I’m shopping for my first hearing aid. It looks like the top of the line hearing aids have lots of bells and whistles that I might not care about. (I definitely don’t need an app to measure my brain health! I probably wouldn’t use streaming. I might use my phone to check or adjust the program setting–but only if I can remember where I last left my phone.) Are there good hearing aids without bells & whistles, or are the extra features so much in demand (or so cheap to add) that all of the newer hearing aids come with them? I have high frequency hearing lost that is now significant enough to cause me problems in certain situations (like a noisy restaurant) but most of the time, including on the phone, I do fine without a hearing aid.
Part of the bells and whistles includes functions like speech in noise, speech in wind, and wind block. The needed functions for better word recognition in bad situations. The less bells and whistles aids tend to not have these things.
I suspect your thinking bells and whistles as the phone, computer,TV etc communications, bluetooth things.
The better aids tend to have it all.
I think if you have reasonable access to Costco it would be hard to find a better value than their Kirkland Signature 8.0 hearing aid. It is essentially the same as the Rexton Emerald 80 8C, or the Signia 7Nx, which are both top of the line hearing aids. In Canada they currently cost $2150 for the pair. There is no cost for testing, fitting, and follow up visits or retests. Your loss is not that bad and should be easily handled with the KS8 using vented click sleeves which are pretty comfortable to wear. Here is how they would correct your loss. Gain is not high, so feedback should not be a problem.
Here is a list of features for the Signia 7Nx10. The KS8 has pretty much the same except for the tinnitus feature. This is a pretty complete bells and whistles list!
They will work with an Android phone, but work better with an iPhone as they can then direct stream phone calls to your hearing aids.
Thanks! I do have an appointment scheduled with Costco, so I’ll ask them about this. I suppose I need to figure out if I care about the tinnitus features. I’ve had tinnitus since childhood but have learned to ignore it.
I think you will find it hard to find a lower priced quality hearing aid than the Kirkland Signature one. You can easily pay more and get less though. Because the bells and whistles are there, you are not forced to use them. On tinnitus I have some too. What I found is that with hearing aids the background noise is elevated and now I seldom if ever hear it. I also believe there is some skepticism in the industry on whether or not tinnitus masking really works.
There are options for streaming from your TV to your hearing aids, but they are extra cost options and you don’t have to buy them. With your loss you should not need it either.
I have dealt with tinnitus for 45 years. Like you I have learned how to deal with it. The Phonak Naida V90 aids I have now do have the tinnitus function. I just turned the tinnitus function on a few days ago. It tends to take away from other sounds that I want to hear. It is too early to say if it helps me or not, nothing immediate. There are tinnitus apps you can get for your phone and stream them to your aids that don’t have the tinnitus function. That’s a possible for the Costco aids.
I am curious if you have been reading Consumer Reports recommendations on hearing aids? Here is part of what they say:
“In modern digital aids, microphones transmit sound to a computer chip, which adjusts the volume and amplifies the sound frequencies needed to help improve your hearing. (Though analog aids are less common and less complex than digital aids, they do have advantages, including fewer advanced features. That can make them more user-friendly.)”
While I subscribe to Consumer Reports and use their information, I don’t really think that is good advice. The first issue is that analog hearing aids are going the way of the Dodo bird. I suspect the digital ones have now become cheaper to manufacture.
And, unless you are the fitter that is adjusting the hearing aid to the user’s need, the more advanced hearing aids are no more difficult to use. They can be set up to be just as simple as the older analog ones. And as for the aids without considering the features on a connected smart phone, they typically only have one button, or possibly a two position toggle switch. Not really high tech. However if the fitter sets up multiple programs in them, then it becomes a touch more complex to change programs with the button(s). That is where having a smartphone can be helpful. But, many don’t use programs anyway, and leave them in the single auto program.
And you mention that hearing in a noisy restaurant is an issue. That is a common problem and for hearing aids one of the most difficult ones to deal with. That is one case where it can be helpful to have a specific program set up for it. And it can be very helpful to have a sophisticated noise reduction and directional microphone capability. These are features in a higher end . They are something that the fitter sets up, not you. Having them does not make the hearing aid more complex to operate, other than you may want to have two programs; one the automatic universal one, and the other a noisy restaurant one.
The other thing you should be aware of is that Costco may release a newer Kirkland Signature 9.0 model this year. In the past they have been reducing the cost of a pair by $100 US with each new model release, while offering more features. Will that continue? Don’t know for sure, but based on past releases the new model may be available in Canada late this year. Typically they get released first in the US, and then a couple of months later in Canada. No news about them in the US yet, just speculation…
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