Starkey Evolv AI

New Product Alert

The latest product in the Starkey lineup is the Starkey Genesis AI hearing aid, which was launched in 2023.

In August 2021, Starkey introduced their latest flagship hearing aid family, Evolv AI. Evolv AI is offered in a full range of styles including a new wireless capable completely-in-canal (CIC) hearing aid and is available in 4 different technology levels. Both rechargeable and standard battery options are available for custom products as well as Behind-the-Ear (BTE) products.

A holistic wellness philosophy

According to the company, Starkey’s goal with Evolv AI was to provide an “always on and always automatic” hearing instrument that emphasizes both hearing health as well as overall wellness. The devices are said to perform 55 million automatic adjustments per hour.

The concept of hearing aids being part of an overall wellness approach was first introduced in 2018 with Starkey’s Livio AI hearing aids. The rationale behind this approach was based on current and ongoing research into the impact of hearing loss on general health. For example, one study suggested that even a mild hearing loss can triple the risk of a fall in older adults. Hearing loss is also correlated with social withdrawal, depression and cognitive decline. As such, the Evolv AI not only helps to treat hearing loss but provides additional tools to meet individual goals for activity and social interaction.

Evolv AI, like its predecessor, incorporates motion sensors which can track your hearing aid usage and physical movement and can also help detect falls and even alert your selected contacts to a fall. There are also numerous other features built-in to the product itself or incorporated into its smart phone app such as available language translation and remote hearing care.

Edge Mode

Edge mode provides a real-time, temporary adjustment to your hearing aid’s settings based upon your current listening environment. This is a robust change to such settings as noise reduction and gain in addition to modifications of other controls with the intent of improving clarity and comfort. The “optimized” setting remains until you change memories or restart the hearing aid. According to the company, wearers often prefer this setting in challenging environments.

Thrive Hearing Control

Thrive Hearing Control is the name of the Starkey smart phone app and provides a wide array of controls as well as information about your hearing aids and usage. It is compatible with both Apple and Android products. Typical app controls such as program change, volume changes, an equalizer are all included. However, numerous additional features are also available including a hearing aid self-check, TeleHear and “Find my Hearing Aids”.

Keeping with the wellness approach to hearing loss, one of the primary features of the app is to provide you with information regarding both your engagement and activity . The app will display an overall wellness score which is a combination of your engagement and activity scores. The maximum score for each day is 200. Your engagement score is based upon your daily hourly use, your interaction time (conversational speech) and the types of environments you are in. For example, if you are in more challenging listening environments throughout the day versus only quiet environments, your score will be higher.

Your activity score is based upon steps taken, exercise and standing minutes throughout the day with each of these goals allowing for editing within the app. For example, the default goal is to take 10,000 steps a day but this can be adjusted to suit your needs. While these features don’t have to be utilized, some may find them useful in setting overall health goals.

Fall Alerts

Utilizing the motion sensors within the hearing aids, the hearing aids can send alerts via text to your chosen contacts (up to 3) when a fall is detected. The text will alert your contact about the fall as well as provide a GPS location. This can be configured to occur automatically or you can choose to send the alerts manually via the Thrive app. Fall alerts can be cancelled by you within a 60 or 90 second time window depending on how the feature is configured.

Fall alerts are part of the holistic approach to healthcare incorporating hearing, communication and balance. This is a unique feature to Starkey, and at least one limited study indicated that Starkey’s step counting and fall detection (on Livio AI) were generally accurate. Even so, the company claims that Evolv AI has significant improvements to increase the accuracy of fall detection.

If you are trying to improve your overall activity and engagement with others, this is a hearing aid you should definitely consider. At a minimum, the fall alerts can be a peace-of-mind feature for both you and loved ones if you suffer from imbalance. Please keep in mind that you will want to have at least a minimal comfort level with smart phone technology in order to appropriately utilize this feature.

TeleHear

TelehHear is Starkey’s remote fitting support imbedded within the Thrive app and is available within all 4 technology levels. A cloud account is required to utilize this feature and also serves as a cloud-based backup of your hearing aid settings. TeleHear allows you to request an appointment with your hearing care professional (HCP) who can then send you a code for a remote video programming session. This feature may be particularly useful to you if you have difficulty getting to/from appointments, live a distance from your provider or prefer to receive services from the comfort of your home.

Thrive Assistant

Via the Thrive app, you can use a digital assistant to set reminders, change programs or find your phone. In addition, if your phone is connected to the internet, you can also ask questions and search for an answer—this works much like other virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa. Note, a cloud account has to be created through your Starkey account in order for Thrive Assistant to work.

Reminders

Reminders are available within the Thrive app and can be used for whatever you like such as medication reminders, appointment reminders, etc. The reminders can be visual on the app and/or audible reminders streamed from your smartphone to your hearing aids. Much like any calendar reminder, you can set to have them repeat daily, weekly, monthly or annually.

