Hearing Aid User Survey for 2026

@Roberto said:

In short, as speech is basically the whole reason that people buy hearing aids - I am surprised that virtually no audiologists seem to go to the depth of focusing on - does this person hear p, k, m or open vowel sounds correctly etc? I am not just talking about word speech recognition tests, but a more scientific process (using AI) to identify exactly what speech sounds are not quite 100% even when you have a good audio who has got me 98% of the way there!

@Roberto said:

I am currently doing a log of any words that I mishear - to identify what letters/sounds I am not hearing properly or not at all or where the sound is not 100% right as I am not hearing the whole sound fully. There are not many, but I have already been able to identify that I need a slight boost in the soft/moderate input for some frequencies.

I applaud your discipline and focus in your self analysis. Please let us know how the AuD helps in this.

We are only getting a handful of completions from people here on the forum. We plan to have a couple thousand complete this through separate channels and will be tracking the sources of participation. So I’m not terribly worried about the data getting polluted. Thanks for that though.

The question about the discount network, I chose none, then next question, impossible to skip, forces me to say if I would recommend that discount network.

@maac said:

The question about the discount network, I chose none, then next question, impossible to skip, forces me to say if I would recommend that discount network.

Thank you for reporting this. I’ve fixed it.

Deal breaker for me. I only (now) buy used hearing aids. Rechargeables are a red flag for me with having no knowledge of the expected lifespan. I also don’t have to worry about charging the ones I rarely wear (to avoid battery degredation).

@AbramBaileyAuD said:

We are only getting a handful of completions from people here on the forum. We plan to have a couple thousand complete this through separate channels

Good idea, as I believe answers on here will be weighted by those of us who self programme, as the proportion of those users is much higher here, than on places like Facebook groups. In my experience, Audiologists push to sell rechargeables, as that’s what their manufacturers promote. I’ve seen Audiologists on YT that actually infer that “disposable battery versions are inferior in quality”, and “yesterday’s technology”. I suppose I’d be a cynic if they did that to get the added benefit of another sale in 5-7 years when those batteries become un-usable.

If, however, hearing aids were to take removable rechargeable batteries, I would consider them.

Yeah “yesterday’s technology”. That’s what I think of the non-talk of the telecoil. A perfectly functional, discrete audio solution. Seems auracast will surpass that so I guess that’s good but the telecoil was such a simple discrete technology. If only induction loops had been more widely adopted.
I also could get behind removable rechargeable batteries. I got the rechargeable ones because that’s what Costco had (KS10 non-mfi) but I certainly prefer being able to swap out batteries as needed. And the removable batteries lasted days, not a day. Although that was the non-streaming older KS7 aids I had.

@AbramBaileyAuD said:

this kind of test takes a lot of time to run in clinics

I think it could be really paired down in clinics. I already make note of phoneme errors on WRS (there are forms you can use for this or you can do it more casually on a notepad), and you can do the same amplified if you have a soundfield and then adjust the gain to try to optimize things. It would be helpful to have a bit of directed research on what the most common swaps are and whether there’s a reasonable resolution. I’ve wanted something like this for a long time. Some manufacturers already have specific handles just for the letter /s/, for example. Give me some other phonemes.

That said, what I commonly find are that the most errors are due to insufficent audibility at the high and low ends–the stuff that patients don’t like. /p/, /t/, /v/, /f/, /th/ for example, are a common issue that cannot be resolved without good high frequency audibility, and may be impossible if the patient either has no hearing left in that area, or just won’t tolerate it.

But there’s a lot of potential in AI to try to manage these things for sure.

@AbramBaileyAuD this is a great survey, lots of really good questions and not too long. I’m overseas and not your original intended segment but am delighted to be able to contribute.

The negative views of rechargeable batteries kind of baffles me.
At first when I got them, I thought it was ridiculous as they were so small, cheap and abundant. But now six years into rechargeables and in my second and allegedly power hungry, Phonak Spheres, I hate disposables, and would never want them.
In fact the rechargeability is one of the few features that I have zero issues with.

Then again, as someone who likes to take power naps midday, and sometimes just space out while working, or walking or even eating… and can do a charge on the go in my charge case… it is absolutely never an issue.

In fact, most days, when I remove them for a few… I do not put them on charge ( too lazy to configure their placement or even to open the charge bay ), nah - I simply drop them on my computer to dry out.

Over 18 hour days… they never have died. Period.

@z10user2 said:

That’s what I think of the non-talk of the telecoil. A perfectly functional, discrete audio solution.

*note just finished the survey. I’ve lurked here on and off over the years when googling info lol.
Very true. I’ve had T-coils since… forever? I don’t remember if I had them in the very first pair of BTEs I ever had (around 11-12 years old). The way mine are set up now I have 5 programs (!!!) the first one is a combo of the normal setting for hearing sounds voices etc AND incorporates the T-Coil. 2nd ‘program’ is the T-Coil alone. I have no idea what 3-5 programs are to be honest… they all sound the same to me basically. I prefer #2 when using the phone or watching tv etc with my Direct Audio Input cord (There will be a separate post on that) as I have a harder time dealing with the sound coming from the media/phone AND external sounds- just makes it worse hearing wise.

Then again my current pair is 11 years old (Oticon Chili) as I am flat broke, my last job horrible salary and oh yes insurance doesn’t cover hearing aids! Could try Voc Rehab again but I would lose the freedom to choose type, options, color etc.

That Alan Greenspan quote is great!!

My first pair of HAs took 312 batteries. I’m a really heavy sweater and had some problems keeping excess moisture out of those devices. My next (and current) pair (Phonak Audeo Marvel M30R) are rechargeable and because the case doesn’t open, it’s been far easier to keep out the moisture.

Also, I’ve had these HAs for about 6 years now and they charge and cycle the same as they always did. They continue to last ~16 hours on a single charge.

For me, I’m resigned to the fact that sealed HA’s are the best option. YMMV

Alrighty! Round 2 survey completion. Thank you very much for taking into account all our suggestions and persistently pursuing this very important survey on HA usage and purchase decision-making.