JLab Hear OTC vs. Yeasound RIC700

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.

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.

Yeasound RIC700 achieved a SoundScore of 4.3/5 and a SoundGrade of A in HearAdvisor lab testing. It ranked #10 of 65 OTC Hearing Aid devices tested. The OTC Hearing Aid category average SoundScore was 3.68/5.

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.

Yeasound RIC700 Plus have an ingress protection rating of IPX8. They appear well-built and approach the feel of a prescription hearing aid.

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.

RIC700 Plus last up to 31 hours per charge and take around 3 hours to recharge. You can expect shorter battery life while streaming, although the batteries should still last all day.

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

RIC700 Plus offer wireless control and streaming with Bluetooth. While we could not test this on Android, functionality was fairly good on iOS with a few noted drawbacks.

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.

RIC700 Plus offer fairly good sound customization for a preset-based OTC hearing aid. I liked the addition of a 3-band equalizer and access to controls over noise reduction and microphone settings.

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 RIC700 Plus very comfortable thanks to their small design and lightweight.

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

Yeasound RIC700 Plus look like modern receiver-in-canal hearing aids and could easily be mistaken for prescription devices.

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

Yeasound RIC700 has a value score of 4.8/5 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 experienced a few hiccups using the iYeasound mobile app. Otherwise, RIC700 Plus were easy to use and get in my ears, though you may need some practice if you have not worn receiver-in-canal devices before.

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

Yeasound offers remote assistance from their technical support team. To our knowledge, they are not offering audiologic support from licensed providers at this time.