Get Better Hearing With The Best OTC Hearing Aids

Style: In-Ear | Battery life: Up to 26 hours | Trial period: Depends where they’re purchased | Key features: Bluetooth streaming via iPhone, analyzes and optimizes sound based on environment

Pros:

• They mask as a pair of wireless earbuds
• The mobile app offers a lot of customization options
• Excellent noise reduction and overall sound quality

Cons:

• You must be comfortable using mobile apps
• Pricey

Best for: Those that want excellent sound quality and adjustability at a reasonable price point.

While the Sony CRE-E10s look very much like high-end wireless earbuds, they’re FDA-approved OTC hearing aids that offer prescription-grade sound quality. They come with four different silicone ear tips sizes so you can find your perfect fit. They’re also IP68-rated for water-resistance. Each hearing aid uses two built-in microphones that optimize sound based on the environment.

Built-in wind reduction improves sound quality outdoors, and you get advanced acoustic processing and sound artifact cancellation technology to keep sound crisp. Customize the intensity and directionality of the microphones and internal speakers to optimize their performance in different environments. While the app is available for iOS and Android devices, if you’re using the CRE-E10s with an iPhone, you can automatically and wirelessly stream audio content, including phone calls, from your phone to the hearing aids. Like wireless earbuds, these come with a pocket-sized charging case. You can expect the batteries to last all day.

What the writers say: One of our technology contributors says, “They look just like wireless earbuds, but they have a lot of extra technology built into them and their app. The app gives the user plenty of audio adjustability, based on where and how the hearing aids are being used.”

Style: In-ear canal | Battery life: Up to 24 hours | Trial period: 45-days (from Audien) | Key features: Small, white noise cancellation, wireless charging case, onboard volume control

Pros:

• Affordable
• Discreet
• Built-in volume control as opposed to in-app adjustments

Cons:

• Personal audio amplifiers, not FDA-registered OTC hearing aids
• No customizable options via a mobile app

Best for: People with mild hearing loss who are on a budget.

The Audien Atom Pros are personal amplifiers, as opposed to FDA-approved OTC hearing aids, although they offer some of the same performance for those with mild hearing loss—and are virtually invisible inserted. Offering an impressive battery life, the personal amplifiers also come with a wireless charging case that holds up to a four-day battery charge, one of the longest on our list. These devices are designed to eliminate unwanted feedback and provide clear audio using the Atom-enhanced sound processor.

The Audien Atom Pros don’t require a smartphone pairing. Instead, they have a tiny volume control button built into each of them, which some users may appreciate over in-app customization.

Style: In-ear | Battery life: Up to 12 hours | Trial period: 100 days (from Jabra) | Key features: Waterproof, iPhone compatibility, multiple modes

Pros:

• Affordable
• Discreet design
• Adjustable and customizable via the iPhone app

Cons:

• iPhone compatibility only
• Full functionality of OTC hearing aids not offered
• Battery life could be better

Best for: Someone looking for quality personal audio amplifiers that offer overlapping functionality with OTC hearing aids.

While Jabra offers its premium, FDA-registered Enhance Select 200 OTC hearing aids (our pick for premium hearing aids), the Jabra GN Enhance Plus audio amplifiers still offer many of the benefits you’ll get from OTC hearing aids. Designed with medical-grade technology, each earbud includes four microphones, so you can focus on what you want to hear while reducing unwanted background noise. They’re 40% smaller than Jabra’s traditional wireless earbuds and discreetly mask as wireless earbuds. You can choose between three listening modes via the mobile app.

When using Adaptive mode, the Jabra Enhance Plus units auto-adapt to your environment. The Focus mode takes advantage of directional microphones so you can better hear what’s happening directly in front of you, such as a conversation or the TV, but if you need it, the Surround mode can help you hear everything around you including ambient noise. You can also wirelessly stream content from your iPhone. The Jabra Enhance Plus earbuds offer IP52-rated water-resistance and come with a charging case.

What the writers say: One of our technology contributors says, “What surprised me most was the small, discreet size of the Jabra GN Enhance Plus units. They’re also relatively inexpensive and offer great signal processing. Each unit easily inserts into an ear and has one button operation along with mobile app control. For those that want to take advantage, the Jabra website offers a simple online-based hearing test that will help you determine if these hearings aids will be beneficial before purchasing them.” He also loved the portability of the buds, adding, “The charging case also easily fits in a pocket.”

