BeHear SMARTO has three microphones (two in the hand-held device, and one in the supplied headset — over-the-ear, or in-ear). They all are used to pick up the conversation.

The two embedded microphones in the hand-held device pick up sound and determine directionality, as well as serve to reduce environmental noise (including contact with the hand-held device by hands or clothes).

The microphone in the headset is used during mobile phone calls, as it is closest to the mouth. Therefore, during these calls there is no need to hold SMARTO in your hand. It can hang around your neck on the lanyard, be clipped to a pocket or purse, or placed on a nearby surface.

Both products include Alango’s field-proven hearing enhancement technologies and are supported by the W&H BeHear smartphone app.

Here are the main differences between BeHear SMARTO and BeHear ACCESS:

• SMARTO provides 70dB hearing boost; ACCESS “only” 42dB
• SMARTO attaches to an “over the ear” or “in-ear” headset; ACCESS is a self-contained in-ear headset
• SMARTO has an extremely simple interface from the device itself; ACCESS incudes advanced features that require the use of the W&H BeHear smartphone app
• SMARTO can connect to one Bluetooth device at a time (TV or cell phone, for example); ACCESS can connect to two devices simultaneously
• SMARTO rechargeable battery provides up to 48 hours of hearing amplification; ACCESS rechargeable battery provides up to 13 hours in hearing mode

Bottom line:
BeHear SMARTO was designed for people who need a powerful hearing boost with simple controls. BeHear ACCESS is for the more sophisticated user; it looks and functions just like a wireless Bluetooth headset.

If you have paired SMARTO to a TV or other Bluetooth device simply press the red “hang-up call” button on SMARTO to pause the audio stream. After a few seconds the LED will shine yellow to indicate that you are in Personal Hearing mode. To switch back to the streamed audio press the green “answer call” button on SMARTO. The LED will shine in blue to indicate the Bluetooth is active.

The battery supports 500 cycles of full charge/recharge with guaranteed capacity of 85%. After this the battery capacity will slowly decline over time.