of 10 ears. The Own IIC model has made our best invisible hearing aids of 2023 list.

Brainhearing Technology

Originally launched 8 years ago in its Inium platform, Oticon’s Brainhearing Technology is designed to reduce the brain’s processing effort by giving it the clearest, purest, sound signals to decode. Now employed in the company’s Polaris chip platform, BrainHearing combines several of Oticon’s latest processing strategies—using compression, spatial hearing, personalization, and reduced distortion—that work together to provide the brain with the input needed to hear more clearly, with reduced listening effort. This allows you to concentrate on the content of the conversation instead of decoding what’s actually being said.

Although many of the features vary depending on the style and performance level chosen, Oticon Own highlights three features:

• MoreSound Amplifier™ for precisely balancing amplification;
• MoreSound Optimizer™ for proactively eliminating feedback, and
• Oticon’s MoreSound Intelligence™ sound processing.

This Oticon video explains the essentials behind their concept of BrainHearing. Closed captions are available on this video. If you are using a mobile phone, please enable captions clicking on the gear icon.

One of the key goals of BrainHearing is to create a 360° soundscape that allows you to hone in on the sound target of interest (usually speech). The processor does this by working with the directional microphones and noise reduction systems so that all the external sounds are reduced—but not by as much as in other hearing aids. Oticon’s research indicates their “open” BrainHearing strategy allows you to hear speech and your surroundings more naturally to help the brain orient, separate, focus, and recognize sounds and maximize hearing and listening.

Deep Neural Network Technology

Working alongside Brainhearing is a form of machine learning called Deep Neural Network (DNN) technology, available in the Oticon Own 1, 2, and 3 technology levels. DNN relies on the Polaris chip’s ability to recognize 12 million real-life sounds for recognizing and responding to unique listening environments.  This means that even when you’re in a complex listening environment — like a restaurant or a meeting at the office — Oticon Own will help you navigate what you need to hear, and reduce your listening effort, so it’s easier for your brain to take on other tasks.

In two recent studies conducted by Oticon, 20 out of 20 test participants ranked Oticon Own as their preferred choice when asked to rank performance against competitors, and Own provided an additional 8% extra speech cue benefit compared to Oticon’s previous Opn technology.

Own Connectivity

Several Oticon Own styles are Made for iPhone^® and compatible Android™ devices, offering direct, high-quality streaming, so that users can enjoy their favorite music, as well as take calls through their hearing aids. Select iPhone^® and iPad^® users can enjoy hands-free communication thanks to Apple support for bi-directional hearing aids. 2.4 GHz Bluetooth^® Low Energy Technology is introduced in the ITC, half-shell and full-shell ITEs styles, making the Oticon Own ITC the smallest, fully featured ITE hearing aid in the Oticon portfolio.

Visit the Oticon compatibility webpage to see if your phone or Bluetooth device is compatible with Oticon Own.

Batteries

All Oticon Own models are powered by disposable batteries. The IIC and CIC styles take a size 10, while the ITC, and half- and full-shell ITEs take a size 312 battery. Currently, there is not a rechargeable option.

Accessories

Optional accessories for Own ITC and ITE models include the Oticon Own App and Remote Care App, ConnectClip, EduMic, Remote Control 3.0, and TV Adapter 3.0. These models also have the option of a push-button and volume control, as well as Oticon's Tinnitus Sound Support.

A powerful in-the-ear hearing solution

Oticon Own is a discreet custom in-the-ear line of hearing aids that features the company’s powerful BrainHearing technology—providing you with pure, clear sound signals that reduce listening effort. The new custom devices are applicable for a wide range of hearing losses, from mild to severe, with three styles capable of providing Bluetooth connectivity.