“I have been using Auracast with Oticon Zeal hearing aids for six months, with the Audikast 4 adapter on a TV and the Creative BT-W6 USB dongle on a PC. The sound quality is excellent. Auracast is amazing new technology.
When using Auracast the aids are not paired with or connected to a device. Their connection is to a broadcast, which ends when the broadcast stops. The main reason for the broadcast stopping is the broadcasting device being turned off. With a PC, the connection can be lost for other reasons that aren’t always obvious.
Unlike a paired Bluetooth connection, the broadcasting device isn’t remembered by the aids. The phone app has to be used to re-connect every time that an Auracast broadcast is available. Each time that a TV is turned on, for example, the app must be used to connect the aids to the broadcast.
The Assistant Device
The only way to find an Auracast broadcast and connect the aids is to use an Assistant device, which at the moment must be a smartphone. This might not seem significant, but it excludes a range of potential users. Some people do not possess, or are not able to use, a smartphone. Others do not carry their phones with them all the time. There are those who at times do not want the distraction of a smartphone.
I envisage a scenario where some children with hearing difficulties are in a class of children with normal hearing. Auracast would be suitable technology to use in this situation, but smartphones are being banned in schools. A remote with Auracast Assistant capability would be a better solution.
The Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) anticipates that hearing aid companies will develop a remote control with the ability to detect and connect aids to Auracast broadcasts. Such a device would enable a broader range of people to benefit from Auracast technology.
fhj 28 05 2026