Premium Hearing Aids

Premium Hearing aids are also the most expensive but also have the most features. They are often recommended as default if you mention that you frequently need help to hear in noisy situations. This is only true if your unique ability to hear in background babble noise is not taken into account. 

By testing people's unique ability to hear speech in background noise, we find that only about 36% of people need premium (top-end) hearing aids to do well in noise. So this level of technology tends to be over-prescribed. Without speech-in-noise testing being used, you may end up paying for more than what you need. Very limited early data suggests that getting too much support from a hearing aid may possibly make your brain lazy!

Most of these devices tend to have exceptional sound quality, Bluetooth streaming, are automatic and some even use rechargeable batteries. Depending on your unique needs in noise as well as the specific features of the aid, one of these aids might be suitable for you.  Just make sure it is the latest generation  of device and be wary of white-label hearing aids. 

Advanced Level Hearing Aids

Advanced Level Hearing aids are less expensive than premium-level hearing aids but still have plenty of the latest features. They often perform close to previous generation premium levels. They are typically recommended when you tell the clinician you cannot afford the premium level but still need help with background noise

Our specialised testing using your individual hearing in noise requirements show that only about 21.5% of people actually need advanced-level hearing aids. As such this level is also often over-prescribed when the speech in background noise testing is not performed or when the speech in noise test results are not used to help determine the correct prescription for you. 

They all tend to have performance in quiet equal to premium models, often come with Bluetooth connectivity and some also feature rechargeable batteries. 

Standard Level Hearing Aids

Standard Level Hearing aids generally offer a good mix of features and technology. They often perform close to previous generation advanced level hearing aids. They offer the same performance in quiet as more expensive models but feature less capable noise reduction. This is only an issue if your brain actually requires more help with background noise. This can only be assessed via speech in background party noise testing, done correctly and at loud but comfortable levels. 

Our unique hearing aid selection process shows that around 27.2% of people need only Standard level hearing aids to do very well in all kinds of hearing situations. This level of technology appears to be massively underprescribed.

These hearing instruments all have performance in quiet equal to higher level models,  can come with Bluetooth connectivity and some also feature rechargeable batteries.

Essential Level Hearing aids

Essential Level Hearing aids are generally well-featured hearing aids, with great performance in quiet, comfortable fit, good sound quality, Bluetooth Capability, Rechargeable options, and more. They do however have a limited ability to clean up background noise to make speech understandable. Fortunately, some people don't need these to hear well in most situations. 

18.6% of people would do as well with essential level hearing aids as with premium level hearing aids in noise, when we look at our data using speech in background noise tests. 

Unfortunately, speech in party noise testing, which would determine the correct level for you is seldom used. 

So this level of technology is often not prescribed, even though some people would do perfectly well with these without having the spend premium level money. 

These devices can include Bluetooth, Phone apps and rechargeable batteries.