Custom Wireless Options

Custom-fit wireless options are available from Starkey and with the introduction of Evolv AI a CIC wireless hearing aid is now also available. Previously, wireless custom products were only available in canal and ITE sizes. Starkey has a reputation for building excellent custom shells and it will be interesting to see if they can build a true CIC wireless product. That is, wireless CICs are available from other manufacturers but end up being bigger than a non-wireless CIC product in order to accommodate the additional technology. The pull string on the CIC serves the dual purpose as a removal line as well as an antenna for the wireless signal. Since this is a new product, experience will tell us how durable this design proves to be.

Connectivity and Audio Streaming

It’s not only custom-fit products that provide wireless connectivity with Evolv AI. In fact, a full range of products are available with both iOS and Android compatibility. In addition, no matter the level of technology you choose with the Evolv AI line, all will provide wireless connectivity to compatible phones. Newer Android phones utilize the Android Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) protocol, which is supported by Evolv AI. Older Bluetooth phones may need an additional accessory for streaming.

Hands-free calling

Starkey offers hands-free 2-way audio without the need for an additional accessory with Apple iOS products. That is, the hearing aid microphones act as a pickup for your voice on connected phone calls. Although With Android phones, you can hear the other person's voice through your hearing aids; however, you have to speak into the phone receiver just as you normally would for them to hear you. Check your phone’s compatibility.

Tap Control

Tap Control is an additional wearer control that utilizes a simple double tap with your fingers. It can be used to access Edge Mode in the highest level of technology and start/stop/pause streaming from an accessory in all of the technology levels. This control is configured within the Thrive app and/or by your HCP HCP and is available in all styles. The tap control is also used to signal to the hearing aid to listen for a voice command (Thrive Assistant) in the top 3 technology levels. This is a convenience feature that some may find useful. However, please keep in mind that the tap feature cannot be used to start/stop a phone call from your compatible mobile phone.

Translate

This feature was also available in the Livio AI and continues to be available only in the highest technology tier. You can select your language and the language of another speaker for a translation of speech heard by the app. For example, you speak into the phone and the app will translate what you have said and display it on the app in the chosen 2nd language. Then, the other person responds into the phone and the app will then translate their speech back to your native language. However, an internet connection is required for this feature to work. Currently, approximately 27 different languages are available.

The translate feature is unique to Starkey and, for those who travel abroad frequently or who interact routinely with others who speak a different language, this can be an invaluable tool.

Rechargeable Options

Starkey is one of the limited number of companies to offer rechargeable custom hearing instruments. While not available in every style, this is still a nice convenience factor, especially for those who prefer a custom instrument but wish not to contend with battery changes. This is especially important for those with vision or dexterity issues. However, the charger design may prove difficult for some especially for the custom devices where the contact points must be precisely aligned.

Accessories

Starkey offers multiple accessories depending on your requirements. These include a Mini Remote Mic and standard Remote Mic+ both of which can be useful for improved hearing in restaurants, lecture halls, etc. A table mic is available and can again help improve listening in noisy environments and may be useful to those who are often in meetings where hearing is difficult. The table mic also acts as a TV streamer. In addition, there’s a basic remote which allows for simple volume and program changes and can also mute/unmute the hearing aids.

The unique Evolv AI CIC

Starkey is well known among hearing providers for their expertise in manufacturing custom (in-ear) hearing aids. In fact, Starkey founder Bill Austin is credited with being a major catalyst for the rapid growth and acceptance of custom hearing aids in the United States that started in the 1970s.

The Evolv AI CIC is a good example of Starkey's "go-to" reputation for custom in-the-ear hearing solutions. The Evolve AI CIC was the industry's only rechargeable, Bluetooth-compatible, almost-invisible hearing aid for both Apple and Android, with fully hands-free phone calls for iPhone. However, it should be noted the Evolv AI CIC has a new tough competitor: Starkey's newer and more powerful Genesis AI line also features a CIC with almost identical features but with more processing power. The video below by Audiologist Matthew Allsop provides details on the Evolv AI CIC.

Is Evolv AI better than Livio AI?

Evolv AI provides some additional features or improvements over Livio AI, including:

• Fall alert available in all technology levels, not just highest level of technology
• New wireless custom CIC
• 40% more noise reduction compared to previous generation
• Expedited initial pairing of wireless devices
• Improved Edge Mode compared to previous generation and available in 3 technology tiers (not available in basic technology)
• Smart phone app (Thrive Hearing Control) improvements
• Full range of products from Invisible-In-Canal (IIC) to a power BTE—wireless functionality available from CIC to power BTE
• Reminders now available in all technology tiers (previously only in top 3)

Bottom Line

The Evolv AI is Starkey’s latest product development and an extension of its AI-driven technology first seen in 2018 with the introduction of their Livio AI product. There appear to be some improvements in certain technology aspects such as the speed of calculations that are used to align a wide array of automatic features. There’s also the introduction of a wireless CIC and the continuation of some features down to all levels of technology.

Evolv AI is a very sophisticated hearing aid that also bridges the gap between an assistive hearing device and a wellness tracking device (although it’s not a true fitness tracker). However, all of this technology likely comes at a high-cost point and while having the “cool” factor may be nice to have, it also may not be practical for many people. However, if you consider yourself tech savvy and like having access to a wide array of features then you should consider this hearing aid. As always, discuss your options with your hearing healthcare provider to determine what product suits your hearing loss and lifestyle needs.