These two hearing aids may look the same, but can you tell which one costs $4,000 and which one costs $1,000?

Hey guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona, and in this video I'm talking about the differences between hearing aid technology levels and how to decide which ones right for you.

Hearing aids are a lot like computers and that you can add two computers that look almost identical to each other, but the performance characteristics of each of them can be completely different. For instance, my laptop and my wife's laptop look virtually identical to each other. In fact, both of them are Dell XPS laptops, but one of them is significantly more expensive than the other. Can you tell which one? Let me know down in the comment section because one of them is worth $6,000 and the other one's worth $2,500.

This is because the cost of the computers has a lot to do with the hardware that's inside of them, such as the processor, the RAM, and the hard drive, which all have a dramatic impact on the performance of the computer. This is similar to the technology differences between hearing aids on the outside. They could look completely identical to each other and they could even have the same make and model number, but what's different is what's inside of the devices only.

In the case of hearing aids, it has very little to do with the hardware differences inside of the devices, and it has a lot more to do with the features and customizations that are allowed inside of each technology level by the hearing aid manufacturers.

Most prescription hearing aid manufacturers have anywhere between two and five technology levels that they create. For instance, they will often offer a top tier premium level hearing aid, a second tier advanced level hearing aid, a third tier basic level hearing aid, a fourth tier entry level hearing aid, and a fifth tier essential level hearing aid. Each one of these lower tiers gets D featured compared to the tier that was above it. In some cases, these features that are removed are a really big deal and in other cases these features are largely irrelevant.

Now I'll be the first to say that I am not a big fan of different technology levels. I think that hearing aid manufacturers should focus on one technology level to streamline production and to lower costs, especially since the differences between these different tier levels has nothing to do with hardware and everything to do with the software that they activate or don't activate.

There's also the issue that there is no good way to accurately predict which one of these technology levels is actually best for you. In fact, the only way to accurately identify which technology level would be most appropriate for you is for you to do a blind test of all of these different technology levels, which would be incredibly expensive to do, which would ultimately defeat the benefit of dropping down in technology level to save money.

This was brought to light in a 2016 study by the late Dr. Robin Cox who identified that there was no statistically significant differences in performance between premium and basic level hearing aid technology, although some people preferred premium tech and others preferred basic tech. I also ran several single blank case studies inside of my clinic to see if people could identify the differences between premium and advanced and ultimately they couldn't tell the difference. However, they did have a preference for the premium level technology when it came down to which device to purchase. Of course, if you wanna check out that video, I will have it linked in the description.

Unfortunately, as long as there's consumer demand for different levels of technology, hearing aid manufacturers are gonna continue to produce multiple tiers to make it more difficult for you to choose.

That being said, I'm gonna go ahead and talk about some of the features and customizations that you lose by dropping down in technology level and try to give you some advice to help you decide which technology level would be most appropriate for you without you having to test every single one of them.

But before I do, do me a huge favor and click the like button. And if you are not yet subscribed to the channel with notifications turned on, go ahead and do that as well. And while you're at it, let me know down in the comment section which technology level of hearing aids that you use if you already have hearing aids.

Alright. The first feature or customization that you lose when you drop down in technology level is the amount of adjustment bands inside of the programming software that your hearing care professional has access to. Think of these different adjustment bands as equalizer dials that your hearing care professional can use to adjust the amount of amplification that you get from your hearing aids.

Most prescription hearing aids can amplify sounds anywhere between 150 hertz up to around 8,000 hertz. There is no hearing aid on the planet that can amplify effectively up to 10,000 hertz. I do not care what their marketing material says.

Now let's say that your hearing care professional only has access to three different adjustment bands to break up that frequency range from 170 hertz up to 8,000 hertz. That means that the amount of customization that they can do is extremely limited. However, if your hearing care professional has access to up to 24 different adjustment bands to break up that frequency range, they can be much more precise when they're providing amplification for you so they're not over amplifying certain frequency ranges and under amplifying others.

At the same time, more adjustment mans can be extremely effective to match your hearing loss prescriptive targets that your hearing care professional should be verifying with real ear measurement. Real ear measurement is the only way for your hearing care professional to apply the proper amount of amplification for your specific hearing loss.

A premium top tier hearing aid will typically have 24 different adjustment bands for your hearing care professional to manipulate, but every single time you drop down in a technology level, it takes these adjustment bands away from your hearing care professional, which reduces the amount of precision they can use to amplify your hearing aids precisely to your hearing loss prescription.

The second feature or customization is typically removed from your hearing aids as you drop down in technology level is the amount of noise reduction that your hearing care professional has. Access to noise reduction is a great way to reduce the amount of background noise when you enter a noisy environment. The more noise reduction that your hearing care professional has access to, the more comfortable those noisy situations are gonna be for you. But the lower you go in technology level, the less noise reduction capabilities your hearing aids will typically have.

So even if your hearing care professional maxes out the noise reduction of your devices, it still may not be enough for you. For some people this is a huge deal and for other people this isn't a big deal at all. But if you're the type of person who needs a lot of noise reduction, you do not wanna be stuck with a hearing aid technology level that doesn't have enough.

The third feature or customization that you typically lose by dropping down in technology level is the automatic functioning of a hearing aid. Automatic program adjustments is a feature inside of a hearing aid where it can identify the environment that you're in and switch you into the proper program settings for that environment.

The example that I like to give is that if you're home in a quiet room watching the television, your hearing aids will typically be in a calm situation program, but then if you decide you want to go out to dinner, you hop into the car, the hearing aids will identify the low frequency road noise and switch you into a program setting that can reduce the road noise and focus on the speech of the other people that are in the vehicle with you or on the radio.

