I am seeking OTC hearing aids. I already have a pair of MFI aids I purchased from an audiologist. But I have flexible spending money in my account that I need to spend before the end of the year, and having OTC hearing aids as a backup seems a good use for it.
But in researching, I see the self-fitting aids pair with an app to configure them, and I am concerned I'll buy aids only to find out the app is inaccessible.
Has anyone used OTC aids that are configured by an app and what was your experience?
Also does anyone know if any OTC aids are MFI? If that's the case, I can then use the built-in hearing features under accessibility settings to configure them and need not worry about an app.
I
By Deborah Armstrong, 14 October, 2023
Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories
Comments
This coming Monday
Hi. This coming Monday I'm being fitted with a pair of behind the ear Auticon (spelling?) hearing aids that I'm told work with my iPhone 15 Pro. Would you like me to report back what I learn?
Absolutely
You've posted other great comments about hearing aids and iDevices before, so I'm sure others reading these threads, searching for hearing aids will appreciate your report as well.
Yes, please
Yes, please do report. I am an Oticon HA user as well but have so far refrained from upgrading to iOS17 because I 1) don't want to run into issues with the Braille display I use for typing, and 2) I'm so far OK with iOS16.7.1 and its sound/voice output I hear using Bluetooth connectivity. Having joined the land of iPhones in 2018, I usually upgrade sometime in November or December.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your expertise on this website.
Another reason for getting OTC aids
Since iOS 17, my aids keep unpairing. They'll be paired for a few days and then the phone refuses to connect. I do "forget this device" and pair again, but often, the "forget this device" button doesn't appear, or when it does let me pair, pairing never occurs. Or it thinks my aids are paired but not connected.
I know the difference between pairing and connecting but half the time, neither occurs.
This was not a problem with previous versions of iOS. And I don't know if it's my aids or the new operating system because it could simply be that my old aids have become less reliable at the time that the new iOS was released.
If I could find MFI OTC aids I would then know for sure, but I'm going to ask here too, in case.
So far much research, no answers
So far these are the best two articles I've read from consumer reports
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/hearing-aids/complete-guide-to-over-the-counter-hearing-aids-a3898239010/
and
ratings here:
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/hearing-aids/over-the-counter-hearing-aids-brands-comparison-a3246025494/
This detailed article from Forbes has it all:
https://www.forbes.com/health/hearing-aids/best-otc-hearing-aids/
This long article also discusses several brands:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-over-the-counter-hearing-aids/
Most of the top rated ones are close to a thousand dollars.
Haven't found any definitive information. I asked my sighted husband to look through reviews on Amazon. They sell a ton of OTC hearing aids. Some of these aids can also be bought in stores like Walmart, Walgreens and CVS. Here's what he wrote:
Well, I looked at some of these. I think you said that you wanted a
behind the ear one, and in the consumer reports article only these models are behind the ear -
Hearing Assist
Lexie
Lucid
All these models pair with iOS, and at least some models have rechargeable batteries. Hearing Assist and Lucid say you can get a setup call with a licensed audiologist, but Lexie just says "phone of video chat" support.
Lucid says you can go to a Lucid Hearing Center for in person support; I checked and it looks like the closest Lucid center is in Sacramento. That center is also part of Sam's Club, and I'm not sure if you have to be a member to use it or not.
Here's the web pages for those three companies. Look thru them and see what you think.
https://shop.lucidhearing.com/products/otc-hearing-aids/
https://lexiehearing.com/
https://hearingassist.store/collections/otc-hearing-aids
The Lexie hearing aids are sold on Amazon, and all of them got mixed reviews with about 3-1/2 stars.
Another OTC hearing aid that I found on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Clarigen-Personalized-Rechargeable-Intelligent-Distor__;!!A-B3JKCz!BacgbEBfjuQhgtrYrKWWfuhQiTjjkjOYM-TqBhNSGW-IxU5__9NtI2puvwrj4wiaRFivNLd2P_4xnfJT$tion/dp/B0BYF5299Y/
Only $219. No professional (i.e. human) support, but has a lot of adjustments thru the app. Can't stream phone calls or music from your phone.
