There are a couple separate ways to think about the word “cheap hearing aids”. On the one hand, it implies affordability, a wise option for a budget-conscious person. On the other hand, it conveys low-quality, turning an apparently economical purchase into a not-so-smart decision, epitomized by the saying “You get what you pay for”.

Unfortunately, determining whether you’re getting a great value from whether you’re purchasing a really low-quality device can be challenging. When it comes to hearing aids, this couldn’t be more relevant.

With hearing aids, the saying “you get what you pay for” is especially relevant. This doesn’t necessarily imply going for the top-tier option, but instead, looking closely at products that boast a price tag too tempting to be authentic. Companies marketing cheap hearing devices frequently leave out important details about their products that consumers should be aware of.

Cheaper hearing aids are pretty much only amplifiers

Cheap “hearing aids” generally offer minimal functionality, primarily amplifying or reducing overall volume. If you amplify the volume to hear the TV better, you’ll also get background noises including the dishwasher, a fan in another room, a barking dog, or the sound of your house shoes going across the floor.

If everything is louder, it completely defeats the purpose of using a hearing aid.

A contemporary state-of-the-art hearing aid, in contrast, does a lot more than just turn the volume up. It expertly manages sound, maximizing the clarity of desired sounds while reducing background noise. Authentic hearing aids simulate natural hearing with great accuracy and are custom tuned to your specific hearing needs.

PSAPs vs. Hearing Aids

There are strict rules about what an advertiser can call a hearing aid as written by the Food and Drug Administration.

Sadly, there are many devices out there that market themselves as hearing aids when they’re actually personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), named this because they can only amplify sound.

Most reputable companies follow the rules. But there are some vendors, especially online, that may be misinformed about what defines the difference between hearing aids and PSAPs, and consequently, they put out misleading claims about their products. Some even incorrectly advertise that they are approved by the FDA.

For the majority of kinds of hearing loss they won’t be helpful at all

The majority of individuals who lose their hearing will slowly lose specific frequencies of sound before others. For instance, you might have no trouble hearing a man with a low voice, but have difficulty with a woman’s or child’s voice, finding it difficult to understand.

A cheap hearing device typically results in overall volume amplification. However, if you struggle with certain frequencies, just increasing the volume will be insufficient. Moreover, turning the volume up considerably to catch the sound of your granddaughter playing on the floor might result in your adult son’s speech sounding like a roar, potentially contributing to hearing loss if subjected to high volumes for prolonged periods.

High-quality hearing aids provide a solution by being programmable to compensate for the loss of particular frequencies. They can automatically adjust the frequency you struggle to hear to one that is more audible, delivering a more customized and reliable hearing experience.

You may get a lot of feedback

You won’t get a custom fit with cheap hearing aids. Without that custom fit, you’ll generate a feedback loop. As the speaker in your ear wiggles around, the microphone picks up the sound. This will result in a deafening screech.

They normally don’t have cellphone support

Functionality is frequently sacrificed when opting for budget options, and this holds true for many inexpensive hearing aids lacking Bluetooth capability. When considering phone connectivity, the lack of Bluetooth is a huge hurdle. Attempting to amplify a cheap hearing aid while on the phone leads to capturing not just the caller’s voice but also the sounds of your ear, lips, clothing, and hair rubbing against the phone, making it even more challenging to hear the person on the other end.

More advanced hearing aids are digital and use Bluetooth connectivity to connect directly to your phone. This state-of-the-art feature ensures that when your daughter talks on the other end, her voice is transmitted directly into your hearing aids, improving clarity and overall communication.

They were never intended to treat hearing loss

Most people would probably be surprised by this. PSAPs were never made for individuals with hearing loss. They were designed to amplify sound for individuals who have fairly good hearing.

If you have very slight hearing loss then cheap devices might help a little. But people who actually need hearing aids won’t find these cheaper devices very helpful.

Where can you get quality affordable hearing aids?

There are lots of ways to get hearing aids affordably. They might even be covered by insurance or other third parties. There are also affordable brands, leasing programs, and financing options. The first step is to get a hearing test if you suspect you may have hearing loss. Schedule an appointment with us so we can help you get the best and most affordable hearing aids for your level and type of hearing loss.

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