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Not enough OTC competition - yet (1/2023)

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I’ve been looking at all the newly-approved hearing aids offered at Best Buy. I’m interesting in the Jabra, but don’t have an iPhone. The Sony offer is interesting, but maybe not available (in stock) and users say the android app is terrible. The HP doesn’t have any reviews and the Eargo looks great, but wow the price! Anyone else shopping around? I like the idea of the earbud look instead of the behind the ear.

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Hey bro

I bought and returned the Eargo 6. I returned it because of a few reasons:

  1. The metallic sounds that would make high pitched frequencies feedback, like my car beeping when I don’t have the seatbelt on. My problems are at HFs, so I found the feedback unmanageable. The Eargo staff was very willing and helpful, even when I returned them.

  2. The fins that suspend the Eargo in place are good at allowing surrounding sounds in for people like me who need to use their good hearing. BUT those same fins caused and itchines that I just couldn’t get used to.

  3. I would lose the device because my ear canals are big. I simply couldn’t find the plastic handle string to pull them out. On several occasions, I had to get the help of my wife, who found them and pulled them out for me, all the while rolling her eyes.

I had enough, realizing they just weren’t for me. I did get prescription More 1s, which I’ve been using or almost a year. I sent my latest test (Costco does them free, fyi) and sent it to an eBay seller, who sold the to me for ~2k. The More 1s are markedly superior to any , especially Eargos, and I saved what… 4 thousand dollars?

Since last, the seller has become a close friend of mine. We chat nearly daily as we both have newborns. TMI, thanks for reading.

Musician.

Musician how do you get an adjustment when needed?
I’m just curious as you have had great success with this eBay seller.

@Deaf_piper Thank you for that very important question. Personally, to date, I have needed no adjustments as it’s been under a year and this seller’s programming has been superior to the local Audi’s for me.

Understand that no OTHER eBay sellers make remote adjustments as they are in another countries. They set the to your tests and then you need to go locally to an Audi to adjust or do NoahLink Wireless adjustments on your own. This is DAUNTING.

However after serious discussion with this seller who is my good friend, he will be opening up remote adjusting for his foreign buyers! Once you buy from him you are not left dangling!! To my knowledge, this is a first for an eBay seller. This takes a little time to set up with Oticon, so figure that this service would start by the end of February, most likely.

Thank you for your question. Personally, I am very excited for my friend’s decision to service customers remotely.

The biggest problem I have with otc hearing aids is that a lot of people with no knowledge about hearing loss are going to either buy or reject the aid and not know what they’re doing or if they can be helped by the aids. I don’t think it’s going to be explained to them that there’s an adjustment period. So I expect to hear a lot of negative comments

I would guess by the time people are convinced they may benefit from hearing aids, most would need more capabilities than are available with aids.

Edited

I don’t know about that. One of the advantages of otc is to avoid all the hassles that come with buying new aids. Such as seeing an , a hearing test visiting an audiologist… Most people don’t understand how involved hearing loss can be and instead buy amplifiers and realize they amplify everything and then decide aids don’t help them. Don’t get me wrong. I also think that former owners of aids will take advantage of their knowledge and purchase otc aids that suit their needs and in the process save money. But I don’t think that’s the market the manufacturers are targeting with otc aids.

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