Best Buy Hearing Aids: A Review of OTC Models, Features, Prices, and Lab Test Performance

Best Buy offers a selection of nearly 25 brand-name over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids suitable for adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss at prices ranging from $200 to $2,550 per pair. The pricier models generally offer a more compact design or a larger number of features like Bluetooth audio streaming, advanced speech-in-noise capabilities, and rechargeability.

You can either order online or visit one of Best Buy's 1,125 stores. About 600 of these outlets offer a special section called the “Hearing Device Experience,” where you can get assistance from Best Buy Blue Shirts who have gone through training on hearing-related topics, general fitting techniques, and different features of the various devices and brands offered at the store.

In this article, we’ll explore Best Buy's OTC hearing aids and compare the brands and models. Based on our analysis and the HearAdvisor™ lab’s audio testing, we’ll supply you with the information needed to decide if Best Buy hearing aids are right for your needs.

Buying OTC hearing aids from Best Buy in a nutshell

An OTC hearing aid could save you thousands of dollars in upfront costs. If you buy it from a mass retailer, it might even save you some time, as you can order online or casually pick one up during your weekly shopping at Best Buy or Walmart. However, these budget-friendly hearing aids might not be suitable for your hearing loss or lifestyle needs, and in some cases, Best Buy may not have much benefit outside of serving as a "product aggregator" in an online shopping portal.

When you shop in-person at a local Best Buy, a trained employee should be able to help you pick the right device and, in some cases, even guide you through the fitting. Note that, at this writing (July 2024), the in-store OTC hearing aid selection is limited to 11 models. Stores without the Hearing Device Experience may have fewer than a handful of OTC hearing aids on display in their headphones department.

Best Buy said it would launch an online hearing aid selector tool, which may substitute for in-store assistance, but this tool isn’t available yet.

Regardless of where you purchase your hearing aids, we strongly recommend you obtain a comprehensive hearing assessment from a hearing care professional. This is performed in a sound booth, resulting in an accurate audiogram (a frequency-by-frequency assessment of your hearing ability) and a thorough inspection of your ear canal to rule out other conditions (e.g., earwax, etc.). It also gives you a good baseline for assessing the trajectory of your hearing status in the future and can be an excellent resource should you decide to purchase a self-fitting OTC hearing aid—a hearing aid that allows you to plug in the data from your audiogram so you can personalize the amplification for your unique hearing profile.

If you don’t want to do this, Best Buy has partnered with a reputable hearing aid distributor, hearX, to offer an online hearing assessment tool. However, we think this online tool is a bit too simplistic, and you’d be better off using a different one. HearingTracker has published a review of some good online hearing tests, and you might try SonicCloud, Hearing Test Online, or the Mimi Hearing Test app (iOS). These tests assess both your ears independently, may cover different hearing scenarios, and are designed to give you a reasonably accurate audiogram. The test websites also aren’t trying to sell you their hearing aids.

Who should use Best Buy OTC hearing aids?

If you want to try out an OTC hearing aid before buying it, then a nearby Best Buy featuring a Hearing Device Experience center and trained staff is a good option. You can check out a range of different models, from very affordable to more advanced ones, and a Best Buy staff member can assist you and answer questions (again, this can vary by store location).

Generally, OTC hearing aids are suitable for people with age-related mild to moderate hearing loss. If you’re unsure about your type of hearing loss, if you have one-sided hearing loss, or if you have experienced symptoms like ringing in the ears, vertigo, or dizziness, please have your hearing evaluated by a professional before investing in OTC hearing aids. The online Consumer Ear Disease Risk Assessment (CEDRA) questionnaire created by Northwestern University and Mayo Clinic can help you assess risks for medical conditions and diseases associated with hearing loss.

By law, OTC hearing aids can provide limited amplification, making them beneficial only for adults (age 18+) with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. People with more severe or complex hearing loss should see an audiologist and get a prescriptive hearing aid or other solutions. Children should not use OTC devices and should get care from a pediatric audiologist. We provide more information about OTC-vs-prescriptive hearing aids below.

If you're buying an OTC hearing aid, you should be reasonably tech-savvy and comfortable with getting assistance online, by phone, and/or through an app. All hearing aids need service or break eventually, so there is great value in buying a device from a reputable company that stands behind its products with service, a warranty, and a reasonable trial period.

Whether you shop in person or online, Best Buy’s OTC hearing aids fall under its 15-day standard or 60-day return policy for members. Both are rather short trial periods for hearing aids. The warranty depends on the manufacturer, but it’s generally one year and covers any material or production defects, but usually excludes accidents, loss, misuse, and neglect.

