AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Test fails with "Unable to classify due to background noise" error.

I received an AirPods Pro 2 request to review the product. I included a reference to this thread and stated clearly that, for many folks, the hearing test does not work.

Do not buy the airpod pro 2 with the intention of hearing assistance. Like many other users, I have taken the hearing test now 11 times (with apple confirmed fit and environmental silence level) with the same answer: "unable to classify". Apple support is wholly unable to help and just a waste of time. Thoroughly disgusted and wish I had not wasted my money.

Hey everyone. Same problem here but I have a workaround. If you use a hearing test app like Mimi you can use the audiogram it creates in Apple Health. Apple’s solution is trying to create an audiogram to use but it’s buggy so other apps can provide a workaround.

I had the same problem,

hearing test failed multiple times.

I used a pair of earmuffs hearing protection.

I put them on over the AirPods

this kept the external noise out.

The hearing test passed the first time I tried this.

easy solution,

Randy

As I posted earlier in this thread, I wear actual hearing aids and was able to successfully scan my clinically sampled audiogram (hearing test chart) and use it with my AirPods Pro 2 to adjust sound quality for my hearing abilities.

I had no illusions about using my AirPods as daily-wear hearing aids, but adding my audiogram did improve listening quality for me and I did try the AiPods out as temporary hearing aids.

If you're thinking of using your AirPods as all-day-long hearing aids, be prepared to charge them at least a couple times during the day. I found that leaving the Hearing Aid function on drains the batteries quickly.

In the three hours I used my AirPods as hearing aids, my battery drained nearly 50%.

They worked beautifully as temporary hearing aids and when I see my audiologist later this month for an updated hearing test, I'll scan it again with my iPhone and update it for my AirPods to use.

To access the AirPods Settings menu, you have to have the AirPods case open (not necessary to remove the buds).

I'm having the same problem. Tried many times in different quiet locations.

I tried the suggestion above about setting them to "Noise Cancellation" but it didn't help. I tried other combinations of settings, no go.

I called Apple and they said they hadn't heard about this problem. I was told that the only way to let them know about this bug is to report it on their feedback form, here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Well, on Christmas Day, when I feel pretty grateful, I’d like to report that:

• I really appreciate that Apple has worked towards this goal of making the AirPod system useful as hearing aids. It was probably a lot of work. And, eventually, the bugs will work out of the process.
• I really appreciate that, for the present, a third party hearing test, like the Mimi test I used, can serve to get the hearing aids up and running. It doesn’t have to be the Apple test! Kudos for allowing that flexibility.
• I tried out the hearing aid set up at a little concert and reception on Sunday evening, and wow, it takes some old ears to new places. The ‘tuning’ for the situation has to be worked on, but that is true for each individual.
• It may be that a better hearing test will provide a better baseline, but once you get a hearing test loaded, any hearing test you can take, you can start to learn about the system.
• Finally, I appreciate the comments and suggestions in this community, which led me to understand different approaches I might take to make this all work.
• HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Adjusted for bass, treble, balance and background noise…;-))

My wife and I have identical iphone 14’s. My airpod pro 2 are made China and hers are made in Vietnam. My iphone and airpods complete the hearing test every time, no errors. I tried her phone and airpods, and the test failed 2 out of 3 times that I took it. All firmware on all devices match. Could there be a difference between China and Vietnam builds?

I honestly don’t think it’s noise at all. I’ve done it in dead silence as I said I even put shooting hearing over the top in a dead silent house and it still fails after it finishes on the second ear every time. If it detects noise it will fail immediately. It doesn’t wait until it finishes.

I bought AirPod Pro 2’s because I was so stoked over the Hearing feature they announced

However, I could not get the Hearing Test to complete

I repeatedly got the dreaded ‘Unable to Classify’ message no matter how careful I was to take the test in a noiseless environment

I was about to throw in the towel after many attempts when something popped into my head

In the past I had run into issues when recording guitar into my DAW

I kept getting noise on the tracks and I couldn’t figure out why

It turned out that the source of the humming sound was the dimmer switch for my room lighting

A dimmer switch can cause RFI on the electrical wiring which can result in noise on electrical devices such as radios and amplifiers etc.

Remembering this, I turned off the dimmer switch and took the test again (in the dark)

It worked, my test completed on the first pass

Try killing any dimmer switches you have anywhere in your living quarters

and see if this works for you

It’s possible the AirPods were being affected by the dimmer RFI noise, and that was the issue all along

Good luck

I can say without reservation, the AirPods are fantastic for moderate hearing loss

Highly recommended :)

I had the same problem. Multiple “unable to classify because of background noise” fails on left ear. Saw a previous post about using over the ear headphones and remembered I had some ear protectors that I wear when I mow the lawn. Put them on over my AirPods and went all the way through both ear tests first try. So, for another $10 or so at Home Depot/Lowes, this might work for you too.

My AirPods as hearing aids seem to work better for hearing the TV than my expensive hearing aids do. The charge won’t last as long but then I don’t spend that much time watching TV so it’s not a big deal.

This is very disappointing as I too got these thinking I could use hearing assist. I have latest firmware 7b21 and still get unable to classify in soundproof room. Granted my left ear doesn’t work so well but right ear does. I complete test then I get unable to classify due to background noise, there is none! Have tried at least 5 or 6 times..

Attempted to complete the test about 25 times, all without success like almost everyone else on this thread, and I also probably tried all the suggestions proposed here and elsewhere.

Then, as some other did in this forum, I cheated the test by clicking at what I judged to be the correct timing, no matter whether I heard the tones or not. Something interesting happened: the test succeeded for both ears, AND completed in about A THIRD of the time it normally takes when clicking without cheating!

Although the results were obviously completely invalid, stating that I had no loss of hearing either side, which I know for a fact to be wrong, it brings to the front possible bugs with the test software itself: If the test uses the results in real time to make decisions how to proceed, there might be a point where the test gets confused in the sequence/branching and consequently reaches the wrong conclusion, but this is just my 2 cents...

In addition, in makes you wonder if only people with no hearing loss can complete the test successfully most of the time, which kind of defeats the purpose. But again, these are speculations.

So I am wondering why Apple released this when it is clearly not ready, causing a lot of wasted time and frustration for its customers who have a hearing impariment/disabiltiy...