This content is researched and written based on extensive testing by an external reviews team and does not reflect the views or opinions of Everyday Health’s editorial team. Everyday Health may earn a commission from purchases of products featured in this article.
Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids have arrived. On August 16, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its final rule on OTC hearing aids, creating a new regulatory category with the goal of spurring innovation and competition in the marketplace, which will hopefully lead to lower prices and greater access to treatment for the nearly 29 million American adults who could benefit from hearing aids, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Hearing Aids Battery
New manufacturers have been entering the space ever since OTC hearing aids hit shelves in mid-October 2022. With so many options available, how do you know which brands are the best quality and what features to look for? Read our review for all this and more, based on our hands-on testing, research, and discussions with audiologists and hearing instrument specialists.
For details on both OTC and prescription hearing aids, read our review of the Best Hearing Aids of 2023.
Our experts spent thousands of hours researching more than two dozen styles and models of hearing aids and reading hundreds of customer reviews. We consulted audiologists for their expert opinion on the devices and considered customer experience and company reputation as well. We also took into consideration the fact that hearing aids must meet strict criteria set by the FDA, and chose only the models that met those rigorous standards.
We considered the following qualities and features, and we think these are helpful questions to ask when shopping for a hearing aid:
Learn more about our methodology.
Price per pair $799–$1,995, depending on basic or premium package
Type of hearing aid Receiver-in-canal
Battery type Rechargeable (Enhance Select 100 and 200)
Bluetooth capability In-app adjustments, remote support, and streaming (hands-free calling also available on Enhance Select 200)
How to adjust App or buttons on hearing aid
Warranty length One to three years, depending on basic or premium package
Appropriate for adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss, Enhance Select devices (like all OTC hearing aids) can be purchased online without a prescription. Both rechargeable models are the receiver-in-canal style, offer Bluetooth streaming, and can be purchased with a
Type of hearing aid Behind-the-ear, receiver-in-canal
Hearing loss Mild to moderate
Battery type Disposable (Lumen, B1) or rechargeable (B2)
Lexie hearing aids are available in three models, each with a unique price point and set of features.
Priced at $799 per pair, the Lumen is a behind-the-ear model with disposable batteries. It has six listening environments to select from using the Lexie
Type of hearing aid In-the-canal
Hearing loss Mild to moderate
The answer is both. Audien sells two personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), the EV1 and EV3, as well as two hearing aids, the Atom and Atom Pro. It’s important to understand the difference between the two so you can make an informed
Type of hearing aid Receiver-in-canal and completely-in-canal
Hearing loss Mild to severe
Battery type Disposable or rechargeable
Bluetooth streaming Yes for the Spirit and Omni models (not available for the Mini)
Audicus makes four receiver-in-canal hearing aids that all come with the following features:
Type of hearing aid Completely-in-canal
Hearing loss Mild to moderate
Warranty length One to two years
Eargo focuses its efforts on simplifying hearing loss treatment with tiny rechargeable hearing aids that are both comfortable to wear and virtually invisible in the ear, making this brand our choice for the best invisible OTC hearing aid.
Eargo devices are appropriate for adults with
Type of hearing aid Behind-the-ear, in-the-canal
Hearing loss Mild to moderately severe
Warranty length One to two years
The Air is the base model from MDHearing. While not app-compatible, it comes with four listening profiles and volume control that can be adjusted on the hearing aid itself. Like all MDHearing models, the Air provides digital noise reduction. If you’re
Type of hearing aid Behind-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, in-the-canal
Hearing loss Mild to moderately severe
Battery type Disposable or rechargeable
Like MDHearing, Lucid offers a range of features among its OTC options. You can choose from behind-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, or in-the-ear styles; disposable or rechargeable batteries; and varying degrees of customization. Lucid hearing aids are sold online and at Sam’s Club hearing
In addition to the brands covered in detail here, several other companies have entered the OTC hearing aid market to help meet the needs of consumers with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.
Sound tech giant Sony introduced two OTC hearing aids, the CRE-C10 and CRE-E10, in October 2022. The C10 is an in-the-canal model priced at $999 per pair, with disposable batteries, in-app adjustments, directional microphones, and auto-adjust capabilities. The E10 is a self-fitting hearing aid with a level of customization similar to the Eargo 6 and MDHearing Volt Max. The higher price tag of $1,299 per pair includes rechargeable batteries (with a 26-hour life per charge) and the ability to make fine-tuning adjustments with the app. The E10 also offers Bluetooth streaming, but it’s only compatible with iOS devices.
An OTC hearing aid is an FDA-regulated hearing aid available for people 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. OTC hearing aids can be purchased without an exam, prescription, or fitting appointment directly from the manufacturer and at retail stores where health tech devices are sold.
