Finally Today

Is there a good website to get ratings for the different brands of very expensive hearing aids?

At between 1300 and 4500 dollars for hearing aids I can find no place where the various brands are compared. Consumer reports has not done a comparison for mlgable I am aware of what you are saying about different types of hearing loss. But there are many different brands with a great variety of pricing. As with any product I am sure that some brands are a much better value than others. This is not for me but an elderly parent.

Public Comments

1. Why do you need a comparison? Your audiologist will be able to tell you WHICH hearing aid will work best for YOUR hearing loss and why some others won't. There is no way to really rate them as they are designed for certain types of hearing loss so you have to have your audiologist tell you which one would work best for YOUR hearing loss. Hearing aides are not like washers or cars where you can test them for routine things as they get adjusted for each individual person and some are suited for only certain types of hearing loss.
2. try cnet.com or zd.net
3. Yes there are different brands. However each brand usually also has a $1000 model, $2000 model, $4000 model etc. With hearing aids there really isn't much difference among brands. Each audiologist is going to have their "favorite" manufacturer based on how much experience they have with their products. It is always best to go with something the audiologist is familiar with because they have more knowledge of what works and what doesn't work with those products. My advice is to see an audiologist not a hearing instrument specialist. Audiologists have at least a master's if not a doctorate degree. Audiologists use hearing aids from major manufacturers. My favorites are Widex, Phonak, Resound, and Starkey. Other major manufacturers are Oticon, Siemens, Unitron, and Rexton. Stay away from places that use their own brands and not a major manufacturer listed above.