Gift Ideas for Friends Who Are Hard of Hearing

Gift-giving can be challenging, especially if you're trying to find the most fitting and thoughtful gift for a friend or loved one. When choosing gifts for a friend who is hard of hearing, it's important to consider their needs and lifestyle.

Even if you don't think your friend may have hearing problems, it's more common than you think. According to the World Health Organization, over a billion young adults are at risk of permanent, avoidable hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices. Currently, over 5% of the world's population requires rehabilitation to address their disabling hearing loss. WHO estimates that by 2050, over 700 million people will have disabling hearing loss.

Luckily, there are a lot of innovative products and assistive tools on the market today to help make daily errands and activities easier for those who have trouble hearing. Below, we'll look at some unique gift ideas for your friends who are hard of hearing:

Smart glasses

Some people who are hard of hearing may not enjoy wearing conventional hearing aid tools due to the stigma associated with them. Fortunately, tech and hearing aid companies have worked to innovate the hearing aid space. Hearing aid company Nuance Audio recently revealed its smart hearing glasses that use built-in mics to make hearing sounds and conversations easier for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. The Nuance glasses, in glossy black and burgundy frames, are also a stylish alternative to conventional hearing aids that work with a smartphone app for better finetuning.

Another option for smart hearing glasses is the Xander Captioning glasses, also called the XanderGlasses. The glasses function on the principle "sight for sound". By using augmented reality powered by wearable computing company Vuzix, the glasses provides real-time captions of speech and conversations around the wearer.

Vibrating alarm clock

Another practical and valuable gift idea for friends who are hard of hearing is a vibrating alarm clock. For people who are hard of hearing, it can be difficult to wake up to morning alarms. This is where a vibrating alarm clock comes in handy. These rely on the device vibrating more than emitting sounds, although there are certainly options to have both.

There are also devices like the Vibio Bluetooth Bed Shaker. This comes with a free app and functions as a wireless bed shaker, allowing the user to set multiple alarms and choose the right vibration strengths. If your friend would still prefer some sound capabilities, there is also the Pro Alarm Clock from Bellman and Symfon, which is equipped with a loud, 100dB alarm and a strong vibrating bed shaker. It can also be connected to the user's telephone line for phone call alerts.

Wifi doorbell

If your friend doesn't have alarm troubles, a wifi or smart doorbell is a great option, as it can be difficult to hear door knocks or bell rings for people who are hard of hearing. These doorbells can send phone notifications so the user isn't wholly reliant on sound cues. Smart wifi doorbells are also great thanks to their compatibility with voice-activated smart home devices like the Amazon Echo, which we highlighted as an essential gift idea for disabled persons in a previous post. These smart assistants can connect with other smart devices, allowing the user to easily control the wifi doorbell and get notified.

Wi-Fi doorbells also come equipped with more accessibility features. For example, the Ring doorbell has a Rich Notifications feature that gives the user a preview of what has happened at the doorbell within the user's phone notifications. There is also a Quick Replies feature that sends out preset responses in case the user is busy or preoccupied with something.

Thanks to emerging technologies, there are many fun, useful, and thoughtful gift ideas you can find for friends who are hard of hearing. Some gifts, like the doorbell, can also be useful for general use. For example, you can get your friend a GiftYa for Apple, which recently introduced hearing aid technology through Apple AirPods Pro 2. The update also includes access to hearing tests and active hearing protection. Even without the hearing aid features, your friend would be able to enjoy a pair of high-quality earphones.