What services are included with Best Buy hearing aids?

Beyond the in-store OTC hearing aid experience, Best Buy doesn’t offer any services. Once you’ve purchased a set of hearing aids from Best Buy, you’ll have to manage adjustments, programming, cleanings, switching out parts or batteries, and other maintenance tasks yourself and/or rely on the services of the device manufacturer. While OTC hearing aids are designed with customer maintenance in mind, if you require more help, you might be better off with a more individualized hands-on experience from a local hearing care provider.

Best Buy OTC hearing aid round-up: Key features and pricing

Best Buy offers more than 25 different OTC hearing aid models, ranging in price from $200 to $2,550. Most of these are rechargeable and support Bluetooth. However, note that not all Bluetooth models are compatible with both Android and Apple iOS, and some Bluetooth models only let you connect to the app and don’t support audio/music or call streaming. As noted above, you can personally look at 11 OTC hearing aids at one of over 600 Best Buy locations that feature an in-store Hearing Device Experience.

The following table summarizes the key attributes of Best Buy's OTC hearing aids. It is followed by a table that ranks most of these devices by their hearing aid performance scores, as tested by HearAdvisor. If you're more interested in our overall picks for what consumers generally look for in OTC hearing aids, you can skip ahead to the section labeled "Top Picks for OTC Hearing Aids at Best Buy."

Rankings of Best Buy OTC hearing aids by performance scores

Table 2 below shows OTC Hearing aids offered at Best Buy, ranked by their overall SoundGrade with their SoundScores for performance (grades A to F) in different categories, as tested by the HearAdvisor Lab. However, there are many other variables to consider when buying hearing aids than just listening performance, including comfort, battery life, build quality, etc. For this reason, we've also included the Best Buy customer reviews (“BB Review Stars”) for added reference. Additionally, we strongly encourage you to read and compare Dr. Steve Taddei's article about Walmart's OTC hearing aid offerings, as the two retailers offer many of the same models and Dr. Taddei offers a unique audiologist's perspective on them.

How the devices are tested: The HearAdvisor lab has tested a total of 39 OTC hearing aids at this writing (July 2024), including all but 5 of the models currently available at Best Buy. The lab uses a standardized setup and test protocol for all hearing aids in a 3D spatial audio lab that provides a controlled acoustic environment. This is designed to yield apples-to-apples comparisons of all devices for typical mild-to-moderate hearing loss, including speech in quiet and noise, feedback control, own-voice perception, and audio streaming for music. You can read and see a video about the lab's procedures and also view all the test results on the Hearing Aid Leaderboard of HearAdvisor's website.

All the above hearing aids offered by Best Buy had a SoundGrade of “C” or better, although the LINNER Mars and Nova earbuds and Go Ultra BTE showed only marginal improvement for speech in quiet and noise, with the latter actually decreasing hearing-in-noise ability. That withstanding, it would appear there are no real "lemons" in Best Buy's lineup of OTC hearing aids.

You'll notice that all but 5 of the 18 OTC hearing aids in Table 2 have a rating less than 2.0 for hearing in noise—a feature that is one of the prime reasons consumers buy hearing aids. Hearing aid performance in noise is extremely complex and difficult to develop and implement—even for the best global manufacturers. Generally, speech-in-noise performance is where professionally fit prescriptive hearing aids tend to stand above OTC devices in both listening comfort and speech intelligibility. However, it should be acknowledged that a device with even a small positive speech-in-noise score should still provide you with at least some benefit, and the vast majority of these hearing aids also offer better speech reception in quiet.

Top picks for OTC hearing aids at Best Buy

Everyone has different hearing needs. The following are some broad categories that may help point you in the right direction when searching for an OTC hearing aid.

Best-performing OTC hearing aid at Best Buy: Sony CRE-E10

If cost isn't a big concern for you, the Sony CRE-E10 is an excellent self-fitting rechargeable OTC earbud-style hearing aid, but it comes with a relatively steep price tag of about $1,300 per set. Released in January 2023, this device was developed in collaboration with WS Audiology (WSA)—the parent company of prescription hearing aid brands like Widex, Signia, and Rexton. The CRE-E10 has garnered attention for its exceptional performance and is often compared to the Signia Active X. It features Bluetooth audio streaming and hands-free calling for iPhones (v13.0 and higher).

The CRE-E10 has been recognized with the HearAdvisor Expert Choice Award and continues to hold the top ranking on HearAdvisor's Hearing Aid Leaderboard in both prescription and OTC categories. Best Buy customers rate these hearing aids a 4.2 out of 5 stars.