OTC hearing aids came on the market in October 2022 after the FDA passed its final ruling. They're generally less expensive than prescription hearing aid brands. Lexie is a good example of the price difference: The company offers a wide range of features and capabilities in its three models, at prices that are less than half the average cost of a pair of prescription hearing aids — which is $4,600, according to the federal government.
OTC hearing aids can be purchased without seeing an audiologist for a hearing exam or prescription. You can also forego the fitting appointment that’s normally required after purchasing prescription hearing aids.
OTC hearing aids can be purchased online, directly from the manufacturers’ websites. Also, a variety of stores that carry healthcare devices are now selling hearing aids:
OTC hearing aids are regulated by the FDA for safety and efficacy. Manufacturers must comply with standards set forth by the FDA pertaining to maximum volume output, insertion depth (how far the device can go into the ear canal), packaging, and labeling.
Hearing experts say that it can take up to three to four weeks for your brain to adjust to processing sounds with hearing aids. Some people’s ears are more sensitive than others to change, which can also affect the length of time you’ll need to get used to your new hearing devices. For some, it can take more than a month for their brain to get used to the sounds that have been going unheard.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s important to wear your hearing aids as much as possible — even when you’re in a quiet setting, such as at home — to help your brain become accustomed to the everyday sounds you’re hearing clearly again, maybe for the first time in years.
OTC hearing aids sell for less than many prescription models. According to Kerri Haresign, the director of technology and standards for the Consumer Technology Association, the average price tag of $850 per pair is thousands of dollars less than the average price of prescription hearing aids ($4,600).
Ordering hearing aids online and getting them delivered to your door is certainly convenient, especially for people who have limited access to hearing care professionals in their area. Several OTC companies also offer an online hearing test or let you upload the results of a previous clinical hearing test.
After they arrive, you can adjust them at home using an app in many cases. If you need help, most OTC companies provide remote assistance by phone or video call.
Some consumers want more control over this important purchase. You may feel more confident that you’ve found the best match by researching OTC hearing aids at your own pace.
By definition, OTC hearing aids are only appropriate for adults 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. The term ”perceived” is an important distinction between self-diagnosed hearing loss and a loss medically diagnosed by a hearing care professional.
Murray points out that the majority of people cannot accurately diagnose their own hearing loss due to a number of factors. His patients commonly underestimate the severity of their hearing loss or think that their worse-hearing ear is actually the better one. The wide spectrum of sensitivity to noise and loss of hearing ability also comes into play.
These are all reasons why it’s a great idea to schedule an in-person hearing exam before buying any type of hearing aid, no matter what level of hearing loss you have. Not only will you get an accurate diagnosis of your hearing loss, the hearing specialist will be able to rule out underlying conditions that may need treatment other than hearing aids. In fact, ear wax is a common cause of hearing loss and can be relatively easy to address in one appointment, according to Cedars-Sinai.
With the exception of Audicus, which currently offers in-person care at a handful of clinics, OTC hearing aid companies provide only remote support for their customers. It’s better than no support at all, and audiology teams can help you adjust your hearing aid settings and troubleshoot issues over the internet.
Still, there is no substitute for seeing a hearing care professional in person. When you visit a hearing clinic, the audiologist or hearing instrument specialist can adjust the physical fit and audio settings, try a different tip if needed, and conduct in-depth testing to make sure your hearing aids are meeting your needs.
The average price of a pair of OTC hearing aids is currently $850, according to the Consumer Technology Association. OTC devices are lower priced than prescription hearing aids because the manufacturers, which sell mostly online, have much lower overhead costs and provide less in-person support after your purchase.
For example, prescription Oticon hearing aids range from over $1,800 to nearly $4,600 per device, while OTC Jabra Enhance hearing aids range from around $800 to $2,000 per pair.
Factors such as battery type, Bluetooth, sound processing and noise reduction capabilities, and automatic adjustments also affect the price.
OTC manufacturers run frequent sales, particularly around the holidays. If you’re interested in a certain brand, keep an eye on its website for markdowns.
With more stores beginning to carry OTC hearing aids, it’s worth the time to shop around before deciding where to purchase them. If you have reward points at a store, you may be able to save money by price matching from another store and applying your points to the purchase.
A flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA) can be used to pay for hearing aids with pretax funds. You can use your FSA or HSA card to pay for them, or pay out of pocket and receive a reimbursement from your FSA or HSA account.
Thanks to a recent partnership with Health-E Commerce, the parent company of FSAStore.com and HSAStore.com, Lexie hearing aids are now available for purchase directly on those websites. More OTC brands are likely to follow suit in the coming year.
While Medicare A and B don’t cover the cost of hearing aids, some Medicare Advantage (Part C) and other private insurance plans do include hearing aid benefits. In addition, most insurance plans cover the cost of hearing exams, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Check with your insurance provider for details on your plan.
