Different hearing aid brands
There are many hearing aid brands/companies out there. Some you may have heard of, include Phonak, Unitron, Oticon, Bernafon, Starkey, ReSound, Beltone, Widex and Signia. Each hearing aid company makes all types of hearing aids, being behind the ear, receiver in the ear or custom styles. They all also have about 5-6 different levels of hearing aid technology. The higher the hearing aid technology, the better the device will be in more complicated listening situations.
Each hearing aid company is aiming to provide a device that will enable you to hear and communicate more easily. But each company may focus their attention on different things. While mostly the focus will be on hearing speech, while reducing any background noise, some companies also focus on making the quality of the sound more comfortable and natural. While other companies may focus on features which allow the hearing aids to connect to your phone for calls/streaming, or even to connect to the internet!
Other features or things to think about are whether you would like rechargeable hearing aids or hearing aids with interchangeable batteries.
Therefore it really depends on what you yourself would like the hearing aid to do, as well as your personal preference for the sound.
This means you might need to try out a couple of hearing aid brands to find the right one for you! As everyone is different, different hearing aids will suit different people depending on their needs.
The other thing to consider, when thinking about hearing aids, is the audiologist/clinic you go through to fit the devices. Some audiology clinics are owned by hearing aid companies, and so they will only fit hearing aids made by that hearing aid company. Other audiology clinics may have deals with certain hearing aid companies and so may be more inclined to fit the devices of that company. While other audiology clinics, like Knox Audiology are completely independent and are able to fit hearing aids from any company. Therefore finding out whether or not an audiology clinic is affiliated with any hearing aid companies, or whether they are independent is definitely worth investigating prior to making an appointment to chat about hearing devices.
Our independence means best choice!
Because Knox Audiology is an independent hearing aid provider, we are able to fit any brand of hearing aid. We will however, make recommendations on what brand, type or level of technology would best suit you, based on what you have told us regarding your hearing needs. We are also able to organise a trial period of 1-2 weeks, where you can take the hearing aids home to try them in your home, work or social environments. This will allow you to really get a sense of whether or not the hearing aids are for you.
If you would like to organise a hearing aid trial, or if you would like to chat to one of our friendly audiologists about which hearing aids might be suitable for you, call us on 9839 3350 today!