Well I just bought a pair of AirPods Pro 2 from the local Apple Store in the UK. I spoke to the sales people at length about how I was impressed by their inclusion of hearing tests, hearing aid and protection functions. I liked that you wear them in noisy environment to protect your hearing. Clever stuff which closed the sale for me.
At no point did they suggest that none of these features are actually available to UK customers (because of regulations for test and aid, and actually protection is only available in N America). In effect, the product was missold to me. I am therefore disappointed and feel misled.
The AirPods Pro to a UK user are OK as they are, but could have been much better. Bit of a con really.
I think have really dropped the ball on this if the Apple Stores are not warning you that you unable to use the hearing aid feature in the UK yet before you buy them. There is no date for the UK yet and I read somewhere earlier today that Apple haven’t even applied for MHRA approval in the UK yet. I think the person who was posting had contacted the MHRA directly.
If you haven’t updated your iPhone to IOS 18.1 you can still use the Airpods as hearing Aids with an older IOS without the geographical lock and for me with mild to moderate hearing loss they work really well. I've been using them for five or six weeks. They won't help you that much if your hearing loss is severe or profound.
If you are not on IOS 18.1 you can set them up straight away. If you have an iPad or an older iPhone that is running an older IOS you could set them up on that. You will need to download the free Mimi app to do do a hearing test OR you can download your audiogram by taking a photo of it.
Assuming you have set them up using Bluetooth after you have taken a hearing test. Go to Settings/Accessibility/Audio Visual and click on Headphone Accommodations. Click on Audiogram and it will ask you which one to use. If you used the Mimi app the test will appear with todays date. Select it. In the next menu you can hear a sample of music and toggle between music with your Audiogram applied and without it so you know your Audiogram is working.
Go to the bottom and click on Transparency Mode and also switch Conversation boost on.
With the Airpods connected to your phone or iPad, your Airpods will appear close to the top of the Settings menu. Click on it. Switch Conversation Awareness on. Switch Loud Sound Reduction on. Go almost to the bottom and do an Ear Tip Fit Test to make sure you have a good seal in your ears.
That's about it but there are loads of settings you can play around with. In the last menu I mentioned you can simply set them to Adaptive Mode which will automatically set Noise Cancellation volume according to your surroundings. Otherwise you tinker with the Background Volume and Hearing Aid Volume manually independently of each other.
Hope this helps. Copy it quick!