I’ve only found the Lucid Hearing company about a month ago, and I already really like them. Their most important hearing aid, the fio, made a great impression on me. At first sight, the same could be said about the Lucid Hearing Engage Rechargeable. It offers an all-round hearing aid experience, but adds to that the streaming feature that I’ve found lacking in most hearing aids under $1,000.
Could the Engage bring the much needed change and lead the way in this new era of hearing aids? Let’s see. This review for the Lucid Hearing Engage Rechargeable looks more in-depth at these fancy new features, but we’ll also discuss how it works in general and what possible downsides are for the Engage.
If you’re not much of a reader, I’ve provided a visual 30-second summary at the bottom of this post. For more of these quick visual reviews for all hearing aids, please visit the aptly named 30-second review page.
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Key features
As you might have guessed from the introduction, the most important feature for the Lucid Hearing Engage is that it’s a smart hearing aid. This can often mean different things, but in the case of the Engage it includes app-controlled settings and Bluetooth streaming from your phone. That last part means you can hear the sound from your phone straight from your hearing aid.
That’s not a new feature, but I’ve only seen it in $300 or $3000 hearing aids. The first category lacks baseline hearing aid functionalities, whereas the second category lacks a price you want to pay. As of now, these are the only bona fide hearing aids under $1,000 that offer streaming.
On top of that, the Engage can be bought as a rechargeable model or one with conventional hearing aid batteries. Charging them for two hours gives you around 16 hours of usage, if you stream for about 2 hours. Streaming usually drains the battery faster, but this battery life isn’t bad compared to other models.
When using the hearing aids with normal batteries (size 13), Lucid tells you to expect a battery life between 4-7 days. That’s a wide range, that is probably most affected by the amount of streaming.
Who is this hearing aid for?
Most obviously, the Lucid Engage is for people who want to stream sound to their phone, but don’t want to rely on the cheaper smart hearing aids. What sets the Engage apart, is that it offers a real hearing aid experience, but adds the Bluetooth streaming functionality. Most other streaming hearing aids start with the streaming and add some hearing aid functionalities later.
How well does the Lucid Hearing Engage work?
Past the noticeable key features, the Engage has some regular features, too. The dual microphones help with the sound quality, but also aid in your directional hearing, so the hearing aids have a more natural feel.
The Lucid Technology isn’t quite a world-renowned technology, but it does ensure that the sound processing and technology is better than in other streaming models. This means you get more hearing aid than in other models. This is further underlined by the four listening programs, which you either adjust in the app or using the rocker switch on the device itself.
The battery life is average: a 2 hour charge gives 16 hours usage (which includes 2 hours of streaming). More streaming will quickly reduce the battery life.
What’s not to like about the Lucid Hearing Engage?
To be honest, this had some odd things on it. It’s almost like Lucid was so excited about the streaming functionality, that some more standard options were forgotten. It doesn’t have a volume memory function, so you need to readjust them every time you use them again. That’s an odd feature to miss, as it’s common on hearing aids under $200.
Then there’s a few things that feel the Engage was sold too early. Sometimes the app feels wonky, there are days where you need to pair the hearing aids more than once, and it just doesn’t work effortlessly.
Alternatives for the Lucid Hearing Engage
The Lucid Hearing Engage gives you the best hearing aid experience we’ve seen in these streaming models so far. Its main competitor is the Olive SmartEar Plus. This, too, is a good combination of hearing aid and streaming device, although I would argue it’s a little less hearing aid – in design, not capability. It also costs about $200 more than the Lucid.
Other streaming models are significantly cheaper, but also offer less hearing aid. The BT Omni and BT Pods are both less than half the price of the Lucid, but aren’t real competitors. They’re mostly alternatives if the streaming feature is most important, and you’re on a really tight budget.
Should you buy the Lucid Hearing Engage?
At first sight, I was really excited about the Lucid Hearing Engage. After these first impressions, I felt that Lucid could have waited a little bit longer to take care of some issues. Yes, it’s a fine model, but most of what’s wrong with it, is in the execution and rather easily fixed. Here again, you’re running into a problem of cutting-edge technology. If you’re willing to problem-solve and get the latest technology, get the Engage. If you’d rather have a guaranteed smooth experience, wait a little longer instead.
Frequently asked questions about the Lucid Engage
The rechargeable Lucid Engage is $799 before tax. The version with conventional hearing aid batteries is $599.
Yes, there is a monthly payment plan with twelve $41.99 payments after a first payment of $299.
Lucid offers the Engage in three colors: beige, black, and grey. They also offer their hearing aids in four different sizes. Additionally, you need to select if you have an iPhone or Android smartphone. The loss and damage coverage is an additional $199, and a UV sanitizer is $59.99.