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Costco or Specsavers

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In the UK can anyone tell me how Costco compares to Specsavers?

I mean on range, price and service?

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Edited

First if all in terms of geographic location there are only a few Costco centres that dispense hearing aids. I think there are under 10 in the U.K. so you may have to travel.

In terms of range, Costco do Philips, Jabra, Rexton and Sennheiser. You can see this on the Costco UK web page. How does this compare to Specsavers? Well, in terms of value, these aids are outstanding. For under £1500 you will get a premium device within the range, with (Real Ear Measurement). Specsavers aids probably start at £500 (for very basic NHS aids) and go up to £3000 for the premium offerings. You can get a white label Specsavers pair of aids for around £2000 - advance elite. These are usually either Unitron or Signia.

Specsavers claim they do REM now at my local branch. I am unsure if this is the full REM or just in situ testing.

In terms of the ranges I would say Specsavers are probably stronger because they sell Phonak, Signia and Resound.

Costco do not have many options for severe to profound deafness. If at all. If your hearing is severe Sennheiser is a good fit as I believe this fundamentally a Phonak Paradise (). But when I went there last (about 2 years ago), there were no options. If your hearing is not so severe Jabra is a good make - essentially a resound.

In terms of service/warranty - both have 3 to 4 year guarantees. Costco has a long trial period. So do Specsavers. Costco has a very good reputation for service.

Neither Costco nor Specsavers sell Oticon. Although Costco do sell Philips which is part of Demnant, which is the same parent company as Oticon. Some people claim the Philips is essentially an Oticon but my understanding is that the while the hardware maybe the same, the underlying software architecture and platform is completely different.

I’m a very happy Costco customer, having bought their Phonak-a-like KS 10 hearing aids during the pandemic. The audiologist who initially tested and fitted me with was deaf himself and a user of Phonak products.

Previously I’d tried Specsavers initially for the ‘free’ hearing test, which wasn’t in a soundproofed room (just one of the optician rooms) and on ‘analysis’ of the results I was strongly recommended to get the top of the line Phonak aids at the time costing…a lot. Contrast to zero sales push or steer towards any platform at Costco either at the time I had my initial test done or at subsequent retests (annually, free).

I was in last month and we talked about options to upgrade. My audiologist at Costco reckoned my KS10s were still working very well and the ‘upgrade’ to a Sennheiser wouldn’t be a big step. Wait another year (unless my KS10’s croak and die) was her advice.

Costco for the win if you can make it to a warehouse with a Hearing Aid Centre.

I have tried Specsavers but not Costco as my nearest branch with a hearing centre is 120 miles. I’d say the audiologist is the most important consideration. At Specsavers the audiologist I saw was difficult to communicate with. She also claimed to have done but didn’t. I found a highly recommended independent audiologist. He did say to me that he knows audiologists who work for Specsavers who are perfectly good.

You didn’t ask, but I went with Wholesale Hearing who are online based. Got a pair of i90 spheres for £2,350 with five years warranty. I was going to go to Costco, but the nearest one is just over an hour each away, which wasn’t really practical for me.

In reply to @Weirb

As you are in Scotland it might be worth you talking to/getting in touch with @kevels55

He knows about the situation with the NHS in Scotland and may be able to help regarding private hearing aids, especially for profound loss as that’s what he has.

Edited

I went to Costco and I sat down with them and we went through their entire range. The Philips aids did not have a fitting range that could handle any more than 85dB. Yes, there are 105dB receivers on the RICS, but we are not talking about severe with some profound loss, we are talking about severe/profound loss than can only be handled by a superpower aid (with a mould), of which there were none available at the time. I walked away with no options and I distinctly remember that day, as they were not selling regular Phonak, and Rexton did not have anything either. The audiologist even phoned the tech guy at Philips to check the fitting ranges.

Above, you may have seen, is the new Jabra that is the Resound Enzo. That would fit the bill.

Yeah so the difference is UP, all the including the Lumity can handle severe/ profound losses(custom molds as well) for Profound UP to 120db as you mention the new ReSound Enzo would be suitable, my guess is the Phonak Naida will be offered at Costco sometime in the near future, rebranded of course.

One thing I would say, just for clarity of discussion is that to me anyway, there is a degree of uncertainty about whether a standard with a 105dB receiver can handle a severe/profound loss. I believed once that I needed a superpower or ultrapower and a RIC was no longer sufficient for my needs. However, I was mistaken. I found this out in a couple of ways. Firstly, I was fitted with Oticon Intents and found that the power was more than sufficient. Secondly, I discovered that the prescription formula was significant - for my loss anyway. I switched to V5 from and found the gain was much better.

Also, and I don’t need to tell you this, makes it possible to shift some of those profound losses into an audible range.

But, of course, there are still some people who are just plain UP candidates and definitely need that form factor - for power reasons/mould etc.

I am currently using GN Resound aids (RE962 – Linx Quattro). These are good but starting to creak. I’ll need to replace them in the next 12 months.

In reply to @tenkan

You are correct, my “big day” was today, May 23, 2026, that I’ve been waiting for and suffering from having to live with these inadequate Rexton Bicores for 3 years. My health insurance plan will reimburse out of pocket new hearing aids purchase every 3 years, My new Costco hearing aid fitter retested and we looked at 3 options according to my test results: Jabra Enhance Pro BiCros or the highest power Jabra Enhance Pro Max . Ordered the Jabra Enhance Pro Max BTE with custom ear molds. Costco has raised the cost of the custom ear molds from $39.95 each to $49.95 since 3 years ago. IMO, that $10.00 increase isn’t bad. Will return for the fitting appointment in 2 weeks. Am expecting an adjustment need and maybe follow ups too. Many thanks to all for your excellent input and support. This forum is a huge blessing,

@fitzie63 said:

$39.95

Glad to hear (no pun intended) you have a solution. I’ve been in touch with my nearest Costco, which is around 25 miles away. They are offering me GN Jabra pro 30 hearing aids for £1330. My current audiologist wants £4,500!

When I come back it will be as an audiologist! ;o)

Congratulations, you got a lower price. British pounds of 1330, in U S dollars is $ 1786.80. Mine, yesterday were $ 1699.00 + the $ 49.95 each for the custom ear molds.

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