However, the CRE-E10 comes with two notable caveats. First, it has an earbud-type design that yields a more “closed” fitting with good sound quality (particularly for music steaming), but it can accentuate the “occlusion effect.” This means your ears can feel plugged, and your own voice may sound distorted or hollow like it's coming out of a barrel. Second, the device has no external controls, so the only way to control its volume and settings is via the app.

You might notice that Best Buy customers have rated the Eargo 6 and Eargo 7, along with the Jabra Enhance 50R, highly (4.5 to 4.7 stars). In general, Eargo is known for offering quality online hearing aids and very good customer support; the big negative is their price tag, which is comparable to prescription-fit hearing aids (>$1,400). Best Buy is now offering Link by Eargo, which is a good mid-price OTC device at $799. We cover the Jabra Enhance Select 50R in more depth below.

If you're looking for a good "invisible" hearing aid option, another noteworthy Sony product featured in this Best Buy roundup is the CRE-C10. This Completely-in-Canal (CIC) hearing aid is tiny and priced at around $800 per set. Although it lacks the wireless features of the CRE-E10 and is an instant-fit device that relies on presets, it has also earned the HearAdvisor Expert Choice Award.

Listen for yourself: You can listen to sound samples of both the CRE-E10 and CRE-C10 by putting on quality headphones and clicking on the red "Play" buttons below.

Best value OTC hearing aid at Best Buy: Lexie B2 Plus Powered by Bose

Lexie B2 Plus Powered by Bose is a self-fitting receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aid priced at $999 per pair. It offers rechargeability, iPhone/Android streaming, and good hearing benefits in both quiet and noise. Despite being on the pricier side of OTC products, its value is evident in the product's audio quality, rechargeability, advanced features, and online support (although there are reports their customer service personnel may be overextended at times).

The B2 Plus represents an upgrade over the older Lexie B2 model ($899) with the important inclusion of an in-app hearing test and a new charging case that gives you an additional 18 hours of on-the-go power. Best Buy also offers the Lexie Lumen for $799, a good—but more basic—mid-priced behind-the-ear (BTE) style OTC hearing aid.

HearAdvisor lab testing of Lexie B2 Plus resulted in a 4.6 out of 5 SoundScore, earning it an "A" grade and the lab’s Expert Choice Award. The aid had the third-best score of any OTC hearing aid the lab has tested, with exceptional speech in quiet and decent speech in noise performance. At this writing, Best Buy customer reviewers give it a 4.2 out of 5 stars rating (with 159 customer reviews).

Lexie Hearing is a division of the hearX Group, a hearing healthcare company headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. Co-founded in 2015 by audiologist and researcher De Wet Swanepoel, PhD, and entrepreneur Nic Klopper, hearX focuses on affordable hearing solutions accessible worldwide. In addition to offering Lexie hearing aids, Best Buy uses the hearX/Lexie clinically validated online hearing test, hearScreen, as does Costco and CVS.

Listen for yourself: You can listen to sound samples of both the Lexie B2 Plus by putting on quality headphones and clicking on the red "Play" buttons below.

Another worthy device in this category for less than $1,000 is the Sennheiser All-Day Clear (ADC) and ADC Slim. These OTC hearing aids tick all the feature boxes in Table 1 and scored well in HearAdvisor testing, as well as in reviews from Best Buy users. (Note: Although HearAdvisor tested only the ADC Slim model, we believe both share the same technology and thus have very similar performance profiles.)

Best budget-priced OTC hearing aid at Best Buy: Lucid Engage Premium BTE

At $599, Lucid Engage Premium is a good-quality receiver-in-canal (RIC) battery-powered hearing aid that is essentially the DIY’er version of the prescription hearing aids you get at Sam’s Club. They provide solid value given their relatively low cost, with the ability to amplify important speech frequencies with minimal tweaking.

Lucid Engage Premium doesn’t have a ton of bells and whistles. It's not self-fitting or rechargeable. However, it does possess what most people want in a modern hearing aid: onboard and app-based controls, Bluetooth audio streaming for iOS and Android (you must specify which one when ordering), and a physical design and feel on par with prescriptive hearing aids.

The downside is Enrich Pro relies on 4 pre-set programs instead of a “self-fitting” in-app hearing test, meaning it’s unlikely it can be completely personalized for your unique hearing loss. It also has a lower Ingress Protection (IP) rating than most prescriptive hearing aids, suggesting it’s more vulnerable to moisture and dirt or debris. For another $200, you can opt for the rechargeable version of this hearing aid.

