Williams Sound Pocketalker Ultra Hearing Amplifier | Easy-to-Use Hearing Amplifier for Seniors | Amplified Sound Assistive Listening Device with Headphones for Elderly | Hearing Assist Earbuds

Perfect...u get what you pay for. I first purchased the other brand for $99 and had to return it. My doctor recommended this one because it's the one he uses...being cheap I didn't follow his advice. However, the take away is I can compare products and say the clarity is much better and less feedback. I just received it to so if it can give me a couple of years of good listening I will be a happy camper.

Purchased two of these for my 89 yo sister and 94 yo brother in law. Both have terrible hearing and still have trouble with hearing aids, which they forget to charge and often can’t find or lose. When they use the Pocket Talkers, you can speak at a normal volume and the TV can be turned down. Their only complaint is the comfort of the ear phones. Solved by finding a more comfortable set.

Excellent product. My $4k hearing aid fits on my ears, is small and not obvious -- but it distorts sounds. The first duty of a hearing aid is to improve sound, not to look pretty. I can buy 21 Pocketalkers for the price I paid for the hearing aid, and the Pocketalker amplifies without distortion. The Pocketalker is mono, which for me is perfect. The external mic means no feedback issues. On 2 AAA batteries, it runs over a week. The tone control is great (I turn the treble to max). The included earbud falls out of my ear immediately and has poor sound quality and the headphones not useful for me. As TArtito recommends, the Panasonic RPHJE120S earbud is a big improvement. (Figure out which earbud the Pocketalker uses and then clip off the other.) The clip on the body of the Pocketalker is quite strong, which means you could attach it upside down to clothing, but I find it hard to open. A short-cabled mic would allow use while wearing a jacket and walking.

So far our impressions of this little hearing assist are that it is AWESOME.That said we both hear fine and got this as a gift for a loved one. A slightly stubborn person who has used cheaper, quick to break, versions of this style of hearing assist in the past. However after her third or fourth or maybe even fifth one broke (some 20.00 unit she was picking up some where, NOT this) we decided to do some research.Amazon reviews pointed us in the direction of this device.What WE liked, as her guests, we liked the idea of a longer microphone cord option so that the person she has the most trouble of hearing could possibly just set it by them or even hold it. Also at restaurant tables she can't hear anything so, while sad, we have all become used to just talking around her because she can't hear....frustrating for all parties involved. We haven't tested this yet but I assume that she could pass the corded mic about the table to hear people.....it may not be the most convenient option but as I mentioned there's a bit of stubbornness involved that means going to get fitted for a hearing aid is OUT OF THE QUESTION (sigh) She started to declare her hearing was just gone and gave up on replacing her little 20 dollar units that, while breaking quickly, DID let her hear...also batteries were mysteriously never charged or purchased...I also liked that this unit has a degree of control over the sound beyond volume. I tested it listening to my husband's voice, who is the hardest for her to hear, and pre-set it to what made it sound sharpest and clearest before we gifted her this unit.Long story made a wee bit shorter...it worked! She popped the ear buds in (we purchased some more comfortable ones), fiddled with volume a bit and could hear us all well enough to actually converse.If you do something like this for a loved one I suggest doing as we did and purchasing a ginormous pack of the Amazon basics AAA batteries that are required to go along with it. If it works for your loved one at all removing that apparently insurmountable hassle of battery maintenance with recharging etc can go a long way I suspect towards easing tensions and allowing them the freedom to just pop a new set in when ever they need.I would like to point out that I did as another reviewer (I think the one voted most helpful in this item's feedback) and purchased some panasonic ear buds, a noise canceling lavalier mic for another mic option and the little connector thingy. As I said check out their in depth review, their suggested additional purchases were spot on.I removed all the extra packaging, tidied the cords and presented it all in a nice box for her, so she can keep all her ear assist goodies in one place.Anyways, WORTH THE MONEY.We actually suggested, months ago, she look in to getting this unit but as I mentioned there was some degree of stubborness...a sort of giving up/acceptance that she was now "deaf"If it had not worked out, well...it's worth the small investment to help. We suspected she could make use of it and she was delighted with it.I'll post an update if she shares any long term notes on her personal experience with the whole thing.So far though, pretty great for a right out of the box device.As I said, it was the first time in agggges that we talked and she heard and talked back and made for a lively, entertaining get together.She used the lavalier mic option we added to this and it has a 3 foot cord and we just popped it in the middle of the kitchen table and she apparently heard and acted and responded as if she could hear all 3 of us sitting there with her! Success!!!!We kind of feel..and this is regular hearing persons point of view so maybe take it with a large grain of salt, that this sort of pocketalker hearing assist unit could be superior for some one with a hearing disadvantage as compared to a traditional hearing aid. The sort that goes in/behind the ear.In that sound waves have to go in the ear and this unit has a corded mic, what could be better for increasing the chances of hearing correctly than having the option of poking a mic right by a person's mouth, rather than have their sound waves carry to your ear?I realize this doesn't fit every one's situation, and having a long cord may not be convenient but it's certainly not as inconvenient and heart breaking as just NOT hearing......Edit:Here is the list of additional items I purchased (based on a helpful reviewer's suggestion) as well as which batteries, to go with the pockettalker:Olympus ME-52W Noise Canceling MicrophonePanasonic RPHJE120S In-Ear Headphone, SilverC2G / Cables to Go 03174 3.5mm Stereo Female to 3.5mm Mono Male AdapterAmazonBasics AAA Performance Alkaline Batteries (36-Pack)I got them all on Amazon at once so I'd have a complete kit. They work great with this unit. The ear buds especially are really nice.

Works well.

Item works great and was delivered faster than expected

I received this lightweight, good sound-quality Pocketalker and immediately tried it out myself. My Dad's physician's assistant recommended it.I specifically love the feature that allows user to rotate dial to change tonal quality, which is great for the hearing impaired, who often hear either high or low frequency sounds, but not both. I could alter the tone to get very true-to-life voice quality. This product allowed my 88 y.o. Dad - who usually can't hear a word I say at ANY volume - to conduct a perfectly normal conversation with me and even hear me whispering on a volume adjustment at level 2 (out of 10, 10 being loudest)!I would have given the product 5 stars for ease of use, tonal quality adjustment, and its compact (similar to a deck of cards) lightweight (similar to a pack of cigarettes) size. Great low price of about $120, especially compared to the thousands of dollars for hearing aids.Unfortunately, Dad just refuses to use it. If he hooks it in his pocket, he hears his clothing rustling. He doesn't wear shirts with pockets, so he can't tuck it there. (Product has a simple sturdy clip on its back) Earbuds hurt his small ears, and he feels foolish wearing headphones. The wire gets in his way and knocks the Pocketalker over. (Knocking it over does not damage it or compromise sound quality FYI) He doesn't like hearing the ambient noise all around him, probably because he hasn't heard much in 20 years and has become accustomed to it. Thus the 3 star rating.I recommend that you only buy it for your loved one, if she/he is already accustomed to headphones or earbuds, really wants to hear the sounds of the world around her/him, and shuns her/his hearing aids because of the irritation of high pitch feedback. This product only produces feedback if you get the microphone right next to the ear (and why would you do that?)