JLab Hear OTC vs. Phonak Audéo EON

The JLab HEAR OTC Hearing Aid offers an affordable and user-friendly solution for those with mild to moderate hearing loss, featuring customizable sound settings and a sleek design. Extensive testing reveals its effective performance in various environments, making it a reliable choice for everyday use.

The EON Sphere is one of the strongest hearing aids I’ve seen for speech performance, with exceptional results in background noise and a much smaller, more comfortable design than its predecessor.

JLab Hear OTC achieved a SoundScore of 3.5/5 and a SoundGrade of B in HearAdvisor lab testing. It ranked #36 of 65 OTC Hearing Aid devices tested. The OTC Hearing Aid category average SoundScore was 3.68/5.

Phonak Audéo EON Sphere achieved a SoundScore of 5.0/5 and a SoundGrade of A in HearAdvisor lab testing. It ranked #1 of 39 Prescription Hearing Aid devices tested. The Prescription Hearing Aid category average SoundScore was 4.19/5.

The portable charger is flimsy and HEAR have a lower egress rating of IPX4. However, with some extra care and cleaning they should hold up to regular daily use.

Phonak Audéo E90 Sphere have an excellent build quality with a robust, portable charging case and a high ingress rating of IP68.

HEAR do not offer enough power for all-day use with a battery life of 10 hours (less with streaming). The battery life is however respectable for a wireless earbud.

Audéo EON offer around 38 hours of use per change, which is a decrease compared to the previous firmware-upgraded Sphere Ultra. Regardless, the battery life should span your entire day and a full recharge takes 3 to 4 hours, or 30-minute quick charge can provide an additional 6 hours of use.

HEAR offer wireless connectivity for both iOS and Android users. I personally experienced stable streaming and phone calls with my iPhone 12.

Phonak are compatible with both iOS and Android, offering wireless audio streaming and hands-free calls. Pairing was easy and reliable in our testing, especially with Apple mobile devices.

The JLab Hearing Health app offers a nice feature set for personalization. Some elements could be more user friendly, but it makes sense after a little troubleshooting.

I found the MyPhonak Hearing Aid app easy to use with many useful features, including health and fitness tracking.

HEAR are comfortable and had good retention in my ears. They completely seal your ear when worn properly but feel less “plugging” as they are lightweight.

EON are extremely comfortable with their smaller more compact redesign. Glasses wearers, and or those with smaller ears, should definitely notice fit improvements compared to previous Sphere models.

This is highly personalized, but HEAR look like modern earbuds and distance themselves from the negative stigma some attribute to hearing aids.

Audéo EON Sphere offer a significantly smaller size than the previous generation Sphere models. The size is now comparable to most other receiver-in-canal prescription hearing aids on the market.

JLab Hear OTC has a value score of 5.0/5 based on lab performance and public display price.

Phonak Audéo EON Sphere has a value score of 3.6/5 based on lab performance and public display price.

I ran into a few issues with my initial Bluetooth pairing but HEAR and the touch controls work well otherwise.

Audéo EON Sphere are easy to use and adjust using either the large multi-function button or MyPhonak app. I had no issues making adjustments with either.

JLab falls short on actual hearing care as help is limited to their online Help Center and or standard Customer Support.

Prescription hearing aids like EON Sphere are fit by hearing care providers so you should receive quality care. The MyPhonak app also opens the possibility for remote programming and virtual follow-up appointments.