I have used Phonak for years and am trying Oticon aids now. Being deaf in one ear I use a type of aid called a bicros. It has a microphone on the dead ear side which transmits the sound into the other ear’s aid. Other good brands include Starkey, Resound, Siemens and Widex. Oticon just came out with the first bicros aids to enable streaming music and phone calls directly to the aids from an iPhone or Android phone. It’s really terrific as the music or phone call is sent directly to the aids so no need to hold a phone to your ear during a call and no extraneous noise between Tidal music and my ears! Both brands have rechargeable aids but I’ve gotten use to batteries. They only need to be changed around once per week. Hearing aids to me make the music more crystalline, for lack of a better description. I cannot function without them and those around me are thankful I have them. For me, one unfortunate drawback, even with the latest digital technology, is that they are still terrible in crowds or where there is a lot of background noise. I tend to do better without aids in this situation. perhaps this deficit is due to the fact that I don’t hear binaurally, ie, in both ears. However, in all other listening environments, they are indispensable. If you or your loved ones notice your hearing isn’t what it used to be (for example, your wife complains you’re turning up the volume on the TV too high), you owe it to yourself to go first to an ENT for a thorough exam, and then, if your physician informs you that you would benefit from hearing aids, to a licensed audiologist to be fit for hearing aids. under state law, they have to give you a 30 day trial period, so you can make sure the ones you purchase are right for you. It takes your brain a week or so to get used to hearing aids, so even though they will at first seem very unnatural (for example you’ll hear your own voice and it will sound strange to you), after you adjust to them, you’ll find them to be indispensable.
They are quite small and virtually unnoticeable to others, even if you believe everyone is looking at them in your ears. They aren’t. In any event, vanity should take a backseat to functionality every time! And believe me, your friends and family will appreciate you more for being able to hear them versus having them think you’re ignoring them or having them have to shout to get your attention!
As to hearing aids being expensive, they cost a fraction of what many of us spend on audio components. Meaning no offense to those of you in the audio industry, what’s more important, having a $20,000 amplifier or a $5,000 pair of hearing aids that enable you to hear sufficiently and function better in life?
Hope this helps those of you considering hearing aids.