Jabra Enhance Select 300: OTC Hearing Aids From GN (2024)

Introduced in late 2023, Jabra Enhance Select 300 is the company’s latest flagship receiver-in-canal (RIC) over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid. It can be purchased online from JabraEnhance.com for $1,795 or $1,995 per pair, depending on if you opt for the Basic or Premium service package, respectively. Lab tests from HearAdvisor indicate you can expect prescription-like performance from this OTC hearing aid, as well as a modern app, remote telecare, and Bluetooth audio streaming features.

In this review, we’ll tell you all about Jabra Enhance Select 300’s key highlights, limitations, and share results from HearAdvisor’s independent lab evaluations.

What I love about Jabra Enhance Select 300 hearing aids

Limitations

Who makes Jabra Enhance Select hearing aids?

Jabra is a Danish consumer electronics company that has been around since 1983, with a lineage in headsets and videoconferencing systems. Jabra Enhance is the company's hearing aid division which has recently launched several product lines geared toward a new generation of consumers in search of quality, convenience, and lower-cost technology. This follows their acquisition by GN Store Nord in 2000, which is the parent company behind reputable hearing aid brands Resound and Beltone.

How is Jabra different from other GN brands? Jabra differentiates itself by offering devices directly online or in-store at consumer electronics retailers—without needing to visit your doctor. You can still receive remote care from hearing care providers and can expect modern features, such as wireless streaming for both iOS and Android, noise reduction, multi-microphone directionality, app personalization, and more.

One major benefit of Jabra is that it leverages technology from other GN brands. While the technology that cycles down from Resound is commonly a generation or so older, it still means you can purchase a prescription hearing aid online as a direct-to-consumer product and receive remote care from Jabra’s hearing care providers.

Jabra also offers prescription hearing aids as part of its Jabra Enhance Pro product line which are dispensed at Costco Hearing Aid Centers by licensed professionals. And, on the other end of the spectrum is the completely DIY model, Jabra Enhance Plus. This means that you can find a Jabra hearing product across all categories and price ranges depending on your individual needs and finances.

Regardless of which Jabra product you fancy, you get a 100-day risk-free trial. There is also a 1-year or 3-year loss and damage protection and warranty for the Basic and Premium package, respectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jabra Enhance Select 300 technology and features

Enhance Select 300 is Jabra’s most advanced and discrete device, with its technology based on the Resound OMNIA product line. It can be purchased directly from Jabra as either a Basic ($1795) or Premium Care Package ($1995), which I'll explain in more depth below. Enhance Select 300 replaces Jabra’s Enhance Select 200 line with a range of reported advancements in sound quality and speech-in-noise features, such as binaural directionality, an environmental optimizer, and built-in noise-canceling technology.

The Select 300 has 4 programmable settings and can be adjusted using the optional Jabra app or the onboard push-button. With a battery life of up to 24 hours on a 3-hour charge, this model is ideal for those with an active lifestyle, who need good hearing in noise, and who spend a lot of time in challenging listening environments.

What it's like to use Jabra Enhance Select 300 hearing aids

One of the first things I noticed about Enhance Select 300 is its sleek design which seems smaller than most RIC/RIE or behind-the-ear (BTE) style hearing aids. In fact, Resound advertised that the OMNIA miniRIE (which the 300 is based on) is roughly 9% smaller than previous models. This, along with the recently redesigned earwire, makes for a remarkably comfortable fit.

The Select 300’s build quality is equally impressive. It should easily hold up against the rigors of daily activity, having an Ingress Protection (IP) rating of IP68, the “gold standard” for hearing aids relative to moisture and dirt/debris protection. A notable improvement over previous Jabra tech is the multi-function button, which is much larger and has a noticeable “click” feel when depressed. Changes like this may seem insignificant, but to me, they indicate that the company is focusing on both form and function (I’ve had many patients with dexterity issues who would have benefited from this).

Subjectively, the audio quality is as expected for a prescription-level hearing aid. I even found the streamed audio quality to be a step in the right direction compared to previous Jabra products I have tested.

