Getting the best out of your hearing aids means selecting a pair that best suits your lifestyle and day-to-day activities. Consider the range of activities you perform throughout the day from listening to the radio, cafe conversations, phone calls, and weekend social activities. In each situation your hearing requirements are different and the environment changes. 

Widex Moment 440 mRIC

Set and Forget’ Modern hearing aids are now not just about amplifying the sounds you don’t hear so well. With the support of newer technologies and AI (artificial intelligence), the right hearing aids will adapt to your environment and enrich your day’s activity.  

This review looks at a pair of Widex Moment 440 mRIC hearing aids, the smallest behind-the-ear (BTE) in the Widex range. We evaluated these across a range of scenarios from video conference calls, social outings, to outdoor activities. The results, I have to say, are surprising.

 

Simplicity with the little things ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Simplicity and ease of use are what you want out of a hearing aid that you use all day, every day.  From the moment you take them out of the charger, wearing them throughout your active day to relaxing in front of the TV and music.

It is the little features that make all the difference. Often these minor features are so minor you don’t consider them to be important. Added together, these little features are what makes it a pleasure to use. That’s why we scored the Moment 440 mRIC 5 stars for design and ease of use.  Here is what we like about the unit to make it a hassle-free experience.

Moment 440 Pros Cons

Moment 440 MRR2D Pros Cons

Widex Charger“No Left or Right confusion” The unit is switched on the moment you take the Moment 440s out of the recharger. The colour indicators help you identify left or right without needing to squint to see L & R. Just in case you happen to get it wrong, a voice whispers “Left” or “Right” as soon as you insert it into your ear canal. This has saved a lot of frustration for those who have experienced this problem with many other hearing aids.

“No more fat fingers or fumbling with batteries” If you do not have a steady hand or fat fingers changing little batteries, not having to worry about battery changes are a blessing.

“Control and customise your listening experience” The ability to customise and tune your listening requirements is a feature that should not be overlooked. This is what sets premium hearing aids and older style units apart. The automatic environment detection is quite good and the unit can quickly respond to changing environments. 

The Widex app allows you to control your listening experience by selecting pre-set activities such as dining, work or TV. These presets can be easily customised within the App which leverages modern AI-based technology. 

“Volume adjustments” From time-to-time I have found the need to adjust the volume. On these occasions, it would have been nice to be able to adjust the volume without the use of the Widex App. Direct streaming via Bluetooth for mobile calls and music (Spotify), however, means that you can simply adjust the volume from the buttons on your phone instead of the Widex App.

 

“Leveraging AI to improve the Listening Experience”

While the terms “AI’’ and phone “App” sounds very gimmicky at first, I have come to recognise that the Widex App is an excellent accompaniment to Moment 440 hearing aids. Think of the app as a simple way of changing the mood and ambient lighting in a room, except in this case it is for listening. If you are not comfortable with smart phones, however, the Moment 440 is still fully functional without the app.

The default ‘Pure Sound’ and ‘Universal’ profiles setup in the app are suitable for most of your needs. I should clarify that Widex Moment 440 include automatic environmental detection and adjusts itself accordingly to distinct ‘sound classes’ under these profiles. 

Widex ComparisonThe automated detection technology is constantly scanning the environment. There is minimal delay in detection and switching between the various sound classes, and the noise cancellation feature is pretty good, but there is still room for improvement. On occasion the detection does go wrong but it quickly corrects itself within a fraction of a second. 

For those who want to get the most out of their hearing aids the personalized profiles certainly did enrich the listening experience. After spending a little time with the AI profile tool I set up the following custom profiles. In certain instances such as long conference calls or listening to music, the custom profiles were preferred.

 Sound Profiles

Listening Experience Sound Profile Preferences

 

Sound realism – A surprise in the outdoors and natural surrounds

I was pleasantly surprised when wearing the Moment 440s over a weekend of outdoor activities. There was initial hesitation on whether to wear them during bushwalking or playing tennis. I saw little value in wearing them in these situations.

On-court the hearing aids were comfortable and remained in place throughout the start-stop movements. By increasing the volume I was able to hear conversations more clearly with the added benefit of hearing richer sounds from the bounces of the ball.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise overall is hearing the sounds of birds chirping out in nature. The clarity and sharpness of the sounds gave the impression that the creatures were closer than they are. The experience is similar to hearing stereo sound vs 5.1 sound. This made wearing the hearing aids all worthwhile. 

The second bonus tick I would give the Moment 440 is being able to hear the buzzing of mosquitos near your ear. All too often have I missed the sound of a mosquito hovering near my ear only to feel the sting shortly after.  The tides have turned! 40 – 0! Me 40, Mosquito zero (0). Advantage – Splat!

 

RemoteLink device

Widex Remote Link Device

Battery life of the Widex Moment

The marvels of lithium-ion battery technology have enabled the designers to keep the hearings aids weighing a mere 4 grams each. This means they are comfortable to wear all day. The specifications state that the hearing aids can last up to 14 hours on a full charge. We tested this with a full day of continuous back-to-back phone and conference calls. Playing music over Bluetooth, however, did drain the battery a little more quickly. Overall they lasted a full day 10+ hours without a problem.

 

Fitting and Remote Support

Your initial fitting should be in-person with your audiologist to tune and help you with any questions. Subsequent fine-tuning adjustments can be done remotely at your convenience. I experienced the Widex’s Remote Care service firsthand with a hearing professional. The set-up was relatively straight forward with setting up an appointment, downloading the Widex Remote Link App onto my smartphone, and pairing it to the Widex Remote-Link device.  The video call via the App allows you to interact with the hearing professional while they ask you questions and remotely tune your hearing aids. The whole experience was effortless and a very positive one that I can recommend.

Overall Experience with the Widex Moment

Hearing aids cannot restore your hearing to its original state. They can, however, enrich your quality of life through your listening experience. 

The automated environment detection technology significantly improves your listening experience compared to more manual based ones. The technology is not flawless and there is certainly room for improvement. That said, the ability to customise your listening experience is equally important. Once you have adjusted to the unit you will find the flexibility invaluable. 

Sound quality is quite good overall. While I still experienced some difficulty in isolating background noise in noisy environments, there is a noticeable improvement. Setting up sound profiles with the Widex AI profiles also help improve these situations. 

The Widex Moment 440 mRIC has a RRP of around AUD$3,600 and above, and comes in a variety of colours.

DRN would like to thank Widex for their support.