SPECIAL MENTION: Phonak‘s Roger On wireless microphone (from $1,200) streams audio from afar into most modern hearing aids and cochlear implants, making it easier to isolate someone who’s talking in a noisy social gathering or speaking at a lectern. Attachments let it transmit audio from a TV, computer or other audio source. —Don Steinberg
Correction Nov, 10
The original version of this story misstated the microphone’s starting price. It starts at $1,200, not $3,000.
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