JLab Hear OTC vs. Signia Active Pro IX

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 Signia Active Pro IX offers the functionality of a high-performance hearing aid in a sleek, earbud-like design, making it ideal for those who value both modern aesthetics and advanced hearing enhancement. Lab tests showed strong performance in speech clarity and music streaming, though its instant-fit design has some limitations, such as reduced feedback handling and lack of custom-fit personalization.

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.

Signia Active Pro IX achieved a SoundScore of 4.6/5 and a SoundGrade of A in HearAdvisor lab testing. It ranked #8 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.

Active Pro IX has an IP rating of 68, meaning it has excellent protection against dust and moisture. This is consistent with my hands-on testing which suggested it is built well and will hold-up to daily use.

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.

I love the all-day rechargeable battery life of Active Pro IX. Even with 5 hours of audio streaming, you can expect around 29 hours of user per charge.

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

Signia Active Pro hearing aids are Bluetooth compatible with both iOS and Android devices, allowing for audio streaming and hands-free calling. While streamed audio quality is not the best, I did not run into any issues while testing.

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.

Signia's hearing aid app stands out with its user-friendly interface and modern, appealing design. It includes practical features like the ability to control the focus of your hearing aids and a mask mode to enhance speech clarity. Additionally, the app offers wellness features, utilizing hearing aid motion sensors for activity 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.

I found the instant-fit comfort and retention of Active Pro good. Your hearing care provider can demo various ear tips to find the best fit for your ears and hearing needs.

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

Active Pro IX have a modern earbud-like look, which may be desirable depending on your preferences, and you can choose among 6 colors.

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

Signia Active Pro IX has a value score of 3.7/5 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.

I did not run into any issues while testing Active Pro IX. However, I do wish they offered ear-level controls such as buttons, or tap controls, as it would make the streaming features more user-friendly.

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

You should receive quality hearing care and support from your provider. The Signia App should enhance your experience with AI assistance and user-friendly virtual appointments, given your provider offers telehealth services.