Hearing Mojo Publishes Hearing Aid Comparison Chart With Data On Leading Global Manufacturers’ Flagship Hearing Aid Brands

NOTE: Due to a bad WordPress Plugin, the chart comparing premium hearing aid brands is temporarily unavailable. We’re working to develop a new, better chart, but in the meantime have taken this page off our navigation menus. However, it’s still available through search engines, so if you’ve reached this page and are disappointed the chart is not here, we apologize. We’ll get a new chart up as soon as we can.

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Shopping for hearing aids and other assistive listening technologies can be confusing and intimidating. With our focus on products and technologies for hard-of-hearing consumers, Hearing Mojo has gathered a lot of information on the leading brands of hearing aids and other devices and technologies that are available. Now we’ve organized data on the flagship brands from the world’s six largest hearing aid manufacturers and presented it in our first hearing aid comparison chart.

While the hearing aid comparison chart is by no means an exhaustive list, it does give consumers shopping for hearing aids an idea of what high-end features and functions are available from the world’s leading hearing aid brands. It also provides estimated prices for the premium brand hearing aids. Most important, it offers multiple links to other Hearing Mojo articles about the hearing aid products and brands, and the companies behind them, as well as direct links to the manufacturers’ product web sites.

The only way hard-of-hearing consumers can assure themselves they will get products at appropriate prices that will help them the most is to do extensive research. The comparison of six of the best-known premium brands is a good place to start. They include Oticon Agil (William Demant Holding), Starkey Wi Series (Starkey Laboratories), Phonak Ambra (Sonova Holding), ReSound Alera (GN Store Nord), Widex Clear440 (Widex), and Siemens Motion (Siemens Hearing Instruments).

Just keep in mind that there are dozens of other manufacturers who offer high-quality hearing aids with comparable price/performance, and each listed company offers numerous other hearing aids at other price/performance levels as well. So look carefully at the information on the chart, visit the multiple links, then look beyond this short list if you are serious about buying hearing aids.

We would love reader feedback on this first hearing-aid comparison chart, as we expect to develop additional comparison charts on other types of hearing aids and assistive listening devices.

GN ReSound Alera Arrives With Wireless Features Setting The Bar Higher For Premium Hearing Aids

The wireless features in the new GN ReSound Alera family of hearing aids, which start shipping this week, are very similar to those found in several other high-end hearing aids already announced by other manufacturers. But, taken together, they help set the bar higher for premium hearing aids and assistive listening devices in general. The only question is how much better the new wireless features will make the new hearing aids from GN ReSound and other manufacturers when users start trying them out in the field.

One of the first things you learn in Marketing 101 is that  ”first,” “best” and “only” are some of the strongest words in the English language. So it’s no surprise that in the increasingly competitive hearing-aid industry, manufacturers are starting to use those words more often. GN ReSound’s news release announcing first shipments of the Alera hearing aids is a good example, claiming the company has come up with “the first truly wireless hearing aid with no strings attached.” The news release goes on to announce “a new approach to the way a hearing aid receives sound from devices such as TVs, stereos, cell phones and computers,” claiming that, “for the first time the patient can receive sound directly from the device without cables, wires or the need to wear uncomfortable accessories.” Read more

Widex Goes Wireless With New High-End Clear 440 Hearing Aid Family

Widex has introduced the new high-end Clear 44o hearing aid family, featuring binaural wireless communication between each hearing aid to provide richer and more realistic sound for users. The new hearing system also provides an external transmitter to send TV audio signals directly into the hearing aids; a small remote controller to switch program settings, control volume and manage other functions of the hearing aids; and a Bluetooth-compatible handset that transmits your cellular phone signal directly into your hearing aids. Other hearing aid manufacturers have introduced their own wireless communication schemes between hearing aids and external devices to enable rapid adjustments to changes in environmental sound, better synching of the sound processing between the two hearing aids. Users report better sound location and comprehension because they are getting more realistic replication of the sounds in their environment, in stereo. Widex is promoting its new C-ISP platform powered by three custom chips as the industry’s best way to synchronize the sound processing in the hearing aids, enable remote control of selected features, and port high-definition audio streamed from external sources.

The three new accessories are a big step forward in assistive listening, because they eliminate the need for a neck loop that provides a direct link through the hearing-aids’ telecoils. Instead the devices transmit digital signals directly into the hearing aids, enabling better audio performance in addition to increased convenience. The TV-DEX system consists of a base and recharger unit that plugs into the TV and transmits to a handheld unit that re-transmits the signal to the user’s hearing aids; the handheld also provides volume control and also has a button to turn off the external microphones on the hearing aids so the user only hears the TV audio signal. The M-DEX device has a Bluetooth link to your mobile phone and acts as a handset that lets you listen and talk, transmitting the phone signal directly into your hearing aids. It also has a volume control plus a button to turn off the external microphone on your hearing aids to make it easier to hear the cell phone signal without the distraction of external environmental noise. Finally, the RC-DEX is a small controller that you can keep in your pocket or purse to control the program settings on your hearing aids as well as raise or lower the volume.

The Clear 440 also includes the Widex SmartSpeak feature — a human voice piped into the hearing aid informing you about what program mode you are in and alerting you when the battery is running low — as well as the innovative Widex Zen relaxation program, which plays random and harmonic tones when you feel like relaxing. IE Zen works as an effective tinnitus masking program, overriding the annoying tinnitus sounds within your ears with more tolerable background noise.

Why Don’t Hearing-Aid Companies Caption Their YouTube Videos?

My blogger friend Dr. Tom Goyne has several interesting posts with links to videos that Phonak, Widex, Oticon and other major hearing-aid companies are putting on the web. Great, but….Why aren’t any of the hearing-aid manufacturers’ videos captioned?!??! Read more

Sonic Innovations Jumps Into Open-Fit Fray With Ion Hearing Aid Family

Sonic Innovations has jumped into the booming market for comfortable “open-fit” mini behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids with its new Ion Open Ear family, which it touts as the smallest and most powerful in its class. Read more

Starkey ‘nFusion’ Hearing Aids Automatically Adjust To Acoustic Environment

With its nFusion hearing-aid architecture featured in a new flagship Destiny hearing-aid family, Starkey Laboratories has taken a giant step forward in the digital world. Read more

Widex Super-Power BTE Hearing Aids Do The Trick For Me

After losing one of my old Widex behind-the-ear hearing aids, I finally got a new pair of super-powerful BTEs. After thorough research, I came right back where I’d started from, at Widex. I got the Widex Senso Diva SD-19 model, the most powerful hearing aid the company sells and a step up from my previous Senso Diva SD-9′s. Read more

Likable “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno Is A Real-Life Inspiration For Hard-Of-Hearing People

Healthy Hearing has just posted a good interview with hard-of-hearing actor and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno. Read more

Invisible CIC Hearing Aids, High-Fashion Italian Designer Shoes, And Me

Buying a pair of hearing aids can be like shopping for a new pair of expensive designer shoes: you’ve got to get exactly the right fit; they have to be sturdy and comfortable enough to wear all day; but you want them to look really good as well. It’s not an easy combination, especially the part about looking good. Read more

I’m The First On My Block With Hearing Aid Sweat Bands

Okay, call me a nerd, I don’t care. I just ordered my first pair of Hearing Aid Sweat Bands, and I can’t wait to get them. Maybe they will look ridiculous to you, but not as ridiculous as I’ll feel if I continue tempting fate by playing tennis, running around in the rain, shoveling snow at the tail end of a New England blizzard or undertaking any number of other high-risk activities with my hearing aids on, unprotected from the elements. Read more

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