A new study suggests that earbuds might be a viable alternative to hearing aids for certain people with hearing loss. AirPods, the popular Bluetooth earbuds by Apple, are equipped with a “Live Listen” feature that amplifies environmental sounds. That feature, researchers from Taiwan discovered, enable AirPods Pro to perform nearly as well as premium hearing aids. AirPods Pro met 4 out of the 5 standards for personal sound amplification products established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and, compared with premium hearing aids, provided similar improvements in users’ speech recognition. The earbuds proved too electronically noisy to pass one of the ANSI standards. And premium-level improvements in hearing were observed only under relatively quiet conditions. So while they may not be as good as premium hearing aids, AirPods Pro might be an attractive alternative among people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, which is important, given that nearly 75% of people with hearing loss do not obtain a hearing aid due to factors such as cost, fit, and social stigma.