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This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t medical advice. Over-the-counter hearing devices are intended for adults with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss, not more severe hearing loss — get a professional hearing evaluation if you’re unsure which category applies to you, and talk to an audiologist before choosing a device.Published August 9, 2026. Updated October 10, 2026.
Jabra Enhance Select M2 wins this hearables comparison at 87.5 points of 100. It costs $1,695, and it is the only device here whose sticker includes three years of audiologists, in writing, from a company still committed to the US market. Apple AirPods Pro 3, $249.00 on Apple’s store page, takes 68.0 — the right first step for testing whether amplification helps at all. Lexie B2 Plus is out of the running: Lexie no longer sells it, and its parent, LXE Hearing, is shutting down US support in October 2026.
Every figure on this page is published: Apple’s spec and store pages, Jabra’s product page, the FDA’s own announcement, and HearingTracker’s reporting on the LXE wind-down. What follows is what each maker will put in writing, and what still stands behind it.
I have spent years around loud places: boat engines, whitewater, farm equipment. Anything worn in the ear gets serious treatment from me. When I shop for it, I use the questions I use for gear on a boat. What does support look like if the maker changes? Which part breaks first? And what does the spec sheet leave out?
How are these hearables scored?
Self-fitting hearing devices are sold as hardware and delivered as a service. So the axes weigh the service. Quarrel with any weight — two alternative tallies are printed below the table.
What is the full hearables tally?
| Axis (weight) | Apple AirPods Pro 3 | Jabra Enhance Select M2 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker continuity (30) | 30.0 | 28.0 |
| Care included, in writing (25) | 3.0 | 25.0 |
| Regulatory paper (20) | 20.0 | 18.0 |
| Battery for a 16-hour day (15) | 5.0 | 15.0 |
| List price (10) | 10.0 | 1.5 |
| Tally | 68.0 | 87.5 |
Two re-runs. Zero the care axis — you know you will never call a human — and Apple AirPods Pro 3 wins, 65.0 to Jabra’s 62.5. Zero the continuity axis instead, and Jabra still wins, 59.5 to Apple’s 38.0. The care and battery gaps carry the M2 on their own.
How does each hearable earn its score?
Maker continuity, 30 of 100. Weighted heaviest this year for an obvious reason: Lexie’s parent left the US market and took its fitting app with it. Apple 30 — the Hearing Aid feature ships on its current earbuds and runs on current iOS. Jabra 28 — selling and supporting, docked two points for renaming its whole lineup mid-cycle, which orphans the model names on existing buyers’ invoices.
Professional care included, in writing, 25 of 100. Jabra 25: the Enhance Select page lists “3 years of unlimited appointments and adjustments by our Audiology Team,” and the M2 page adds a 100-day trial and a 3-year warranty with loss and damage protection. Apple 3: no humans at all — a hearing test and tuning live in the app, and that is the design.
Does paperwork or battery separate the hearables?
Regulatory paper, 20 of 100. Apple 20: the FDA authorized its Hearing Aid Feature through the De Novo pathway on September 12, 2024 — the agency’s own announcement calls it the first OTC hearing aid software and scopes it to adults 18 and older with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing impairment. Jabra 18: it sells FDA-cleared self-fitting OTC hearing aids. A two-point spread. The paper does not separate these two; the service does.
Battery across a hearing-aid day, 15 of 100. Wake at 7, bed at 11: a 16-hour wearing day. Jabra 15 — its page rates 24 hours from a 3-hour charge, with a case carrying three more full charges. Apple 5 — Apple’s spec page rates “up to 10 hours of listening time on a single charge in Transparency using the Hearing Aid feature,” and 8 with noise cancellation, so the day includes a recharge stop the Jabra never takes.
List price, 10 of 100. Cheapest takes full marks, the other scales: Apple $249 takes 10.0, Jabra $1,695 takes 249/1695 × 10 = 1.5.
Is Apple AirPods Pro 3 a real hearing aid?
