Consumer Reports Best Hearing Aids Review
Consumer Reports Best Hearing Aids Review, Listening to Support Model Survey Assessment. Dr. Cliff Olson, Physician of Audiology, critiques the Shopper Reviews Listening to Support Model Survey that appears at total listening to assist satisfaction.
Within the Spring of 2018, Shopper Reviews carried out a survey of over 17,000 of it is members to find out the listening to assist manufacturers with one of the best total satisfaction.
Shopper Reviews is fairly good at reviewing a wide range of shopper merchandise from Automobiles, to Home equipment, and sure, even Listening to Aids. This survey tried to seek out one of the best Listening to Support Manufacturers based mostly on 12 totally different standards.
1. Battery Life
2. Ease of Charging or Altering Batteries
3. Ease of Cleansing
4. Worth
5. Reliability
6. Match/Consolation
7. Visibility to Others
8. Sound Readability
9. One on One dialog in Noise
10. Speaking in Small Teams
11. Speaking on a Cell Telephone
12. And Listening to the Tv or Radio
In accordance with Shopper Reviews
Their outcomes recognized 16 totally different Listening to Support Manufacturers with total scores starting from 67-76 out of 100 complete factors.
In accordance with Shopper Reviews, a. “A reader rating of 100 would imply all respondents are fully happy; 80, that respondents are “very happy”, and 60, that respondents are “considerably happy” on common, and…variations of lower than 4 factors are usually not significant.”
If we have a look at distinction scores, there isn’t any vital distinction in total Model Listening to Support Satisfaction on the Higher finish of the dimensions between:
Kirkland
Signia
Oticon
Phonak
Widex
ReSound
& Rexton
On the Backside finish of the dimensions, there isn’t any distinction between:
NuEar
Beltone
Miracle Ear
AGX Listening to
Starkey
Bernafon
Unitron
& Audibel
You couldn’t make generalizations
As good as it’s to have survey information from over 17,000 Shopper Reviews Subscribers, I’ve two main points with this information.
First, in accordance with Consumer Reports Best Hearing Aids, “This information is barely based mostly on Shopper Reviews members who might not be consultant of the Basic US inhabitants”. Which implies that you could’t make generalizations based mostly on this information. It might be like assuming that nation music is the most well-liked music style simply because folks in Nashville Tennessee like nation music essentially the most. Since all the information was collected from people who’re Shopper Reviews Subscribers, they’re most likely like-minded. So like-minded that they may suppose fully totally different than the common listening to assist wearer.
Second, and much more regarding. A few of these Manufacturers promote the SAME listening to aids. Bear with me. There are 16 Listening to Support Manufacturers on this survey. These 16 manufacturers are owned by solely 7 totally different corporations:
Sivantos owns – Rexton, Signia, Kirkland, & AGX Manufacturers
Sonova owns– Phonak, Unitron Manufacturers
Starkey owns– Starkey, Audibel, & AGX Manufacturers
GN owns – ReSound, Beltone, & AGX Manufacturers
William Demant owns – Oticon, Bernafon, & AGX
Widex owns – Widex & AGX
Liberty is on it is personal
The AGX Model
Let’s check out the AGX Model since 5 of the 7 corporations truly make AGX Model listening to aids. AGX is only a title rebranding, in any other case, they’re an identical listening to aids of every producer. An Oticon listening to assist is IDENTICAL to an AGXo listening to assist. A ReSound listening to assist is IDENTICAL to an AGXr listening to assist. A Starkey listening to assist is IDENTICAL to an AGXs listening to assist. So if AGX ranked on the backside of the listing, and these different Identify Manufacturers landed on the prime of the listing, how is that this truly attainable?
Take a look at Beltone. Beltone ranked final and ReSound ranked third. These are mainly IDENTICAL listening to aids with totally different names stamped on them.
I like that Shopper Reviews is attempting to match Listening to Support Manufacturers, however that is just about an unimaginable activity. For my part, each single one of many listening to aids on the backside of the listing might simply be on the prime if the listening to care supplier becoming them adopted Finest Practices together with Actual Ear Measures: https://youtu.be/cHR0Oa6I-wY
While identical devices way be sold under two different brand names the software supporting the devices could be different.. Premium features may not be able to be turned on especially on the lower cost device. GN Resound sells a Jabra device at Costco. However all of the features built into the device such as tinnitus support cannot be turned on with the Costco support software.