One area I struggled with in my Select 300s was customer service. It took nearly 2 weeks to resolve an app issue where custom settings from their support team would not install on my hearing aids. This was the first time I’ve had issues like this with Jabra’s app, which may be attributed to multiple products on my account, but other hearing aid users have reported similar concerns with Jabra’s wait times.

Controlling the Select 300 hearing aids

Manual adjustments to Enhance Select 300 hearing aids are as simple as pressing a multi-function button located on the back of the device. Thanks to wireless communication between both hearing aids, button presses on one device will automatically affect both hearing aids. Here is a table outlining the control you have.

Select 300 also offers several programs based on your listening needs which can be cycled between using the same multi-function button (see table below). Each program can be customized remotely by Jabra’s team of specialists and or by you using the Enhance Select app.

Jabra also offers various accessories, such as the Phone Clip+, which can double as a remote control. Continue reading below to learn how the Enhance Select app offers even greater wireless control of Enhance 300.

Jabra Enhance Select 300 hearing aids are RIC rechargeable devices and should last roughly 3 to 5 years. With an IP68 rating, they offer top-tier protection from water and debris, but exposure to regular moisture and extreme use can shorten their life. The internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery should also span the entire life of the hearing aid. Regular cleaning and maintenance are important contributors to your hearing device's lifespan and general function.

Basic vs Premium Package

Jabra offers two tiers when you purchase any of their Enhance level products, a Basic or Premium package. You can think of the Basic option as purchasing just the hearing aid. The Premium package, however, costs a flat $200 extra and includes customization based on your hearing needs, care from Jabra’s Audiology Team, and a 3-year extended warranty. Here’s a full breakdown of the differences based on their website:

Why you may want to choose the Premium package

I was quite disappointed to learn that Jabra offers a Basic option, as it can significantly compromise the quality you experience from these medically researched hearing aids. Allow me to explain. The Basic package limits you to three default programs (Fuller, Normal, and Clearer) which I did not find to be very accurate or conducive to self-fitting. To demonstrate, here are measurements I took of Jabra’s 50R showing the gain, or amplification, offered by those programs.

In the figure above, the dashed line shows the prescription or gain/volume needed to optimize speech intelligibility for a common age-related hearing loss at each frequency (this specific hearing loss is referred to as an “N3 configuration”³). This is based on solid research,⁴ and hearing care providers use these prescriptions while performing real-ear measurements to optimize your hearing benefit. You can see Jabra’s default programs (shown in black, light-blue, and dark-blue lines) hardly resemble the dashed-line. By offering less gain than prescribed, these devices are not helping you as much as they could. For comparison, you can also see Jabra 50R once I customized and further optimized it to better match the prescription target (purple "Tuned” line), which is what—at least in theory—an audiologist online consult might also achieve.

So, if you're just using the Basic package and not having these hearing aids tuned to your unique hearing loss, you may be sacrificing quite a lot of amplification/gain. At about $1,800-$2,000 per pair, these are not inexpensive OTC hearing aids. As the Basic package exists, you could be spending considerable money for a quality hearing aid that may provide limited benefit. This is honestly the gamble with all hearing products unless you have verification performed such as real-ear measurements.

Bluetooth streaming capabilities and app

Enhance Select 300 hearing aids pair wirelessly with most iOS^® and Android™ mobile devices, allowing you to receive phone calls through your hearing aids, stream music, and control them with the Enhance Select app.

Hands-free calling is only available on compatible iPhones. Hands-free calling means you'll hear the caller through the hearing aids and also be able to speak to them without needing to speak in to your phone (i.e., the microphones on the hearing aids pick up and transmit your voice). However, you can obtain hands-free calling for Android devices by using the Phone Clip+ accessory (see below). This table offers a quick breakdown of the Select 300’s wireless features, and you can visit Jabra.com for a full list of compatible devices.

The Jabra Enhance app

The Jabra Enhance Select app is comparable to the app offerings from other reputable prescription hearing aid manufacturers. In fact, the app is nearly identical to Resound's Smart 3D app, so it will feel familiar if you have experience with other wireless GN products. It's available for both Apple and Android phones.