I think you ought to get the Clarigen ones. (That's the last link in this post.) They aren't too expensive ($219) so if they don't work out then not much is lost, and they have a fancy app that lets you customize the DSP profiles. Most of the other cheap ones don't seem to have any app, and have just one or two fixed DSP options if any.
The app is called "HA-fit". See if you can find it in the Apple store and download it. Don't know if it'll work w/o the devices, but maybe you can see if it's accessible.
This app is also supposed to have a built in hearing test, which plays sounds thru the hearing aids and then adjusts the frequency response to fit your hearing profile. Don't know if it works, but it's a neat idea.
And they're rechargeable, so no batteries to fool with.
The one big downside is that the Bluetooth connection is only for programming the hearing aids. It CAN'T transmit audio, so you can't make phone calls or listen to music with these.
I couldn't find a manual for them, so I asked on Amazon if a manual was available online.
My comments:
Link to ha-fit
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ha-fit/id1618179282My comments: the app cannot be tested without the aids so I'm not sure if it is accessible or not. There is also an Android version that has the same screen layout.
Report 1
Hey Deb et al,
OK, finally got fitted for a pair of Oticon Real, behind the ear MFI hearing aids today. So far, pretty good! Smile. My "what?" index has dropped dramatically, and the aids seem fairly straightforward, albeit with a few unexpected wrinkles, such as having to settings>accessibility>hearing bluetooth pair the aids each time after restarting my iPhone. I am creating a list of questions for my audiologist, the first being, can I have the hearing aids automatically connect to my iPhone?
Next, there is indeed an app, called Oticon Companion, and an older version called, Oticon On, both of which I'm told are available from the Apple app store. I have Oticon Companion on my phone, and so far it seems accessible! Smile. Well, mostly. there's still a lot to test, and the individual hearing aid volume control in the app is something I haven't figured out how to operate yet, but I'm not done messing with it.
The main thing is being able to understand my wife better. We're both happy about that, of course.
This is my first report. I expect I'll be posting another once I've spent some time in different environments with my new Oticon Real hearing aids.
Happy hearing!
Bruce
Report 2 (two weeks later)
Hi all,
OK, so the Oticon Real hearing aids we bought ($5,800 for the pair) deliver much much better ability to hear and understand what people are saying. Smile. Very happy. Yesterday I went back to the audiologist two weeks after getting them for a check up. During the visit yesterday, She installed new firmwear for the hearing aids.
After installing the new firmware, she gave the hearing aids back to me, and we left, thinking we wouldn't have to come back to the audiologist until the next hearing test a year from now.
On the ride home, and in the 24 hours since then, I've had a whole bunch of problems with the aids, such as sudden bursts of loud static, bluetooth to the iPhone going dead n one ear or the other or both, volume controls going nuts with iPhone controlling aids and vice verssa, and the list goes on. Not good. Very unhappy.
We're going back to the audiologist tomorrow. Still under the 30 days money back guarantee period, thank,fully. Don't know if she can fix them. We suspect it's the firmware she installed. Maybe it conflicts with VoiceOver? don't know.
Sigh.
OTC Aids
Hi,
Deb I understand the desire for some backup aids. I don't know how severe your loss is. My concern with them is, if you've ever came across Dr. Cliff Olsen on YouTube he has several videos where he has ran real ear measurements on some OTC models, and to my knowledge of at least those I watched, none could match a basic moderate loss prescription. This does not seem up to being a dialy driver especially for a blind person relying on hearing.
Seeing that most prescription (read expensive) brands don't have great accessible apps, I'd not hold out much hope of an OTC aid having a good app. Perhaps there is one that would be servicable as a backup and with some assistance programming it, you could set and forget the programming. I mean use them without messing with the app on a regular basis. Of course I understand the deisre to set them up yourself. I have Starkey and the My Starkey app has equalizers that I'd love to try but they don't work with VoiceOver and so it is just a feature I paid for I don't get. I should get a discount.
That raises a question
Deb, do you still have your old hearing aids, or are your hearing aids now the only pair you have? If you still do have your older aids, do you have reason to believe over the counter aids would be better? I have no idea, but the thought to ask just occurred to me.