Dr.Cliff, While looking at Costco, I see they have Phonak but theirs is called Brio not Audeo. Are they comparable? Thank you
I have brand new 2500$ Eargo hearing aids going for 700$ or make an offer
I'd like to add one additional criterion: cheap initial cost. This factor would account for why Kirkland did so well. People who read CR look for low cost alternatives, in many class. The Kirklands are cheap. Not the best, but for the money, offer lots of features. You like cheap? You're not concerned with clarity? Kirkland!!
BTW, have had a chance to evaluate the Earlens product and technology? Also, many years ago, the Lyric was very common in publicity, but appears to have disappeared.
Sorry, but AGX is not a stand alone brand so not sure how Consumer Reports puts that on the list as such. AGX is a private label offered for multiple manufacturers including but not limited to Starkey, Oticon, and Resound.
Thank you DR CLIFF!!! GTEAT VIDEOS I FIGURED SOME THING WAS NOT RIGHT WITH THESE BRANDS
Where is your location please?
We stopped at Sams today and had my wife look at their brand, Liberty hearing aids and lucid. The audiologist gave her a hearing exam and recommended the mid priced hearing aid. What do you think of liberty hearing aids and Sams club audiologists? Is Costco better?
How can one be sure an audiologist is well trained and follows best. practices?
I recently purchased the Kirkland 10.OT hearing aids. To use them I downloaded Easyline software on to my iPhone 8. I have never heard you compare or discuss any of the software issues. I know that not all hearing aids are designed for use with cell phones but many are. I find that the software is not that well understood by the Costco audio sales people and as I look on Youtube for some tips, I haven't found any discussions on this subject. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Very helpful video. I learned a lot. .
Yes they are all crooks in it for the money
What’s the best rechargeable hearing aids
this vid. was a joke
you talk to much
Ei. sala. tor. ektao. Machine. dokane. paoa jai. na keno ?
Thanks for this video!
AGXr v. ReSound = different scores is probably due as much to marketing segment, brand recognition, and "doesn't say ReSound so it's probably not as good" for an item that's been rebranded.
I agree that the results come from the cohort of people a) most likely to subscribe to or read CR, and b) respond to a CR review request. IMHO a definitely skewed cohort v. Pat Averageuser,
Overall, I was a CR subscriber but discontinued the subscription. The problem is summarized with hunting for a car: CR red flagged handling but gave to explanation or justification, just a red mark. (Hint: with some racing experience, not a hint of why the red flag – not a Formula 1 winner, maybe, but darn good – go figure)
Bottom line: I take CR reviews with a degree of skepticism.
Doctor Cliff i purchased and returned a rexton hearing aid that i was tested and fitted for at my local costo i did bring with me an audio test and was told that the two test were fairly close. I called and spoke to a rep at rexton and they told me " THE REXTON AIDS SOLD AT COSTCO WERE NOT AS DETAILED AS THE ONES THAT COULD BE PURCHASED FROM REXTON LESS FEATURES .
Hi Doc, I’m a Saxophone player. So I have the problem of the sound of the instrument buzzing in my head as I play with the sound of the ensemble playing around me. Any suggestions on what might work best for me? Btw, liked and subscribed! Dave
Re-branded items. Interesting. Thank you for the info!
Very informative. Thanks.
Aren't hearing companies supposed to sell hearing aids without a prescription in August, 2020?
i`m using rexton since 2014 still working great.
Best hearing aids of 2021.. Signia Signia
Dr. Cliff, you are AWESOME. Thank you so much for your videos.
Excellent Information! Thanks Doc!
Great breakdown of ownership.
Oticon Sucks
Where does Phillips Hearing aids rate?
My hearing aids fall off the top of my ears when I bend to the my sneakers. Help.
Thank you Doctor! I´m really learning about hearing aids. I had one which was useless for three years. I had to go back very frequently to the audiologist to get it adjusted and that was a real pain since it couldn´t be adjusted by them.
I would not be concerned by the fact that the respondents were only Consumer Reports members. To me, that means these are discerning consumers who value quality and value enough to subscribe to Consumer Reports. I have my issues with Consumer Reports, but I am certain that a sample of this size of its subscribers is not a big issue. I don't buy into the music analogy because that is entirely subjective.
What do you think about the Phillips from Costco?