Even if you are not the most tech-savvy, it is worth your time to install the app and connect your hearing aids, as this unlocks several features not otherwise accessible. You will find easy tab access to Jabra’s 4 program settings (see above table), a dedicated volume control, and buttons for a Noise Filter, Speech Clarity, and a 3-band equalizer. What’s more, these settings are stored independently within each program.

The Jabra Enhance Select app is intuitive and, while offering plenty of customization, shouldn’t be too complex if you are not tech-savvy. Be sure to have Jabra’s experts assist you with the various tabs and menus if technology is not your strong suit.

Jabra Remote Assistance

Today, telehealth is more of an expectation than a novelty, and Jabra has included many modern remote care features with Select 300. It is worth noting that you must purchase the Premium package to personalize any of Jabra’s Enhance products and receive support from their Audiology Team. Otherwise, you will have access to only three profiles (i.e., Fuller, Normal, and Clearer) as a basis for your fitting and very little remote support.

If you opt for the Premium package, your hearing aids will be custom-programmed based on either an online hearing test or an audiogram you upload to your account. Updates are received directly through the mobile app and can be uploaded to your hearing aids with the push of a button. While I was disappointed that remote adjustments are not real-time, it took only a minute for my Select 300 to update to my custom programming.

You can also schedule video appointments with their team, which can be invaluable if you're just starting with hearing technology. Be sure to take advantage of this to get an appropriate fit and best understand all the features available to you. They can also help you troubleshoot when issues arise down the road. All of this is accessible by navigating to the Care Team tab within the Jabra Enhance app.

Power & Rechargeability

Jabra states that you can expect 24 hours of operation time per charge thanks to the internal lithium-ion batteries, but be aware that real-world durations vary based on hearing loss, streaming usage, the environments you are in, the age of the hearing aids, and more.

You'll know if your Jabra hearing aids are low on batteries; when they're low on power, they play a brief melody every 15 minutes until there is no more power (you may never hear this thanks to their all-day battery life). At the end of each day, or when your batteries are getting low, place the Select 300s in the included portable case. The case has LED indicators for your charge status, provides 3 extra charges, and even offers a quick charge feature (see table below).

You can check your battery life during normal use within the Enhance Select mobile app. All listed charge and use times above are based on data from Jabra and were not verified with our lab testing.

Accessories for Jabra Enhance Select 300 hearing aids

While Select 300 hearing aids are designed for all-around use, there are certain situations where you may need more help. For this reason, Jabra offers several wireless accessories to improve audibility in specific difficult listening situations:

• TV Streamer: Connects to your television and streams audio wirelessly to your Select 300 hearing aids.
• MultiMic: A portable wireless microphone, or “spouse-mic” or "remote mic,” as they are often called, offers clearer audio in noisy or complex listening situations.
• Phone Clip+: The Phone Clip+ can be used with older mobile devices to stream both calls and music to your hearing aids, and can provide hands-free calling for Android devices. It also doubles as a remote control.

These accessories, which are sold separately, appear straight out of the GN Resound lineup—a giant in the prescription hearing aid category known for its wireless technology, lending confidence to the overall quality of the devices.

Lab Testing the Jabra Enhance Select 300 at HearAdvisor

HearAdvisor is an independent lab that provides objective comparison of prescription, over-the-counter, and hearable devices. All products are tested in two settings which approximate what consumers experience when fit with hearing aids:

• Initial Fit: The Initial Fit programming reflects how a device performs “out of the box” when the recommended settings are used. Volume adjustments may be made depending on the device but real-ear measurements are not performed. HearAdvisor’s Initial Fit aims to reflect the performance most people experience with their hearing aids. For Jabra Enhance Select 300, this meant leaving the devices at their default settings after Jabra’s team programmed them to our test age-related audiogram.
• Tuned Fit: The second test setting involves professional adjustments, such as real-ear measurements, and optimizing the device’s amplification. This reflects how hearing aids perform when best practices are followed and you are professionally fit by a hearing care provider.  For Select 300, this meant changing to a slightly more occluding tulip dome, increasing app volume, and adjusting the app’s 3-band equalizer to best match prescribed amplification levels.

