If you are a bargain hunter, then chances are you have been browsing the likes of AliExpress or Temu.
Or if you are a web surfer, you have been bombarded by adverts for the likes of AliExpress or Temu.
Or, if you have visited their pages, chances are you are now being followed across the internet with ads, emails, and smoke signals from the likes of AliExpress or Temu, urging you to take another look at something or, if you’ve already bought it, find something to pair with it.
And chances are your head will have been turned by cheap Auracast dongles, promising the earth for just a few magic beans.
Is it worth the money?
No. Well, not for those with hearing aids.
We have tested two products, both purchased from AliExpress, which are also available elsewhere. Prices and manufacturers vary according to the time of your visit, special offers, sales, weather conditions, and whether a cock has crowed three times before breakfast.
AliExpress gadget one: an Auracast dongle
First up, let’s declare our hand here: you currently can’t get better for your money than the FlooGoo dongle. It is an Auracast wonder gadget that works as both a transmitter and a receiver. You can read our review here.
Yes, the user interface needs work to become truly awesome, but for those prepared to persereve with the setup, it is brilliant. And once you have set it up correctly for your hearing aids or Cochlear implant, it can be ported across gadgets.
For around £50, this really is a worthwhile investment.
Certainly more so than the Tebe LE Audio LC3 Bluetooth 5.4 Audio Transmitter, which we bought from AliExpress. We paid £10.05 for it, but the website suggests its price is £12.62 or £16.11, £10.49, £9.09, £11.49 … Really, we have no idea what you should be paying for it.
The official description is “This is the newest mini Bluetooth 5.4 audio transmitter,built-in QCC3086 chip,support LE audio LC3 and Auracast broadcast audio”. So, it claims to be Auracast, but it doesn’t behave as an Auracaster, and doesn’t show up in an Auracast Assistant. Instead, it appears as a headphone output on a PC, and relies on being paired with Bluetooth-enabled headphones instead of a hearing aid.
The instructions that came with it were sparse and printed in a minuscule font. No expense was incurred when creating them.
The gadget features a large button that serves as a controller. Push it and it blinks to show which mode it is in, different colours denoting different statuses. Once it has paired, it stops flashing and is a solid colour.
It sounds easy, but it’s not the be-all and end-all that we would want it to be. And, of course, no hearing compatibility.
We did reach out to the seller, via AliExpress, to ask if it should work with hearing aids, and they replied that they hadn’t tested it on them, so they didn’t know.
We suspect its failure is because it uses 48khz sample rate rather than the 24khz needed for hearing aids.
The Tebe LE Audio LC3 Bluetooth 5.4 Audio Transmitter was, for us, a fail and a tenner wasted.
AliExpress gadget two: The LE AUDIO Multi-Purpose Audio Adapter
Officially, this is the Bluetooth 6.0 Audio Receiver Transmitter ENC 3.5mm Jack Broadcast LE Audio Bluetooth 6.0 Adapter for Church Tour Guide, made by that well-known(!) brand Kebidumei. Again, this was bought from AliExpress.
This is a typical AliExpress gadget that overpromises and underdelivers – right from the description. It states that it is Bluetooth 6.0 in the headline, yet the fine print indicates it is 5.4. The manual states it is Version 6.0, while the box indicates it is 5.4. Make your mind up.
It cleverly doesn’t state it has Auracast on the box and in the instruction manual, nor does it have an Auracast logo on it anywhere. Another red flag. Instead, it describes it as ‘one-to-many broadcasting’, which is similar to Auracast but not the same.
Even if it is Bluetooth 5.4, that should be enough to make it LE Audio standard, and therefore Auracast-enabled. Bluetooth 6.0 should mean it purrs like a Rolls Royce.
The package is slightly smaller than a Penguin Classics paperback book and about the same thickness. Possibly like a small box of chocolates, but it’s all air and packaging rather than substance.
Inside the box, you’ll find the gadget itself, along with a package of inexpensive wires that includes a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, a basic pair of wired earbuds, and a USB-C charging cable. So, as a value proposition, it’s all there.
A reasonably comprehensive instruction manual (English and Mandarin) is included. The first page features a diagram of the gadget’s front, with each button labelled and explained. While there are some spelling mistakes, it’s clear what happens when something is pressed into use.
However, it starts going downhill from there.
It’s evident from the cables that the price point means corners have been cut. The transmitter box embodies this: it feels cheap and flimsy in a world where we are accustomed to miniature LCDs and touch-sensitive surfaces, making a system of button presses and lights a bit of a shock, not helped by the use of abbreviations to describe the functions.
Ultimately, however, the device doesn’t easily perform what the manual claims it will do.
It may be a transmitter to many devices, but it doesn’t appear as an Auracast stream on our setup, and therefore fails this test. You might have more luck.
This gadget is no longer available for purchase, but others are. We paid £13.59, and have buyer’s remorse. The similar sets are around the £14 mark, but prices will vary.
Is cheap the way forward?
So far, no.
Auracast is brilliant in that it ends the walled gardens that hearing aid manufacturers have been working within for years. And in doing so, can reduce the cost of buying add-ons such as TV streamers and microphones.
Of course, that’s not to say the walled garden approach doesn’t have its advantages: customers can have certainty of compatibility, and a skilled audiologist will be able to help with the setup.
Auracast is a level playing field. One gadget should be able to work across hearing aids, Cochlear and headphones. It’s a better system as it creates choice for the user. For example, if they don’t want a TV streamer, they can buy a television with Auracast built in.
If they don’t have the budget to buy an Auracast-enabled computer, they can buy something like the FlooGoo.
However, there must be some standards.
You will note that we don’t use the Auracast logo on our website. The reason is that it is for official Auracast products: we are independent and not breaching a trademark. However, there are Auracast-enabled products that do use the logo, and they aren’t compatible with hearing aids.
Ultimately, this hotchpotch situation leads to uncertainty in the marketplace, as seen by these AliExpress purchases, and that is the case with these two gadgets. They might claim to deliver Auracast, but as it stands, they don’t.
So we can’t recommend them as Auracast gadgets at this time.
Buyer beware: if it doesn’t list itself as compatible with hearing aids, don’t buy it. And that isn’t just for the likes of AliExpress, but any seller.
We bought these items ourselves from AliExpress. Read our reviews policy here.
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