Best and Worst Hearing Aid Brands

“The vast majority of our survey participants bought prescription hearing aids,” says Adam Troy, a research program leader at CR who led our hearing aid brand and retailer ratings. “But among those who went the OTC route, we were able to see that for at least two of the three brands we rated, members’ satisfaction with their aids was similar to many of our midrange-scoring prescription aids.”

In our survey, CR members weighed in on their satisfaction with various aspects of their hearing aids, including battery life, reliability, sound quality, value, comfort, and more. Members also told us how satisfied they were with their hearing aids’ performance in various situations, such as one-on-one and group conversations in quiet and noisy environments. 

We also rate hearing aid retailers, and we’ve evaluated 10 models of over-the-counter hearing aids.

Read on to learn more about how prescription and over-the-counter hearing aid brands stacked up. (See our complete hearing aid brand ratings.)