HA tech is so good now that a well tuned HA stands on its own. However, if conclusion = the provider is more important than the name brand, then that means only the best providers care enough to test and tune these to their best potential, while others only give you enough of their time for mixed results. This is because the process of fine tuning requires many iterations of adjust, try for a few days, re-adjust, try for a few days, rinse and repeat. Also, there is a disconnect in the process when the one doing the tuning is NOT the one hearing the results. This level of patience does not exist in most healthcare, but the healthcare industry DOES like to charge a lot for this extra attention. However, these devices, the tuning software, and decent hearing test software are very capable tools that allow a layman, with a bit of tech savvy and persistence, to get great results. But the health care industry always likes to protect these secrets and continue to convince the patient market that ONLY a high-paid tech, with years of training and experience, can properly do these jobs. I don't buy into these myths. The tech can tune my HAs to be pretty good, but I will get the best results over time with my new hearing aids when I purchase a wireless programmer and software to continue the fine tuning of these myself. Audiologists will strongly disagree with this, and say "you can do damage". True, but you can also be careful and do great things, and it doesn't take an ego. And an audiologist who treats you like a number and/or a supply of continuing revenue can ALSO do damage. The variable here is the level of care, and who cares about you more than you? All that said, I appreciate what Dr. Cliff is doing here with the YouTube videos, because free information for all the public is the RIGHT thing to do. Thanks Doc! Thanks for empowering us to take control of our own health!
Medicare (with a Regency Advantage PPO) requires the purchase of TruHearing device if you want to take advantage of the co-pay ($699 for standard/$999 for premium models).I am having a difficult time finding any reviews of TruHearing. Is Truhearing a "good" hearing aid provider?
You mentioned the provider using best practices and using real ear measurements to make sure the device fits properly. How does the consumer know if the provider is using best practices? I just got a new hearing aid from Costco yesterday, I took my husband and my 11 yo son with me so I could see how well I could hear them with the new ha. It seemed fine in the store when we walked around a bit. Now that I have been listening to my Amazon music play list I hear the S sounds as an SH sound! It shounds like the shingers are drunk.
I asked for a follow up appointment yesterday for any adjustments I might need. Having worn ha's since childhood I know it might take a few times to get it just right. The receptionist told me the soonest I can get in is 24 days. That's too long in my opinion! When I take the ha out, the dome flips inside out. He put a larger one on because I was getting a lot of whistling with the smaller size. I'm hoping I can get the ha adjusted sooner rather than later. I'm also thinking about going to an audiologist who can get me in for a quick adjustment rather than using Costco (purchasing a ha from the audiologist rather than Costco). Thoughts? Is it possible I won't be able to get the S sound worked out with the Kirkland ha?
Appreciate you doing this – wish you were closer to my location!
Have you performed a comparison between the Eargo and the Phonak Titanium
Excellent comment at the end about best practices are more important than device only ratings. Look forward to your response to my previous comment about providers using best providers list. I an in Southern California, Huntington Beach. Thanks, Bob
this is an unbiased and informative piece of information..very good Doctor
Oh good! A wireless transceivers in your ears.. just what you need…
I know the people who make money on wireless will swear to GOD they are not harmful.. and state it like a fact. It is just their opinion.
More than two dozen top experts from around the world at the World Health Organization say it may cause cancer. Certainly since 1990 when cell phones took off, so did the cancer epidemic..
Anyway… are there any behind the ear hearing aids made these days?
Other than you tearing apart CR's testing methodology, I thought it was a pretty useless vid.
Well, one way to interpret the difference between rankings for AGX and those of the brands that AGX re-brands, is that this report is a damning indictment of the outcomes achieved by Audigy offices, which dispense AGX-branded hearing aids. This is surprising given that AGX offices are required to do real ear measurements, and only employ audiologists with a doctoral degree, but it's basically showing that within the sample of hearing aid users surveyed by Consumer Reports, patients receiving Oticon, Widex, Resound, etc hearing aids from an Audigy audiologist were less satisfied than patients who received those same hearing aids from other offices. Hopefully Audigy is working hard to find out why. As a side note, there is one important difference between AGX and the non-rebranded hearing aids. An AGXs can only be programmed at an Audigy office. A Starkey hearing aid can be programmed by any licensed professional with a Starkey account. Unfortunately, that means those patients who bought hearing aids at Audigy offices and are less than satisfied are stuck, because they cannot take those hearing aids to a non-Audigy office to try to get better results.
I went on CR and they didn't have any hearing aid reviews! What's up with that?!?
Great advert for audiologists, but surely there must be significant differences. I would love to see a ranking of which hearing aids are best for music.