Widex Allure AI vs Widex Allure: What Clarity Boost Changes

TL;DR: The Widex Allure AI is the original Widex Allure RIC plus Clarity Boost, an AI program you switch on in loud rooms. The chip, natural sound, telecoil, streaming and chargers match. If busy restaurants are where you struggle, choose the Allure AI. If they are not, the original Allure already gives you the Widex sound.

Widex fans tend to describe their hearing aids the way people describe a good pair of glasses: you stop noticing them. Widex Allure AI vs Widex Allure comes down to one choice. Keep that invisible sound all day, or keep it until dinner gets loud.

What Is the Difference Between Widex Allure AI and Widex Allure?

The only difference Widex publishes is Clarity Boost. The Allure AI adds an AI program for speech in noise. The original Allure does not have one. Everything else Widex lists for the two receiver-in-canal models matches.

Widex built the Allure AI on the same Allure platform and the same W1 chip, in the same housing. Its parent company describes the Allure AI as keeping the form factor of the traditional Allure RIC. So you are not choosing between two different hearing aids so much as choosing whether yours comes with an extra gear.

If you read that table and thought "so it is one row," you read it correctly. That one row is the whole decision.

How Clarity Boost Works

Clarity Boost is an on-demand program that hands a noisy room to an AI co-processor. A tap on the hearing aid or in the Widex Allure app turns it on. Another tap turns it off.

Most AI hearing aids run their noise processing whenever the device decides the room calls for it. That is convenient. It also means the AI shapes the sound whether or not you wanted help at that moment. Widex built Clarity Boost to stay off until you need it, so the everyday sound stays natural. Your W1 chip keeps doing the everyday listening with the same processing as the original Allure. Meanwhile the AI waits on its own co-processor and does nothing until you ask. According to WS Audiology, Widex's parent company, Widex designed that co-processor's audio-specific neural network to cut background noise while preserving sound quality.

A neural network learns the difference between speech and noise from huge numbers of recordings. In a loud room, it separates the voice in front of you from the clatter around it and turns the clatter down. Our guide to how AI noise reduction works walks through that process in more detail.

In practice, an evening with the Allure AI runs like this:

• You walk into a quiet room. Clarity Boost stays off. You hear the Widex sound you chose the brand for.

• The restaurant fills up. One tap on the hearing aid starts the co-processor separating voices from noise.

• Dinner ends. Another tap hands everything back to the W1 chip. The room sounds like a room again.

Widex reports that Clarity Boost delivers up to 20% better speech understanding and up to 13% less listening effort in noise, compared with Widex's own Allure Universal program and key competitors, on its Allure AI product page.

Is the Original Widex Allure Good in Noisy Restaurants?

The original Allure handles noise with Widex's standard speech-in-noise processing. Many wearers find that enough. Restaurants are still where the two models part ways, since the Allure AI adds a second tool built for exactly that room.

The tricky thing about a restaurant is that the noise is mostly other people talking. A hearing aid has to decide which voices matter. Unfortunately, the voice across your table sounds a lot like the voice at the next table. That is the exact situation Clarity Boost targets.

If you have read what makes a good hearing aid for restaurants, you know no hearing aid turns a loud room into a quiet one. What the Allure AI gives you is an extra option at the table, and the choice of when to use it.

Does Clarity Boost Change the Widex Sound?

Not unless you turn it on. The Allure AI uses the same W1 processing as the original Allure for everyday listening, so its default sound matches.

This matters most to the people who chose Widex for sound quality in the first place, including many music lovers. Our post on hearing aids for music explains why natural processing matters there. With the Allure AI, you keep that sound for the concert and save the AI for the crowded lobby afterwards.

Does the Widex Allure AI Have a Separate AI Chip?

It has a second processor, though Widex never calls it a chip. Some coverage describes the Allure AI as a dual-chip hearing aid. Widex's own wording is "dedicated AI co-processor." That is the description to trust. Think of it as two processors in one housing, one of which mostly waits around for a noisy brunch.

Which Widex Allure Should You Buy?

Pick by the rooms you live in, not by which box says AI. Both models give you the same Widex sound. What differs is whether you want the extra tool for loud places.

Choose the Widex Allure AI if:

• Restaurants, family gatherings or busy offices are a weekly event. Widex built Clarity Boost for those rooms. You get it on demand.

• Speech in noise is the complaint that brought you here. A tool aimed straight at that problem is worth more to you than to someone who rarely meets it.

• You want AI help without AI sound all day. The Allure AI keeps natural processing as the default and adds the AI only when you ask for it.

Choose the original Widex Allure if:

• Your days are mostly quiet rooms and one-on-one conversation. The original Allure gives you the same everyday sound without paying for a feature you would rarely switch on.

• Noise is a minor annoyance and the Widex sound is the main attraction. The original Allure, starting with the Widex Allure 440, already covers you.

• The telecoil, LE Audio and phone streaming are what you need. The original Allure includes all three. You do not need the AI model to get them.

Not sure which camp you fall into? Our hearing care experts can walk through your listening week with you and tell you whether Clarity Boost would earn its place.

Getting Either Widex Allure Fitted

Both models are prescription hearing aids. That makes the fitting as important as the device. Injoy Hearing is an authorized online retailer for Widex, and every device is genuine, manufacturer-sealed and ships with the full manufacturer warranty.

Here is what buying either Allure through us looks like:

• Programmed before it ships. Our licensed hearing care providers program your hearing aids to your hearing profile with official manufacturer software.

• Fitted by phone or video. Your provider fits and fine-tunes them with you after they arrive, with no waiting room involved.

• Adjusted for as long as you own them. Adjustments are unlimited for the life of your devices.

• Covered by a 60-day trial. Every product comes with one.

No recent audiogram? Start with our free online hearing test. Better hearing is a process rather than a switch. Most people settle in over the first couple of weeks.

The hearing aids are identical to what any clinic sells. The professional care is identical. The price is not. That's the Injoy difference. Talk to one of our hearing care experts about whether your restaurants, family dinners and quiet evenings call for Clarity Boost.

Widex Allure AI vs Widex Allure: Quick Answers

Does the Widex Allure AI work with a remote control?

Widex lists the RC-DEX remote as an accessory for the Allure AI. It changes volume and programs without your phone, and its battery lasts about 12 months.

Can I stream TV to the Widex Allure AI?

Widex makes TV PLAY 2 for that job. It streams TV audio straight to your hearing aids, so you set your own volume without changing it for everyone else.

Does the Widex Allure AI work with Auracast?

Not yet. Both Allure models include Bluetooth LE Audio. Widex says Auracast broadcast support will arrive through a future software and app update. Our Auracast-ready hearing aids cover broadcast audio today.

What colors does the Widex Allure AI come in?

You can choose from ten colors: Tech Black, Titanium Grey, Silver Grey, Dark Cherry, Chestnut Brown, Autumn Beige, Golden Brown, Honey Blonde, Rose Gold and Pearl White.

Which chargers work with the Widex Allure AI?

Widex offers three for both Allure models. The standard charger gives a full day of use from a four-hour charge. A portable charger handles travel, and Charge n Clean dries and sanitizes the hearing aids while they charge.