Over the weekend, I went for an in-depth probe into the reviews Nuheara's IQbuds have been receiving across Amazon, Bestbuys and Brookstone online stores.
As stated numerous times on this forum; the overall consensus of Nuheara's IQ buds is that they are 'good' but can be improved. This has been reflected by the fact that Amazon, which has received the most reviews of Nuheara's product relative to Brookstone and Bestbuys (and hence on normalised value, is more representative of market consensus), rated Nuheara 3 stars.
Now, on face value, this research didn't instil any confidence in me and made me even question my investment given the recent share price decline in conjunction with data posted on this forum (regarding apple nuheara app downloads) suggesting reduced download volumes in recent months. However ...
I decided to research Doppler's Here One product. Interestingly, Here One had even more reviews than Nuheara on Amazon and was also rated with 3 stars. Admittedly, the ratio of people giving Here One 5 stars was higher than Nuheara, but on aggregated data, Nuheara and Here One received the same star rating.
What I can see as the general consensus between the products is that: Nuheara offers more powerful and advanced intelligent earbud options and functionality, but that Here One's earbuds are not impacted by environmental variables (especially wind) as much. Nuheara's battery life was a major selling point that beat Here One. Conversely, the over arching, fundamental draw back of Nuheara's buds which has led to many returns of the product (according to reviews) is the poor bluetooth functionality of the product. It seems people can't even place their phone in their trouser pocket without the IQ buds disconnecting. Here One doesn't have this problem. Nuheara's earbuds have been described as painful to wear, too - with the earbud tips on offer not being accommodating to the general populous. Conversely, Here One's product has been suggested to not be as refined and ready-to-market as Nuheara's IQ buds. The touch sensitive capability of Nuheara's exo-skeleton shell on the right ear is liked by some, and not by others - but is not provided by Here One. However, Here One offers more control options through the earbuds themselves relative to Nuheara. Finally, Nuheara's app - after recent refinements and updates - sounds far more robust and advanced relative to Doppler's Here One.
Each of the companies have also taken a different approach to marketing their product. Doppler has invested significant resources into advertising and are clearly making material inroads into the consumer discretionary sectors and new OTC hearing aid market. Conversely, Nuheara has not marketed it's product as aggressively thus far (however, this will soon change with the TV commercials), but instead has won globally recognised and renowned awards for its products at major international conferences putting them on the map for retail distributors, and more broadly the consumer discretionary market across the globe. Nuheara has also presented to the US congress and was influential in getting the OTC hearing aid bill passed as legislation in the US - implicating that Nuheara is connected with the right institutions and organisations to become a major player in this new burgeoning market.
I am unaware of the sales distribution footprint of Doppler's Here One. Clearly, they are on Amazon, Brookstone and Bestbuys just like Nuheara. However, Nuheara has made significant inroads into the Middle Eastern Market and is obviously recognised in Australia (given its listing on the ASX), and according to the recent awards announcement will be aggressively entering into the European market in the coming weeks / months. I am unsure as to how established Here One is in: the Middle East, Europe or Australia.
The final point I would like to mention from my research is this. It clearly seems that both Here One and Nuheara are products with enormous potential in both consumer discretionary, OTC hearing aid, IOT and tour guide markets. But the reviews of the first generation of each product suggest many refinements are required (as to be expected, I guess). I can't speak on behalf of Doppler, but I am relieved that Nuheara clearly stated that a portion of the recent $9M raising would be used for research and development to improve and enhance the existing IQ buds, but also help develop more specialised products for the OTC hearing aid market. For me; this instils a great deal of confidence, as I believe it will be the company that can 'hit the nail on the head' with the second and third generation of hearables that will dominate this market. (I would nevertheless presume Doppler would be investing in R&D, just like Nuheara, but equally question their ability as they cannot tap equity markets as effectively and quickly as we can).
Ultimately, it's early days for both companies. Each has released a solid first product, but reviews suggest each requires further development. But given: 1) the opportunities in the new OTC hearing aid market, which in the US alone, represents a $12B target market, and 2) that Nuheara is taking pro-active steps to improve its existing IQ buds whilst developing new products for new markets, incites great confidence in me, and prompts me to hold out and see where this leads.
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