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6 Best Hearing Aids

By Stephanie Colestock MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE

Hearing loss affects individuals of all ages and backgrounds. In fact, it’s estimated that more than 37.5 million Americans (15%) have some form of hearing loss, including nearly one in five teenagers and more than half of adults over age 75. That number is expected to increase to around 53 million hearing-impaired individuals by the year 2050.

Among individuals with hearing loss, about 28.5% use a hearing aid to help with communication and daily life. Here’s a look at our top six picks for the best hearing aids of 2022 and how they compare.

Our Top Picks for Best Hearing Aids

Best Hearing Aids Reviews

Best Battery Life: ReSound ONE

One of the best benefits of the ReSound ONE hearing aids is their battery life, which far exceeds that of most competitors. The typical hearing aid lasts around 20-24 hours on either disposable batteries or a full recharge. ResoundOne rechargeable hearing aids last up to 30 hours on a single charge, making them our top pick for battery life. They also include a sleek case that makes charging easy and convenient, and only requires three hours for a full charge.

ReSound ONE aids provide enhanced hearing in a number of situations and environments. Their technology is designed to make it easier to decipher spoken conversations, hear in wind, and even link your devices (such as phones, tablets, and televisions) directly to your aids. Each aid is customized according to the wearer’s actual audiogram test results; however, if your hearing aids need to be adjusted at any time, ReSound ONE offers remote fine-tuning and personalized virtual assistance from wherever you are.

As the only hearing aid on the market with an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the Starkey Livio Edge AI is our top pick for wearers with active lifestyles. This aid — which comes in six technology levels —  offers the ability to track brain and body health with more accuracy than a wrist-worn device, helping you track your heart rate, daily movement, steps taken and daily caloric expenditure. Some models can even detect sudden falls.

There are four styles to choose from, each of which is available with either a disposable battery or rechargeable lithium-ion battery option (for an additional $50 per aid). Wearers can also purchase additional accessories that make living with hearing loss easier, such as a remote, table microphone, TV streamer, and mini remote microphone.

Starkey is the only American-owned hearing aid brand we reviewed. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on their hearing aid products. Warranty length varies, however, and is determined by the hearing professional/retailer from whom you purchase your aids. Be sure to read the specific plan that your ENT, audiologist, or other hearing professional offers to see how long your aids will be covered.

Also important to note is that even though this hearing aid is designed with active wearers in mind, it only has an IP58 rating. Compared to most of these other aids’ IP68 rating, this means that the Starkey Livio Edge AI is slightly less dust- and debris-resistant than its competitors. (It is equally water-resistant, however.)

As the world’s most powerful hearing aid, the Oticon Xceed earns our pick as the best for people with profound hearing loss. This aid, which comes in seven colors and two styles (super power/BTE SP and ultra power/BTE UP), picks up and analyzes sound from all directions while reducing background noise. This provides clearer speech and powerful sound amplification to the wearer with a severe or profound level of hearing loss.

The Oticon Xceed isn’t rechargeable, but instead takes size 13 batteries. All versions come with telecoil, SoundSupport for wearers with tinnitus, Soft Speech amplification, and both background and wind management functionality built-in for noisy environments. The Oticon app also allows for complete customization of sound, and RemoteCare enables the wearer to make small adjustments to their aids remotely, without needing to visit your audiologist’s office.

While the Oticon Xceed was designed to work with iPhones and other Apple devices, it is compatible with Android phones, as well.

While many of the manufacturers on this list can accommodate mild to severe (or even profound) hearing loss, that typically isn’t possible with a single device. The Signia Styletto X, however, has exchangeable mini-receivers which allow it to be personalized for hearing loss ranging from mild to severe. This feature, along with an app that enables you to completely customize your hearing — including technology that makes it easier to understand speakers wearing a facemask — makes it the most personalizable hearing aid on this list.

A full charge takes four hours to complete with the included charging case and gives the wearer between 16 and 19 hours of runtime, depending on use. A quick charge (30 minutes) can also provide an extra five hours of use. The charging case offers up to four days of user autonomy, allowing the wearer to recharge their hearing aids more than once without needing to reconnect the case to a power source.