HearAdvisor gave Enrich Engage an Expert Choice Award with a SoundScore of 4.5 out of 5—the fourth best of all OTC hearing aids tested—and says the device provides exceptional speech in quiet and good speech in noise performance. When considering all the factors, including price, comfort, battery life, etc., HearAdvisor scored it on par with the Jabra Enhance Select 50R in terms of overall value. Best Buy reviewers gave it a 3.9 out of 5 stars rating (49 reviews) at this writing.

Lucid Hearing is owned by Hearing Lab Technologies (HLT), LLC, a Texas-based company founded in 2009. HLT offers OTC hearing aids on its website, Amazon, and at stores like Walmart and pharmacies. The company also operates about 500 hearing centers in Sam's Club stores.

Note: At the time of this writing, Engage Premium is offered on Amazon for $449, making it an even better value. This demonstrates that you should shop around prior to purchase.

Listen for yourself: You can listen to sound samples of the Lucid Engage by putting on quality headphones and clicking on the red "Play" buttons below.

A strong runner-up in this category is the Nuheara IQBuds2 MAX. Currently being offered for $200.99, MAX is technically a hearable, but it is almost identical to the HP PRO and serves as a good entry point for addressing milder hearing losses. It utilizes a self-fitting test that tunes the device to your unique hearing loss and features rechargeability and excellent audio streaming sound quality for both iOS and Android, all in an earbud-type design.

Essentially, MAX ticks all the feature boxes in Table 1 and has pretty good across-the-board performance in Table 2, all for about $200—making it a great hearable. You can also purchase the IQstream TV accessory from Nuheara ($90), which can be connected to your TV to provide stereo sound at your preferred listening volume.

Listen for yourself: Sound samples of the Nuheara IQBuds2 MAX are available below.

Closest to an inexpensive prescription-fit hearing aid: Jabra Enhance Select 50R

Launched in January 2024, Jabra Enhance Select 50R is a rechargeable receiver-in-canal (RIC) over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid, building on the success of Jabra's Enhance Select 50 model. The "R" in 50R signifies its newer rechargeable feature. It is priced at $995 or $1195 depending on the chosen service package (Basic or Premium).

Although the Premium Package is $200 more expensive, HearAdvisor's testing indicates it's worth the extra money for those looking to approximate a prescription-fit hearing aid and personalize their 50R experience and maximize the device's capabilities. With the Premium Package, this OTC hearing aid offers solid performance and extensive customization options via the mobile app and, importantly, support from Jabra’s remote telecare team.

Jabra Enhance is a division of GN Nord, a Danish company known for hearing aids and consumer headphones, that leverages technology from well-known hearing aid brands ReSound and Beltone in the GN product portfolio. Jabra's range includes various styles and performance levels of hearing aids along with professional services. Notably, their earbud-like Enhance Plus, also featured in this Best Buy roundup, retails for $799. Additionally, Jabra’s Enhance Pro 20, a prescription hearing aid available at Costco for $1,599 per pair, represents an excellent value—at about $400 more than the 50R.

Listen for yourself: You can listen to sound samples of both Jabra Enhance Select 50R and Jabra Enhance Plus by putting on quality headphones and clicking on the red "Play" buttons below.

What are OTC hearing aids?

Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are hearing aids you can buy directly from a manufacturer or retailer without visiting a hearing care provider (e.g., an audiologist or hearing aid specialist). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized the "OTC Hearing Aid Rule” in August 2022, and it went into effect in October of that year. The goal was to give consumers more affordable and accessible options by relaxing regulations surrounding the development and sale of hearing aids. Since then, new products have emerged almost monthly, claiming to offer “prescription-like” quality at a fraction of the cost of traditional clinical hearing aids—with many making their way online and in-store at retailers such as BestBuy and Walmart and pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens.

While the FDA rolled back many regulations, they also established some minimum standards for OTC products and their performance. For example, OTC hearing aids are intended for adults over 18 with no worse than mild-to-moderate perceived hearing loss, and they have general output limits of 111 decibels (higher for devices utilizing input compression). This means if you have a more severe hearing loss, the devices probably won't do you much good.

The new FDA regulations also have several other consequences, including less consumer protection in trial periods, warranties, and return policies. There remains debate about whether the current regulations are enough to protect consumers from unsafe, ineffective, and low-quality products that reach store shelves or that can be purchased online.

If you are among the over 30-million adults in the United States with untreated hearing loss, you may be asking, “Do OTC products deliver comparable hearing benefit at lower costs?” In our experience, after HearAdvisor’s hands-on testing of over 60 products, the answer is no. The scientific testing by the lab suggests that current regulations are a good start, but they're a far cry from assuring the same quality assurance and consumer protection you get with professionally dispensed prescription hearing aids.