Veterans who are eligible for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care can get hearing exams and hearing aids free of charge. The VA website has more information on this benefit.
Several organizations, including the Hearing Aid Project and Help America Hear, provide hearing aids at little or no cost. Fill out an online application to see if you qualify for assistance.
These groups also provide resources to help you pay for hearing aids:
People 18 or older with mild to moderate hearing loss may use OTC hearing aids. According to the American Academy of Audiology, people with mild to moderate hearing loss can do the following:
If you seem to fit that criteria, an OTC hearing aid could work for you. Take advantage of the virtual hearing evaluations or audiologist consultations offered by some OTC brands if you’re not sure where you land.
The Academy discourages OTC hearing aid use in the following circumstances:
If one or more of the above criteria apply to you, visit a hearing care clinic where an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist can help you find the appropriate solution for your hearing loss.
People who are new to hearing aids or aren’t comfortable adjusting the settings on their own may fare better with regular, in-person care from an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist. Our reviews team talked with several hearing care professionals about how to ensure patients’ long-term success with hearing aid use, and all of them say that ongoing counseling and support are critical.
A study in the International Journal of Audiology looked at the reasons people stop wearing their hearing aids, and the most common reasons were:
A hearing professional providing in-person support can address all of these issues with you, whether you have prescription or OTC hearing aids. While all prescription devices come with access to in-person care, many OTC devices do not.
But according to Haresign, that is changing as OTC hearing aid manufacturers and third-party retailers step in to provide after-purchase care at brick-and-mortar locations for their customers.
Some hearing clinics that traditionally sold only prescription hearing aids now carry OTC devices, and those that don’t are beginning to offer a la carte services for people who have bought OTC hearing aids online and need help adjusting or fitting them.
Choosing the right hearing aid to meet your needs can be challenging. You must consider a number of factors as you decide between hearing aid styles — such as whether you want Bluetooth hearing aids and the convenience of rechargeable batteries, and whether you should buy them online from an OTC manufacturer or from a retailer such as Costco. And keep in mind that while OTC hearing aids may be a good option for some people, they aren’t meant to cover all types of hearing loss.
According to Trisha Muth, AuD, doctor of audiology at Bay Area Audiology in Bel Air, Maryland, OTC hearing aids “can be a good stepping-stone before obtaining prescription hearing aids for those with mild to moderate hearing loss.” While they may not offer some of the more advanced features that treat severe or profound hearing loss, OTC hearing aids will be easier to obtain and much less expensive.
You can purchase hearing aids online, through a professional hearing specialist — and now you can buy them over the counter as well. Visiting an audiologist or hearing care professional in person can be a good place to start for any type of hearing loss. Many online hearing aid brands also offer online hearing tests and virtual consultations with an audiologist to help you make an informed decision about your purchase.
Think about which features you will use on a regular basis, which ones you need, and which you’re willing to pay more for. Bluetooth streaming, advanced noise reduction capabilities, and automatic adjustments are all factors that increase the price, but they may be worth it depending on your lifestyle, preferences, and budget.
Do you care if others can see that you’re wearing a hearing aid? As more people are becoming aware of the important role that hearing health plays in their overall wellness, hearing aid use is becoming more common, and there is less of a stigma associated with wearing hearing aids.
Nevertheless, some people don’t want others to see their hearing aids. While it may seem that behind-the-ear or receiver-in-canal styles (both of which sit above and behind the ear with a thin tube running into the ear canal) are more noticeable than in-the-ear styles, this isn’t necessarily true. Some of the newer receiver-in-canal models are so slim that they’re almost undetectable behind the ear, whereas in-the-ear devices, like many of the earbud styles, fill the ear opening and are easily seen by others.
There are pros and cons of both disposable and rechargeable batteries. Your preferences and lifestyle are important considerations when thinking about which battery type you’ll be happiest with.
Check to see how long the warranty is and exactly what the terms are.
Does it only protect against the manufacturer’s defects, or are loss and damage covered as well? What about damage by someone else? If your grandchild, for instance, drops your hearing aid in the mud, will the company repair or replace it? Some brands, such as Lexie, only cover damage caused by the buyer.
Finally, don’t forget to ask whether you’ll need to meet a deductible before the warranty kicks in.
Many OTC hearing aid manufacturers only offer remote support, and this is a significant difference between OTC and prescription brands.
Our reviews team interviewed eight audiologists and hearing instrument specialists to gain insight into factors that impact people’s experience with hearing aids, and all of them say that ongoing coaching and support is crucial to long-term success with hearing aids. OTC hearing aids can be an excellent solution for many people, but those who are new to hearing aids, who aren’t comfortable with technology, or who need help keeping their hearing aids cleaned, maintained, and adjusted may find great benefit in going with a prescription brand and receiving frequent in-person care.
Some hearing care clinics are now offering services for people who purchased OTC hearing aids but need in-person support, and it’s worth calling around to see if there's a clinic in your area with this service.
Personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), also known as hearing amplifiers, can amplify sound in situations or environments where someone without hearing loss may need to hear things more loudly, such as bird-watching or hunting.
PSAPs are not intended to improve hearing in everyday situations or to help those with hearing loss — but OTC hearing aids are designed specifically for that purpose. In other words, amplifiers increase the volume of sound, while hearing aids improve the quality and volume of sound based on a person’s specific type and degree of hearing loss.
To fully understand this category, our reviews team immersed ourselves in the current published research on hearing loss and hearing aid devices, interviewed experts and hearing loss professionals, read thousands of reviews on trusted third-party sites, and deployed a survey of more than 600 hearing aid users to understand their customer experience.
We narrowed down what brands to review within this category by speaking with audiologists and looking at brand market share. We then considered cost, the degree of hearing loss a brand could treat, and special features offered — from directional microphones to digital noise reduction to rechargeable batteries.
Once our research team makes their selections, an audiologist medically reviews our picks to vet each brand and model.
We determined our top picks for the best hearing aids based on the following criteria:
OTC hearing aids can’t treat hearing loss in every person, but they may be a good option for people 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. They’re often less expensive than prescription brands, and you can buy them without a professional hearing exam or prescription.
Jabra Enhance is a standout for many reasons, including its extended rechargeable battery life, a long trial period and warranty with the premium package, and excellent customer support. Both Jabra Enhance and Audicus are the only two brands in this review with Bluetooth streaming capability.
Lexie provides self-fitting OTC hearing aids and excellent sound processing among OTC brands. Audien provides the lowest price along with rechargeability and a discreet in-the-ear style. And both MDHearing and Eargo offer app-enabled adjustments at competitive prices.
After getting an in-person hearing exam to determine your degree of hearing loss and rule out any underlying conditions, shop around for the best price and think about which features are important to you before making a final decision. All of these brands offer a trial period of at least 45 days. Take advantage of that time to get remote support or visit an in-person hearing clinic for additional help if you need assistance with the physical fit or settings.
Yes, you can buy OTC hearing aids without seeing a doctor, audiologist, or hearing instrument specialist first, and without taking a hearing test. While the FDA doesn’t require an exam or hearing test for either prescription or over-the-counter hearing aids, it’s a good idea to have an in-person hearing exam conducted by a hearing professional before purchasing any type of hearing aid. This will give you an accurate hearing loss diagnosis and rule out any underlying conditions that could be linked to your hearing loss, some of which may require treatment other than hearing aids.
OTC hearing aids are not the solution for everyone, but they can successfully address the hearing needs for people with mild or moderate hearing loss who are 18 years or older and who feel comfortable using technology such as a smartphone app to adjust their devices without professional help.
Keep in mind, though, that many OTC brands don’t offer the same level of hearing technology as prescription brands. If you have severe or profound hearing loss, one-sided hearing loss, or challenging hearing needs (such as spending significant amounts of time in noisy or variable environments), you may need the features and support that prescription brands offer.
A growing number of hearing aids are now entering the OTC hearing aid category. All of the brands in this review — Jabra Enhance, Lexie, Audien, Audicus, Eargo, and MDHearing — are considered OTC hearing aids. Other brands, such as Sony, Nuheara, and Lucid, carry OTC hearing aids as well.
Walgreens sells several brands of OTC hearing aids, including the Lexie Lumen.
The FDA finalized the creation of a new category for OTC hearing aids on August 16, 2022, with the final rule going into effect on October 17, 2022, allowing OTC hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers 18 years and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.
Hearing experts stress the importance of wearing your hearing aids any time you’re not sleeping, for as many hours a day as possible. Even when you’re in a quiet setting and may feel as though you don’t need to hear anything, wearing your hearing aids allows your brain to process more sound frequencies than it could without them. In effect, hearing aids that are properly adjusted provide exercise for your brain.
Sounds aren’t actually sounds when they first make contact with your outer ear. They’re simply air vibrations, also known as sound waves, that are processed into electrical signals by the inner ear. These signals are transmitted through the auditory nerve to your brain, where they’re processed and assigned meaning, thereby creating sounds that you recognize and understand.
By completing this process thousands of times every day (with help from your hearing aids to amplify frequencies so you can hear important sounds in your environment), new neural pathways are created in your brain. This could be one reason why a meta-analysis published in 2022 in the journal JAMA Neurology shows that long-term hearing aid use is linked to lower rates of dementia and higher scores on cognitive tests.
It’s also why having routine checkups with a hearing care professional is so important. A hearing professional can serve as your coach and mentor, helping to guide you on your journey to better hearing health. And that will contribute to improved overall wellness, better relationships, and enhanced quality of life.
Behind The Ear Bte Hearing Aids By subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.