The Signia Styletto X’s sleek design comes in five colors and is available in five different performance levels. It has an IP68 rating and is resistant to both water and debris, but does not have a telecoil or disposable battery option.

To create the Oticon More, the manufacturer trained a Deep Neural Network (DNN) platform to identify more than 12 million real-life, natural sounds. This allows the artificial intelligence program to “learn” the same way that the wearer’s brain does, providing high-quality sound regardless of the environment or sound scene. According to Oticon, this results in 30% more sound processing to the brain and 15% greater speech understanding, compared to basic models.

Oticon More comes in full-size and mini hearing aid styles, three performance levels, and eight different colors. Each includes a telecoil, tech features to help boost the clarity of spoken speech, transient noise management, feedback prevention, and tinnitus support built in. Two powering options are offered: disposable zinc or rechargeable. With rechargeable models, the included charging case offers a full day of power with a three-hour charge, or an additional five-to-six hours of power after just 30 minutes of charge time.

Tinnitus is a frustrating condition for many individuals – and not all hearing aids can help. Widex, however, offers hearing aid features and a mobile app that help users manage, reduce, and even alleviate the ringing in their ears. These unique features make it the clear choice for people with tinnitus.

There are nine different models available in the Widex Moment line of hearing aids, four performance levels, and up to 13 different colors. Depending on which model you choose, these can correct hearing loss ranging from minimal all the way up to severe-to-profound. One of these models, the CIC MICRO, has a size 10 rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which is the smallest and most discreet on the market today.

MySound is the newest Widex artificial intelligence engine, and offers personalized sound with real-time customization. However, remote assistance and help with fine-tuning your aids is only available through the Widex Remote Care app, and requires the additional purchase of the Widex Remote Link device.

Both iOs and Android devices can be streamed to Widex Moment hearing aids without the need for additional accessories. Some features, though, are only available on certain Moment models. For example, the SoundSense AI learning platform is only offered on the Moment RIC 312D and Moment mRIC RD models. And while a telecoil is included in some Moment models, others exclude it.

Users who choose a rechargeable model can opt for the standard charging case, or the upgraded Charge n’ Clean case, which both charges and sanitizes their hearing aids.

Other companies we considered

While this list represents our top six hearing aids, these aren’t the only brands we looked at or considered. Other companies and models that didn’t make the cut include:

  • Eargo 5: This invisible in-the-ear-canal (IIC) style is sleek and has an included rechargeable case. These affordable hearing aids have straightforward pricing that’s posted directly on the Eargo website. The devices can be purchased direct-to-consumer with just a mobile app hearing test. There is also a 45-day, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. While lifetime telehealth support is offered, this may not be sufficient for wearers who need in-person audiology adjustments or fittings. There is also only a one-year warranty on Eargo hearing aid devices.
  • Kirkland Signature 10.0: You really can buy anything at Costco…even hearing aids. Though the Kirkland Signature 10.0 behind-the-ear hearing aids didn’t make the cut, they do offer an affordable ($1,399 per pair), easy-to-obtain option for Costco members in need of hearing aids. They are telecoil compatible, have Bluetooth connectivity built in, and allow wearers to stream from compatible devices (like their TV) with the purchase of a remote connector. Support is available through a mobile app, as well, and custom earmolds can be purchased for these hearing devices at an additional cost.

How We Found the Best Hearing Aids

In order to choose the best hearing aids on the market today, we considered a number of very important factors. This meant looking at the models and technological features offered by each brand, and how well those features truly improved wearers’ hearing and sound processing ability.

We also looked at the possible customization and personalization of each device, how easily users could make fine-tune adjustments to their aids (even remotely), and how the cost of each device compared. Lastly, we considered whether these devices could be recharged or if they needed their batteries replaced, and how long that battery power would last the user.

Summary of the Best Hearing Aids of 2022

Stephanie Colestock

Stephanie Colestock is a DC-based personal finance writer with nearly 11 years of freelance writing experience. She covers a wide range of finance-related topics and is currently working toward her CFP®️ certification. Her work appears on sites such as Business Insider, MSN, Fox Business, CNET, Investopedia, and more.