Yes, as FDA-authorized software, but with no people behind it. The Hearing Aid feature runs a pure-tone test through the earbuds, builds an amplification profile from it, and accepts a professional audiogram instead if you have one. Apple’s spec page scopes it to “perceived mild to moderate hearing loss,” the same lane the FDA’s authorization defines, and supports it on AirPods Pro 2 and later with a compatible iPhone or iPad. For $249.00 that is a real, regulated way to find out whether amplification helps you — before spending four figures.
The two costs Apple’s price hides sit in the battery table and the org chart. Ten hours in Transparency with the feature running is a strong earbud number and a short hearing-aid number; a 16-hour day needs a midday recharge, every day. And when self-fitting goes wrong, there is no audiology desk to call. That is not a flaw. It is the product.
Is the Lexie B2 Plus still worth buying?
No. Lexie no longer sells it: the maker’s site now carries only LXE Hearing’s US wind-down notice, and the Lexie app, which is where self-fitting lives, left the app stores on October 8, 2026. LXE, parent of Lexie, Eargo and Go Hearing, says customer service ends October 22, 2026, and new warranty or repair requests closed on September 15, per that notice and HearingTracker’s September 17 report.
If you already own one, LXE says the aids keep working for amplification on their on-device controls and saved profiles. Anyone owed a refund can file a proof of claim with the court-appointed assignee by 5 p.m. Pacific on January 31, 2027, per HearingTracker. A new pair has no app to fit it.
What does the Jabra Enhance Select M2 include?
Three years of audiologists, a trial and a warranty. The Enhance Select M2 is the renamed Select 300 — same $1,695, and Jabra’s own store now serves the M2 page at the old Select 300 address, flanked by an M1 at $1,195 and an M3 at $1,995, the exact price points the 50R, 300, and 700 held. What the money buys, per the product page: 24-hour battery from a 3-hour charge with three more charges in the case, a 100-day trial, a 3-year warranty with loss and damage protection, and three years of the Audiology Team — follow-up adjustments by real clinicians, not a short onboarding window.
One caution for buyers comparing reviews: independent review sites still describe this lineup as the Select 700, 300, and 50R at $1,995, $1,695, and $1,195. Jabra’s store sells the M3, M2, and M1 at those same three prices. Two surfaces, two sets of names, one price ladder — match on the price tier, not the model name, and expect support articles to straddle both namings for a while.
What do the hearables makers say in writing?
| What they say | Where it’s written | What stands behind it | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| “3 years of unlimited appointments and adjustments by our Audiology Team” — Jabra | Enhance Select product page | A shipping product from GN’s hearing division, with the trial and warranty terms on the same page | The only ongoing-human commitment on this page. |
| First OTC hearing aid software, for “perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment,” adults 18+ — FDA, on Apple’s feature | FDA press announcement, September 12, 2024 | A De Novo authorization; Apple’s spec page repeats the same scope | Real paper, narrow lane. Severe loss belongs with a professional, not any device here. |
| “Up to 10 hours … in Transparency using the Hearing Aid feature” — Apple | AirPods Pro 3 spec page | Apple’s own rating, no independent figure needed for the point | Honestly published, and six hours short of a 16-hour wearing day. |
Which hearables should you skip?
Skip the Apple AirPods Pro 3 if you need all-day amplification without a recharge stop, or if you want a human on the phone when the fit or the profile is off. Buy them first if you are not yet sure amplification helps you — $249 and a De Novo-authorized feature is the cheapest honest answer to that question, and the earbuds stay earbuds if the answer is no.
Skip the Jabra Enhance Select M2 if you will never use the included care — zero that axis and the tally hands the win to Apple at 65.0 — or if $1,695 is simply not the budget. Buy it if follow-up adjustments from a clinician are the point: no other line on this page sells that at all.
Health claims on wearables are a running beat here: our wearable TENS device comparison checks what each maker is cleared to say, and our body-scan scale comparison does the same for sensor claims. More in our Wearable Tech category.
Prices are approximate, current as of publication, and change frequently — confirm the latest price with the retailer before buying.
