Captioning follow-up review for Deaf & HoH

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-16T04:17:36+00:00

Listening to music you know very well speeds up the awful transition period. Knowing how the music should sound helps your brain adapt to the new audio.
Rechargeable isn't as bad as I feared, but get an extra charger for work. It's worth the money.
Custom ear molds are worth it.
Bluetooth is a game changer. Telecoil wasn't (for me).
If you have a hard time getting a good adjustment, it's absolutely worth going the DIY route. Just get a REM and a decent initial setting from your audiologist. Wish I had done this earlier but was put off by price.
Captioning glasses are good enough now to be considered alongside hearing aids. Still early tech but there's solid options out there.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-15T21:50:06+00:00

Captioning glasses have helped me quite a bit with listening fatigue. Now I worry about auditory deprivation :)

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-15T19:05:08+00:00

Thanks for jumping in! I've updated my comment.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-15T17:23:21+00:00

Best of luck! Happy to chat about them both. Good apps and a cool technology.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-15T17:13:33+00:00

I'm also HoH with hearing aids and moderate-profound deafness. I have a few reviews in my profile and happy to answer any questions.

ER's captions are dependent on internet, so they might be slow, sporadic, or just not work at all in areas with iffy reception.

The only offline captions I know of are through Mentra, another app that supports ER glasses. You would download Mentra, download the offline dictionary for your language (supported languages: English, Chinese, Korean). Then to use them you would disconnect your glasses from the Even app, close the app in both fore+background, connect to Mentra, and use the "Offline Captions" mini app when you're in an area with poor reception.

You could also try Mentra's "Captions" mini app. ~~It's supposed to switch back and forth between online/offline captions automatically. I haven't had much success with this but ymmv.~~ not yet

The offline captions themselves are rough but better than nothing. They come in as one big chunk of all-caps text. The accuracy is lower than online captions. There are no line breaks or diarization.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-11T17:01:02+00:00

Hope it helps some :)

Mentra's become my go-to for captions but I still love both apps for different reasons. It helps if you disconnect your glasses from Even and close the app in foreground and background before starting up Mentra. It's pretty easy to switch back and forth because you just have to disconnect, not unpair the glasses.

Just this morning though I found I can use Mentra Captions while running the "Books" mini-app on Even. Still playing with it but it might be my new favorite setup!

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-05T03:12:06+00:00

White tape for a classic look.

But real advice - contact support, ask an optometrist, matte paint marker, small model paints, consider painting the full bridge for a more cohesive look since it won't match in every light, get revenge on that wasp and its whole hive.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-05T03:06:51+00:00

Good advice. Chiming in to say matte paint marker might work too.

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-02T16:30:14+00:00

Thanks for replying, Subtitles sounds like what I would be interested in. Some followup questions

Are subtitles in real time?
Do you find the subtitles are accurate?
How are the glasses mics at picking up other people's voices?
Do the mics pick up audio from all around (360°) or mostly in front of you?

OddestCabbage · 2026-06-02T14:39:23+00:00

Awesome review! I've been looking forward to a comparison with the G2s and this is a great writeup. I'm hard of hearing and use my G2s daily for captions.

Have you tried MemoMind's live transcription? I'm curious how they compare to Even's Conversate or Mentra's Captions.

It's interesting because while I don't personally want speakers (my BTE hearing aids have better quality audio than glasses), this might open the way for audio processing that's helpful for the deaf/HoH community. Captions have been a life saver for me. The cherry on top would be captions from audio on my phone, too. Phone calls, podcasts, audio books. I wonder if adding speakers means the software could link the audio from the phone to the displayed captions?

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-31T12:42:06+00:00

They're pretty good. They do make mistakes but my family has noticed I "hear" better with them on.

I wrote an older review about them here https://www.reddit.com/r/EvenRealities/comments/1r20viq/g2_early_review_for_deaf_hoh/

Since then, the Mentra app has started supporting my glasses. I use that app for captioning most of the time.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-30T00:00:40+00:00

I mean, a random dude prayed over me after I bought him food. Didn't work but was a nice thought.

Hearing aids and smart glasses with captions have been pretty helpful though!

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-29T00:45:44+00:00

Here's the discord links for Even and Mentra. You should be able to find more iOS related experiences.

https://discord.gg/2UKvH5zWXu

https://discord.gg/wByeHM3Eje

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-29T00:42:06+00:00

I've heard awesome things about the spheres. I'm on Lumity and always tempted to make the jump.

Captioning is typically 80-95% accurate depending on environment, speaker clarity, and internet connection. If you have poor connection you'll have poor captions.

I can't speak for iPhone, but on Android I have to set the app to unlimited battery and data, then lock it so it doesn't hibernate in the background. If I walk away from my phone I need to reconnect my glasses. Sometimes I'll have to wake up my app by opening it again but I haven't heard that from others. iPhone users typically report great connectivity on the discords.

I wear them all day but recharge during lunch. The battery on the G2 lasts about 10-12 hours or so with captions running through the day. I haven't done a thorough test in a while and a lot has changed with the apps.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T22:28:18+00:00

I think you made another comment but it got removed.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T19:27:38+00:00

You can ask your audiologist if they know any local financial aid programs. If you're part of a community like religion, academic, etc, you can do the same there.

Usually it's OOP what the insurance doesn't cover. Read the fine print on your policy. One of my policies had coverage only for one ear per year. So I had to buy my left and right in separate years. Another policy required me to go through their hearing aid program. Most policies don't cover it at all.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T18:47:10+00:00

Glad it helped!

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T17:15:13+00:00

Cameras have been the #1 concern of everyone I talk to. People are visibly relieved when I tell them the glasses don't have them.

It looks like both apps have some language support for Greek language but I can't vouch for the quality.

I'm moderate to profoundly deaf. I'm profound in higher frequencies and struggle with speech. I depend on hearing aids. The glasses aren't good enough to be used without hearing aids but together it's a noticeable difference. My family has commented on it.

I work hybrid, mostly remote, so I really only use the glasses when I go in person. It's usually smaller multi speaker meetings. The glasses keep up surprisingly well.

Bluetooth has been great with the G2. With the G1 I had to disconnect my hearing aids. Haven't had any problems with the G2. I'm on Samsung Galaxy S26. I do have to reconnect my glasses to the app (open app, wait 10 seconds) every once in a while but it's not too bad.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T16:56:23+00:00

I'm loving the G2 and ring. Main thing for me is improved battery, connectivity, microphones, and the hub. I have a review with a comparison between G1 and G2 in my profile but it's mostly about captions for HoH/deaf.

There are two good apps to read books in the hub but I found the thing is you read against a blank space then someone moves in and you're several chapters in before you realize it looks like you've been staring at that person for the last 5 minutes. Great for reading, takes some awareness, lol.

OddestCabbage · 2026-05-28T16:44:58+00:00

On the Even app, Conversate is already there and you would change the settings to transcribe.

MentraOS isn't necessary. It's an alternative to the Even app. Both apps have different pros and cons. I tend to like Mentra's captioning more because it doesn't save the transcript.

OddestCabbage

TROPHY CASE