A visitor in our Zürich showroom took his hearing aid out before putting the glasses on — pure habit. Then he paused: "Wait, do I even need to? Don't those both sit in the same place?" That is the right question, and it splits into two parts that often get muddled: the space behind the ear and the sound. We go through both separately — and we will say up front what we will not do: make medical claims. Whether and how well you hear with a hearing aid belongs with your audiologist, not on a reseller's page.
Short answer: It depends mostly on the form factor of your hearing aid. With an in-the-ear (ITE) aid there is no conflict behind the ear at all — the Even G2 temple has a clear run. With a slim receiver-in-canal (RIC) aid on a thin tube, the combination is often workable. With a classic, bulkier behind-the-ear (BTE) aid, space gets tight, because the body of the device and the temple tip both want the same spot. Sound is the second question: the G2 uses open speakers that fire audio from the outside towards the ear, and how that feels next to a hearing aid is very personal. Because none of this is standardised, one rule matters above all: try it with your own hearing aids.
Two devices, one spot behind the ear
A pair of glasses rests at three points: the nose and behind the two ears. On the Even G2, those temple tips are where the electronics and the open speakers live. A behind-the-ear hearing aid claims the same zone: its body sits on top of the ear and behind the pinna. So whether the two coexist is decided less by the glasses than by the form factor of your aid — and how much height and width it takes up back there.
| Hearing-aid form factor | Space behind the ear | Practical read |
|---|---|---|
| In-the-ear (ITE) | Sits in the ear canal, not behind the ear | No space clash |
| Receiver-in-canal (RIC), thin tube | Slim body, low profile | Often workable |
| Classic BTE (bulkier body) | Voluminous, on top of and behind the ear | Gets tight |
| Cochlear-implant processor | Large body behind the ear, magnet on the head | Usually too little room |
This is our read on available space as a reseller — not an audiological or medical assessment. The actual fit depends on your specific device, your ear shape and the adjustment.
One point Even states explicitly and we take seriously: do not bend the temples yourself to make room beside a hearing aid. They contain technology that a rough correction can damage. The G2 can be adjusted in temple width and via the nose pads, and that belongs in expert hands — and on a display glasses, a crooked fit also shifts where the display sits in your line of sight. If it pinches behind the ear, the fix is a professional adjustment or a different hearing-aid form factor, not a pair of pliers.
The sound question: open speakers beside a hearing aid
The G2 does not output audio through in-ear plugs but through small open speakers in the temple that fire sound sideways towards the ear without sealing the ear canal. For people without a hearing aid that is an advantage, because the ear stays open. Beside a hearing aid it gets more individual: the microphone of a behind-the-ear device sits in exactly the region the glasses direct their sound into. How well you then pick up the glasses' audio — and whether it mixes with what your aid amplifies — cannot be stated in general. That is the honest reason we ask you to try it with your own devices rather than invent a number.
In practice: do not rely blindly on the open speakers for the audio part. Many of the glasses' everyday functions need no sound at all — more on that shortly.
Bluetooth: both talk to the same phone
The Even G2 pairs to your phone over Bluetooth; it has no SIM and no account of its own. Modern hearing aids do essentially the same when they stream calls or music from the phone. A current smartphone can hold several Bluetooth connections at once, so a fundamental conflict is not to be expected. What you should check is the audio routing: where does the phone send a call's sound — to your hearing aids, to the glasses, or to the phone itself? You control that in the phone's Bluetooth and audio settings, not on the glasses. Test with your usual combination whether notification tones, calls and streaming land the way you want — that is a settings matter, not a fault.
The quiet advantage: the display needs no ears
Here is the often-missed point. For many people the most useful thing about the G2 is not the sound but the display — notifications, notes, teleprompter and navigation cues appear as text in front of the eye and are entirely independent of how you hear. Where available, spoken language is also shown as text on the lenses; how that captions feature performs we cover separately. Important and explicit: this is a visual channel, not a hearing aid and not a medical device, and we make no health promises about it. For what actually helps you hear in your case, your audiologist is the right address. As a pure matter of space and technology, the point stands: the visual functions run beside a hearing aid just as they do without one.
So: buy, skip, or test first?
Buy with confidence if you wear an in-the-ear aid or a slim RIC device and you mainly want the display — notifications, notes, teleprompter, navigation. Those functions are independent of hearing and fit in well.
Think twice with a bulkier behind-the-ear aid or a cochlear-implant processor, or if your sole reason to buy is the sound from the open speakers. In those cases space and acoustics tend to work against each other.
Test before you buy is almost mandatory here, because no spec sheet knows your device and your ear. Bring your own hearing aids to the Zürich showroom and put both on together — space behind the ear, audio routing on the phone, where the display sits. If you need prescription lenses anyway, our overview of the Even G2 prescription lenses sets out what to watch for when glazing.
Disclosure: AI-Eyewear is the authorised Swiss reseller of Even Realities. We would rather tell you up front where the temple and a hearing aid compete for the same spot than have you find out after buying. For anything to do with your hearing, we deliberately point you to the audiology professionals.