Then when you get into the restaurant, the hearing aids will identify that you're in a noisy environment like a restaurant and reduce the amount of background noise that you're getting from all the other tables talking and focus on the voices of the people who are at your table and the server who's coming up to take your order.

Top tier premium level hearing aid technologies typically function automatically for you using artificial intelligence, and as long as your hearing care professional has set up the program settings inside of your hearing aids well for you, you should be able to go out into the real world and just let your hearing aids do their thing.

Lower tier technology hearing aids typically have limited or no automatic functioning, which requires you to adjust your own program settings when you go out into different environments and the data shows us that most people, even if they notice that they're having difficulty in different situations, they never make adjustments themselves. They just go into these different environments and they don't hear very well.

The fourth thing that often differs between different hearing aid technology levels is the repair warranty and the loss and damage coverage. Hearing aid warranties typically cover any repairs that need to be made by the hearing aid manufacturer themselves, so if you have to send your hearing aids in to swap out the lithium batteries inside of them or if they have to change the microphones or any of the other internal components of the hearing aid, it's all covered under your repair warranty.

Also, the receiver wires that you have on your hearing aids, even if they're kept in stock at the clinic that you go to, those are also covered by your hearing aid warranty. You also typically get loss in damage coverage, which means that if you lose your hearing aids or you damage them beyond the point where they can be repaired, like if your dog fluffy gets ahold of them and chew them into tiny little bits, a hearing aid manufacturer will send you a replacement device that your hearing care professional can reprogram for you and get back in your ear.

Most premium level hearing aid technologies come with a three year repair warranty and three year loss in damage coverage, and each time that you drop down in technology level, they often take away several of these years. If you're someone who likes to keep your hearing aids for a long period of time, or if you're on a fixed income, it is really helpful to have a long-term warranty and long-term loss and damage coverage on your devices so you're not hit with any expensive repair costs or having to replace an entire device before you should really have to do so.

Different hearing aid brands may also reduce different features inside of their hearing aids as you drop down in technology levels, so that is something that you should be aware of. You can find spec sheets that will compare the different features of these different technology levels. For most of the major hearing aid manufacturers out there, just be careful because it is incredibly difficult to identify the differences in performance with these different features because all these hearing aid manufacturers call them something different.

In fact, most hearing care professionals don't even have a clue what the differences between these features are, and you could ultimately spend way too much time trying to identify which technology level is perfect for you and ultimately never make a decision.

In that case, do you want some help to identify which technology level you should actually be going with because I think I can help you with that.

Unfortunately, there is no way for us to accurately predict which technology level is right for you based on any data that we have from your hearing test or any information that you give us about your hearing lifestyle. This is why when we make a recommendation for hearing aid technology level, it should primarily come down to the cost of the devices.

Like I mentioned earlier, each time you drop down in technology level, it takes features and customizations away from your hearing care professional when they're trying to optimize the performance of your devices for you, but it also reduces the cost of your hearing aids. That's why I recommend to everybody that you should be going with the highest level of technology that you can reasonably afford, and if you cannot afford it, you should be dropping down to whatever technology level you can afford and it's the job of your hearing care professional to maximize the performance of those devices for you.

If premium level hearing aid technology is too expensive for you and you cannot fit it into your budget, do not go with premium hearing aid technology. On the other hand, if you can afford premium hearing aid technology without wrecking your budget, you should be going with the highest tier so you're not risking leaving any benefit on the table.

I will say this though, if you go to a hearing care professional who does not follow comprehensive Audiologic best practices, you might as well save your money anyway and go with the lower tier of technology because they probably won't be able to optimize all of the performance of the premium technology for you anyway.

Of course, if you're looking for one of these hearing care professionals who actually follows best practices so you can get the most out of your premium level or basic level hearing aid technology, I highly recommend that you go to my website hearing up.com and find a hearing up network member in your area. Hearing up providers are committed to following comprehensive AUDIOLOGIC best practices to ensure that you are receiving the maximum amount of benefit no matter which hearing aid technology level you're using.

So if you wanna hear your absolute best with your hearing aids, finding a hearing up network member near you is your best bet when you're selecting a technology level.

You also have to consider that while you might not need a premium feature from a top tier level hearing aid right now, you may need that feature a few years down the road, and if that is the case, you may find yourself upgrading your hearing aid technology before you should have to do so just to get that additional feature or features that you missed out on.

You also have to remember that when you go with a higher level of hearing aid technology, it ensures that you never second guess whether or not you're hearing your absolute best when you're going into different listening situations. Because a lot of people who go with lower tiers of technology, they start to wonder, are they not performing well because the hearing aids aren't capable of doing the things that they need to do, or can they just not do them 'cause they're hearing so bad?

And really, when you're debating between the top tiers of technology level, they should only be separated by a few hundred bucks, which at the end of the day, as relatively nominal, considering that you should be having these hearing aids for five to seven years now, if you're willing to go with a really low tier of technology, that will probably save you a few thousand dollars, so that is definitely worth considering.

Of course, going back to my original recommendation, you should be purchasing hearing aids that are within your budget, and I would recommend that you sacrifice hearing aid technology before you sacrifice the quality of care that you receive from your hearing care professional. A really good hearing care professional who follows Comprehensive Audiologic Best Practices will get you better performance out of a low tier hearing aid than a hearing care professional who does not follow best practices using a premium level hearing aid.

At the end of the day, you can pretty much do whatever you want. It does not bother me one way or the other. I just wanna make sure that you are hearing your absolute best, and if a higher level technology will help you do that, then that's what I want for you. But if you have affordability issues or you just don't wanna spend a ton of money on the hearing aid technology, you should feel comfortable going with a lower level of technology as long as you have a hearing care professional who can optimize it for you.