Results for Select 300

HearAdvisor’s testing shows that Jabra Select 300 performs above average compared to other OTC self-fit hearing aids and is in a respectable position when compared to prescription hearing aids. It has an overall SoundScore of 4.3, meaning it is among the top-performing products tested to date and can improve your ability to hear speech clearly. App adjustments did not improve the Select 300's performance much compared to the default setting, but you may wish to switch from the default open dome if you find yourself needing more volume.

Speech Performance

Jabra Enhance Select 300 was found to perform above average for an OTC self-fit hearing aid, putting its score closer to prescription-tier devices (again, Select 300 is based on Resound's OMNIA technology, so this is no surprise). The initial settings from Jabra were decent but offered less amplification than standards would suggest for the hearing loss used, which is common among default recommendations. We did not see much change in the Select 300’s performance in the Tuned protocol.

Feedback

No feedback, or squealing/whistling, was present when testing Select 300.

Sound of your Own Voice

This metric is affected mainly by the domes you use and how well they plug your ears. The Select 300’s default open domes, as well as the tulip dome used for Tuned tests, did not significantly occlude or plug the ear, resulting in above-average scores. This change was made for Tuned testing to provide more gain, or amplification, for speech clarity without causing feedback.

Streamed Music

Select 300 performed similarly to other self-fit OTC devices for streamed music. You may experience marginal improvements with music sound quality by changing to a more occluded or plugged fit. However, music sound quality falls short of advanced earbuds and other devices designed around higher fidelity music reproduction.

Final Verdict

There is much to like about Jabra Enhance Select, and the brand sets a high bar for OTC hearing aids. You can purchase the Select 300 with confidence, knowing these devices are medical-grade researched products from GN ReSound. Jabra has adapted them well and implemented a smooth remote-care platform so you can use these devices without direct care from a hearing care provider.

They are worth considering if you wish to avoid in-person care and traditional audiology clinics. You will also need to be mildly tech-savvy to pair Select 300 with the mobile app, navigate occasional virtual appointments, and handle routine hearing aid maintenance on your own.

Based on my testing, Jabra Enhance 300 can provide respectable gain, or amplification, given the age-related hearing loss I test with and the default settings Jabra provided. While this fell short of in-person care and real-ear measurements, I was able to improve Jabra’s default settings with the Enhance app—though it may be difficult to pinpoint your best settings without professional assistance.

Overall, Jabra’s remote fit provided a decent fitting that may work for those who are comfortable with a “close enough” approach to their hearing health. Lastly, Jabra Select 300’s wireless features are stable, and I found them to offer improved streamed audio quality over Jabra’s lower-tier OTC devices.

Where you can find Jabra Enhance Select 300 and other alternatives

The Select 300 is available for purchase online at JabraEnhance.com where you will also find lower-tier products, including Select 100 ($1495/$1695) and Select 50R ($995/$1195). Both of these are quality OTC hearing aids, though they offer a reduced feature set (e.g. no hands-free calling and lower-grade charger) and less advanced audio processing. Read my in-depth review about Jabra’s Select 50R for more information.

Additionally, Jabra offers a prescription level hearing aid, the Enhance Pro, which can be purchased at Costco Hearing Aid Centers starting at $1599. As noted earlier, this puts Enhance Pro at a lower price point than Select 300 ($1795/$1995), and you receive professional in-person hearing care from Costco’s providers (e.g., real-ear measurements, etc.). Enhance Pro is also based on newer technology, and soon Costco should be featuring technology based on GN Resound's latest Nexia hearing aids.

Along with Jabra Enhance, there is also the Jabra Enhance Plus OTC aid and several other quality OTC hearing aids and hearables with high SoundScores that our lab named as 2023 HearAdvisor Expert Choice Award winners. These include the Sony CRE-E10 and CRE-C10, Lucid Engage, and Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus earbuds. You can read more about these on HearingTracker's OTC hearing aid page.