Best Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids for You
We tested 10 OTC hearing aids made by Audien, Eargo, Go Hearing, Jabra, Lexie, Lucid, and Sony
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Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. adults has trouble hearing, but only about a fifth of people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually use one. That’s largely due to factors such as high costs, stigma, and other barriers to access.
Last October, after a sustained bipartisan effort intended to ease some of these road blocks, over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids became available for the first time. These hearing aids are meant for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Now, Consumer Reports has tested OTC hearing aids in our labs. These lab-based evaluations of specific products supplement our existing ratings of prescription hearing aid brands and retailers, which are based on surveys of users.
A few key takeaways from our testing of OTC hearing aids:
• There are two main types: preset, which come with built-in configurations you choose from or, in some cases, only volume control; and self-fitting, which are more customizable and may provide better results in a variety of settings, but tend to cost more and may be more complicated to use.
• Whether you prioritize simplicity or versatility in an OTC hearing aid, we found good choices that will likely meet your needs, at reasonable prices.
• Within each type, there is a lot of variation in sound quality, ease of adjustment, price, and accessories, so careful shopping is warranted.
Guide to OTC Hearing Aids
CR can help you find the right hearing aids for your needs.
Hearing Aids Buying Advice
OTC hearing aids are meant for people with self-perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. Read more about how to figure out if that’s you. Here are four key questions to answer when shopping for an OTC hearing aid.
1. What Level of Customization Do You Want?
OTC hearing aids come in two main types.
Self-fitting hearing aids are devices that you can customize to your particular hearing needs, often based on a self-test you take when you first set them up. These are always paired with an app that you use to program them. Manufacturers of these devices must submit data to the FDA demonstrating that their aids can address a user’s hearing loss as well as prescription aids do. That’s a big advantage of self-fitting hearing aids: You have some assurance they’ve been shown to work. According to Nicholas Reed, AuD, an assistant professor of audiology with the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, who has consulted with CR regarding our OTC hearing aid testing, you may get better results with a self-fitting hearing aid because it can be more finely tuned to your particular hearing needs.
Preset hearing aids come with a few built-in audio configurations that you can choose from. They are generally cheaper and simpler to use; some are so simple that they offer volume control only. But they’re not as customizable as self-fitting aids, and manufacturers don’t have to clear them with the FDA. Still, some research has shown that the preset approach can work for many users. One 2021 study in the American Journal of Audiology found that four well-chosen preset audio configurations could—at least in theory—adequately address hearing loss for close to 70 percent of older adults with hearing loss. While many preset OTC hearing aids in our testing came with volume control only, we found at least one device that came with four configurations.
2. What Shape Is Best for You?
Hearing aids come in two basic configurations: behind the ear, and in the ear. You’ll want to go with whichever configuration you think you’ll be most likely to wear consistently.
Behind-the-ear (BTE) aids consist of a case that contains the device’s hardware and sits behind the ear, and a component that sits inside the ear canal. The two pieces are connected by a thin wire or tube. In some BTE aids, the component inside the ear canal is just an ear mold or soft ear dome. In others—sometimes referred to as mini behind-the-ear aids or as receiver-in-canal aids—the component inside the ear canal contains the receiver, or speaker. With receiver-in-canal aids, the component that sits behind the ear tends to be smaller, since it doesn’t house the aid’s speaker.
In-the-ear (ITE) aids consist of one small component that sometimes resembles an earbud. Sometimes they’re small enough that they fit completely inside the ear canal—these are referred to as in-the-canal aids.
3. What Customer Support Is Available?
One big benefit of prescription hearing aids is you get a lot of help from a trained audiologist or another hearing care provider as you choose and set up your device. With an OTC hearing aid, you’re more on your own, as you would be when buying reading glasses. Still, some OTC hearing aids come with more substantial customer service than others. For details, see our guide to hearing aid brands, which includes information about the customer support and setup assistance offered by different brands.
4. What Is the Return Policy?
Most OTC hearing aids we’ve seen, and all of those we tested, have at least a 45-day return policy or trial period. Consider that a minimum. It can take a while to adjust to a hearing aid, so you’ll want to try it out for at least a few weeks to figure out whether you like it.