Having said that, HearingTracker is relatively bullish on OTC hearing aids because most appear to be safe and provide consumers with more choices. As shown in this article, there are numerous hearing devices that offer decent hearing benefits and good value—fulfilling the original goal of the OTC legislation—and Best Buy offers a good number of these.

However, there are also devices on the market that can potentially worsen your ability to understand speech and are shoddy in design and construction. In short, they’re a waste of money. And it’s hard for consumers to tell the good from the bad because all devices tend to share the same marketing claims to 1) Make speech clear and 2) Help you hear in background noise.

An even tougher challenge is weighing hearing benefit versus cost. It’s logical and expected that a $150 OTC hearing aid probably won’t give you the same features and benefits as one that costs $1,500. However, in many cases, some of the best OTC hearing aids cost almost the same as a basic prescriptive-fit hearing aid you can find at a local audiology practice—around $1,500 which, not coincidentally, is about the same price as prescription-fit hearing aids at Costco.

For this reason and more, HearingTracker and the independent HearAdvisor lab have teamed up to try to provide objective apples-to-apples analyses of both OTC and prescriptive hearing aids. We’ve also developed a handy Hearing Aid Product Comparison page complete with sound samples that you can use in your search for the right hearing aid.

Are Best Buy’s OTC hearing aids right for you?

The OTC hearing aids available at Best Buy aren’t exclusive to the store. And except for its in-store Hearing Device Experience, Best Buy doesn’t offer any special services. However, if you’re set on a specific hearing aid model and found a great deal, buying through Best Buy may be a great choice.

Keep in mind that, depending on whether or not you’re a My Best Buy Plus/Total member, you’ll only have between 15 to 60 days to return your OTC hearing aids. You’ll also be on your own for adjustments, cleanings, and repairs. However, that’s generally the case with most OTC hearing aids, unless you’re willing to pay extra for additional services.

Best Buy hearing aid alternatives

Best Buy’s selection of OTC hearing aids presents good options for adult consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss who would like to try out a model before buying. Price-conscious buyers will appreciate Best Buy’s frequent sales and steep discounts. As shown in this article, most of the hearing aids offered by the retailer should help you hear better—with some doing a better job than others.

However, if you have a more complex type of hearing loss or can’t take advantage of Best Buy’s in-store Hearing Device Experience, you might consider one of the following options:

• Costco Hearing Aid Centers: Costco hearing aids are dispensed by licensed hearing instrument specialists and audiologists. The giant retailer offers only one OTC hearing aid: the Lexie B2 starting at $890 ($20 cheaper than Best Buy). However, Costco members can receive a free professional hearing test, and the store's prescription hearing aids start at $1,500 and are from the global leaders in hearing aid manufacturing. Costco hearing aids come with a 6-month trial period, the store’s standard 3-year warranty, and free maintenance for the lifetime of the device. The downside with Costco and competitors like Sam’s Club is that the quality of service depends on the staff member on duty and the time they have available for customers.
• Sam’s Club and Lucid Hearing Centers: Like Costco, Sam’s Club and its Lucid Hearing Centers offer a full-service package with any prescription or OTC hearing aid purchased through them. You don’t have to be a member to receive a free comprehensive hearing test, but a membership is required to make a purchase. Your hearing aids come with a 90-day trial period, lifetime cleanings and adjustments for prescription hearing aids, as well as free remote care. Unlike Costco, the hearing aids from Sam's Club are made by only one manufacturer: Lucid Hearing.
• Local hearing clinics: We always recommend consulting with a local hearing clinic, as you’re more likely to receive dependable quality service and individualized care. Many clinics now also offer OTC hearing aids. HearingTracker’s Local Hearing Aid Discounts page can help you find great deals with local providers in your area. If you’d prefer some more hand-holding with finding a local provider, consider Hear.com, Yes Hearing, and ZipHearing. Hear.com offers OTC hearing aids, and Yes Hearing will send a care provider to your home for a hearing test, fitting, and follow-up services.
• Online hearing aids: Before you order online from Best Buy, you might consider online hearing aid providers like Audicus. They offer remote fittings and services for hearing aids priced between $200 and $3,300. After your purchase, you’ll receive a 3-month trial period, lifetime support, and at-home adjustments. With an Audicus subscription, you’ll also receive supplies, unlimited cleanings, loss/damage protection, and the option of new hearing aids every 18 months.