Style: In-ear canal | Battery life: Up to 16 hours | Trial period: 45 days (from Eargo) | Key features: Tiny, auto-adjusting based on environment, customizable via the app, IPX7 rated for water-resistance, lifetime professional support via telephone

Pros:

• Unique design with self-fitting feature
• Lifetime support with hearing experts via phone or video calls
• Excellent waterproofing

Cons:

• Expensive

Best for: Someone who wants one of the most advanced pair of OTC hearing aids currently available.

Offering an advanced and feature-packed design, the Eargo 7’s built-in technology provides crisper speech in any environment while reducing background noise. Quickly change listening modes to emphasize speech, reduce ambient noise to your preferred level or automatically adjust based on the environment in the app. In addition to the high-end quality of the hearing aids, you also get lifetime phone support, which includes a welcome phone call (or video call) from a hearing specialist who helps you setup the hearing aids.

Designed to withstand sweat during a workout and water during a shower, they’re great for those with an active lifestyle. From end-to-end, each hearing aid is only 0.7 inches long, or about the size of a thumbnail, and they feature a replaceable petal-shaped, self-fitting tips for a secure, comfortable fit. The included rechargeable case is about the size of a makeup compact and provides enough power to keep the earbuds charged for up to two days, though you’ll need to recharge them every 16 hours or so. Using the accompanying app, you can choose from four pre-set listening profiles or customize your own. The Eargo website offers a free hearing screening that can be done online.

What the writers say: One of our tech writers says, “It’s the design of these hearing aids that set them apart. They’re small, lightweight and fit snugly in each ear. They’re also comfortable and hardly noticeable by other people.”

Style: In-canal/over-ear | Battery life: Up to 18 hours | Trial period: 45 days (from Lexie) | Key features: Traditional hearing aid design, audio components designed by Bose, separate treble and bass settings, manually adjustable microphone pickup direction

Pros:

• Free ongoing phone support
• Complete customizability through app
• Auto volume adjustment available with customizable options

Cons:

• Currently no phone call or audio streaming capabilities via your mobile device

Best for: Those wanting traditional, self-fitting hearing aids at an OTC price.

The Lexie B2 OTC hearing aids offer a design from Bose for those that prefer a more traditional aesthetic. Like others on our list, these hearing aids are nearly invisible if someone is looking straight at you. The difference? The receiver remains in the ear canal; only part of the device gets tucked behind the ear.

Using the Lexie app, a wide range of audio customization options are available. There’s a pre-set for watching TV, chatting on the phone (with the phone held up to your ear, not through the hearing aid) or attending a party so you can hear your conversations. You can also separately adjust bass, treble and volume, plus the direction from which the microphones pick up audio. Once you customize for specific situations, you can store them via the app and easily swap between the saved audio profiles.

Style: In-ear canal/over-ear | Battery life: Up to 24 hours | Trial period: 100 days (from Jabra) | Key features: Bluetooth capabilities (headset and streaming audio), automatically adapts to the environment, noise cancellation

Pros:

• Bluetooth audio and hands-free calling capabilities
• Customizable audio with a special music listening mode
• All-day battery life

Cons:

• Bulky case
• Not waterproof

Best for: Those that want a pair of top-notch OTC hearing aids that can be configured to most situations.

The Jabra Enhance Select 300s offer an impressive collection of features, including a long battery life and support for hands-free phone calling. They also double as a pair of Bluetooth headphones, so you can listen to streaming audio or music from your phone without disturbing others.

The hearing aids are very small, weighing only a few grams and sitting comfortably on the ear. The thin wire that connects the speaker is barely visible, and the speaker fits comfortably into the ear canal with a variety of sizes and types of replaceable tips included. The battery life is about 24 hours, and a rather large and ungainly charging case is included, which holds enough juice to recharge the headphones three times; enough for a weekend trip, if you forget it at home. Charge the case from any USB-C power source, too.

The Jabra Enhance app (available for iOS or Android) provides several modes that configure the audio to different situations, such as in a restaurant, where the focus on voices, or outdoors, which boosts all sounds. Jabra refers to this feature as SoundScape. The app also allows you to balance sound from the phone and microphone, so you can ignore the outside world or pay attention as you need.

What the writers say: Richard Baguley tried the Jabra Enhance Select 300 to counter his mild hearing loss, and found them comfortable to use. “I got used to them pretty quickly,” he told Forbes Vetted. “I don’t like earbuds and earbud-style hearing aids because they are uncomfortable in my oddly-shaped ear canal. The very small speaker felt comfortable quite quickly, although I did find that I had to replace the tips and ear wax filters every other day or so as they got blocked quite quickly. The battery life is great and the Bluetooth audio streaming, while not as high quality as a dedicated pair of headphones, is great for listening to audio books while walking the dog or doing the washing up.”