I just worked out I’ve been wearing NHS hearing aids for more than a decade now and I own and use Airpods pro gen 2. I have the commonest hearing loss - I have excellent hearing up to about 1500Hz where it falls off a cliff and I have very little hearing above 3KHz. As a result I do get tinnitus (which is the auditory nerves and brain hallucinating because of lack of input)
I can get through most days without hearing aids of any kind and cope reasonably well. I struggle with any kind of speech, in person or on the radio or TV without aid (It was my family complaining that I had volume levels much too high that sent me for my first test). That’s remarkably isolating. You can’t insist on quiet surroundings and only one person speaking at a time. It turns out that I’d unconsciously taught myself to lip read pretty well to cope (I was a manager in education and I did some teaching), but the tests revealed that I can’t hear the difference between sh and th or b and p and d. Without visual cues I was missing a lot of speech comprehension and ANY level of background noise quickly means I just can’t follow what anyone is saying.
Proper hearing aids (NHS or otherwise), prescribed for you after a full hearing test in a proper booth are miles ahead of Airpods. NHS ones (my local area uses Oticons) aren’t compromised. You don’t get things like iPhone direct connection, vanity features or some of the bells and whistles, but they are low noise, much better at processing the audio for your needs and work for years when I am using them at least 14 hours a day, every single day.
The airpods are fantastic for listening to music or podcasts or streaming video, with my audiogram input from the professional tests (I simply photographed the audiologist’s computer screen and typed the data points into my iPhone). The iPhone hearing test is not bad, but didn’t catch some “notches” that the professional test did, so they won’t be adapted for. Airpods work pretty well in the gym and other noisy places too, as they are better at noise cancellation - I’m amazed how well they can isolate someone trying to talk to me from the insanely loud muzak or dance track at the gym or some restaurants.
I never really cared about wearing hearing aids, let alone what anyone thought about them. Sadly, they can aid hearing and not replace it, but I don’t have to ask people to repeat so much, I can listen to speech on radio or TV or in person without becoming exhausted and I can join in with a conversation much more easily.
I’d strongly advise having your hearing professionally tested as soon as you think there might be a problem: I had no idea how much hearing I had lost by the time I did and I’d have had much less struggle and been less socially isolated if I had them earlier. We’re very adaptable and easily accept a “normal” that is way below par. If you are advised to wear hearing aids, then get proper ones prescribed and also get AirPods pro if you possibly can but I wouldn’t routinely use Airpods pro as my daily hearing aids - just the best way of continuing to enjoy music and other audio.
PS the official designations of hearing loss “mild, moderate, severe” don’t line up with everyday descriptions. “Mild” is a 20dB loss at a particular range of frequencies but that’s actually a fifth of the range of sounds that should be heard at that range - and that’s more than enough to stop you picking out a voice or sound against the background.
