Best Rechargeable Hearing Aids: Balancing Battery Life & Features

As of 2025, around 80% of all hearing aids sold in the U.S. are rechargeable.¹ New models last up to 51 hours on a single charge, offer fast charging, and integrate power banks for on-the-go use. Rechargeable hearing aids eliminate the hassle of disposable batteries while delivering convenient all-day performance, but there are still some reasons to consider disposable battery options.

In this guide, we’ll explore the best rechargeable hearing aids available today, highlighting the top models that offer rechargeability, with a focus on battery life, charging time, and charger options.

Best Overall: Phonak Infinio Sphere

Infinio Sphere is the first Phonak hearing aid to deliver better hearing in background noise by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). Sphere's battery life is on the lower end, delivering only 16 hours (with 3 hours of streaming) of run time—and less when using the special background noise setting. Regardless, as a hearing aid overall, it's one of our favorites, and for the moment holds top position with the highest overall HearingTracker Score.

To charge the Sphere, you'll use Phonak's "ChargerGo", a good portable charging case that holds up to three full charges. A full recharge takes around 3 hours, and if you're in a pinch, a quick 15-minute charge will give you an additional 3 hours of use time.

The Sphere's also comes with health tracking features, including step counting and heart rate monitoring. To save money, you may want to consider Phonak's previous generation Lumity rechargeable hearing aids.

Best Battery Life: Starkey Edge AI

Starkey's Edge AI offers AI-driven noise reduction, Bluetooth LE Audio, fall alerts, language translation, health/activity tracking with self-guided balance assessment, Apple Watch compatibility, and IP68 ingress-protection rating. With up to 51 hours of battery life, Edge AI is by far the longest-lasting rechargeable hearing aid on the market.

Starkey’s StarLink Premium Mini Charger provides four charges while you're away from a power outlet, with one charge providing up to 51 hours of power for the Edge AI RIC RT, and 41 hours for the mini receiver-in-canal (mRIC). A full charge takes around 3.5 hours, but just 7 minutes of automatic turbo charging add up to three hours of use time.

And for those looking for a non-behind-the-ear option, check out Starkey's Signature Series CIC R NW, reported to be the world’s smallest custom rechargeable hearing aid on the market. The new non-wireless completely-in-canal (CIC) can operate for up to 38 hours is highly water resistant (IP68 rated), making it one of the best waterproof hearing aids.

Best OTC: Jabra Enhance Select 500

Jabra Enhance Select 500 is a receiver-in-canal (RIC) over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid that stands out for its advanced features, compact size, and strong speech-in-noise performance. It’s available for about $1,800-$2,000 depending on the service package, and it offers remote telehealth fittings, easy app-based controls, and Bluetooth streaming for compatible phones. Our consumer reviewer praised its sound quality, comfort, and overall build and our expert reviewer gave the 500's a very respectable 4.5 out of 5 HearingTracker Score.

In terms of rechargeable battery life, the Enhance Select 500 is in the middle of the pack—users typically get up to 24 hours of battery life on a single charge (less with a lot of streaming). The included induction-charging case adds another three days’ worth of on-the-go charging. This makes Jabra Enhance Select 500 especially convenient for travel or busy lifestyles where daily plug-in charging might be a hassle.

Best Quick Charging: Oticon Intent

Intent is Oticon's latest RIC hearing aid, featuring a refreshed design, a new “Sirius” processing chip, and an overhauled approach to motion-based sound optimization (“4D sensor technology”). The device replaces the Oticon Real line, aiming to address prior issues with reliability and Bluetooth connectivity.

Intent provides an impressive 20 hours of use time on just 2.5 hours of charging, or 16 hours after a one hour charge. And when you're running low, a quick 15-minute or 30-minute "supercharge" gives you four or eight hours of use, respectively.

Notably smaller yet slightly bulkier than previous generations, Intents rely on a single push-button (replacing the older rocker switch) for on-device controls. The new style also incorporates reoriented microphones that are easier to maintain and redesigned speaker wires for a more comfortable, discreet fit.

Oticon also offers a new portable “smart charger,” which holds up to three days of extra battery life, ideal for camping or situations without reliable power. However, unlike the previous Oticon Real, the battery in Intents is no longer user- or clinic-replaceable—if there’s a problem with the battery, the entire hearing aid must go in for service, potentially leaving users without their device for a couple of weeks.

Intent features both a telecoil and Bluetooth LE/Auracast-ready broadcast technology, which put it on our list of the best Bluetooth hearing aids.

Best Invisible OTC: Zepp Clarity Pixie

The Zepp Clarity Pixie is a near-invisible OTC hearing aid that can be fully charged in 2.5 hours and provides 17 hours of use time on a full charge. Even better, the portable charger adds a whopping 11 days of on-the-go power, easily beating all other competitors.

The Pixie's performed above average in both quiet and noisy situations at the HearAdvisor acoustic lab. The comparable Eargo 7 OTC hearing aids, which are a similar form factor (but use more open ear tips) performed worse in both situations. Using more closed ear tips gives the Pixie's the edge in boosting important speech sounds, but also makes them the loser in terms of own-voice comfort. If you're comparing the two you might also note that the Pixie's cost less than half the price of the Eargo's, coming in at around $999 a pair (vs over $2,000) as of February 2025. You may also wish to compare Pixie to the Sony CRE-C20, which is a rechargeable device with charger at around $1,000 with a similar in-ear, instant-fit form factor and feature set.

A couple of other considerations: The Pixie's are IPX7 rated, meaning they're resistant to water submersion (up to 3 feet) for up to 30 minutes, but do not have any dirt/dust resistance rating. They also provide use Bluetooth for connectivity to the Zepp Clarity app, but don't offer wireless streaming or hands-free calling.

Other Rechargeable Hearing Aids

The rechargeable hearing aids featured above are our top choices, but you may also want to consider some of our other favorites. For example, if you're on a tight budget, but OTC isn't an option, you may want to consider previous-generation prescription hearing aids.

ReSound Rechargeable Hearing Aids

ReSound's latest flagship hearing aid, Vivia, was launched in February 2025. It features an all-new AI-powered hearing aid designed to improve speech clarity in noise. With its dual-chip DNN-powered engineering, Vivia is said to have the same or better speech-in-noise capabilities as Phonak Infinio Sphere—but with a better battery life of up to 30 hours (20 hours with streaming and the AI noise reduction employed). A quick 10-minute charge gives you an extra 2.7 hours of use.

However, because Vivia is brand new, the HearAdvisor lab has not yet tested its performance (we'll update this page when the results are in).

ReSound Nexia, the company's previous flagship hearing aid family, is also an exceptional rechargeable option. Although it depends on the wearer’s hearing loss and usage, Nexia offers 24 hours of typical use on one charge or 20 hours when streaming 50% of the time, placing it toward the upper end of battery life. Both Vivia and Nexia microRIEs have the option of a desktop, standard, or premium charger, with the latter carrying three extra charges for portable power.

Nexia's custom in-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids get their power from a special Custom Charger that contains two specially created inserts that match the shape of each hearing aid for seamless, reliable charging. Like the microRIE devices, Nexia ITCs can be expected to offer up to 24 hours use-time on a single charge for all-day use.

Signia Rechargeable Hearing Aids

Signia's Integrated Xperience platform (Signia IX) is designed to provide sound clarity and definition for hearing aid wearers in dynamic, moving, multi-speaker scenarios. The line currently consists of the following rechargeable models: The Active Pro IX, the Pure Charge&Go IX and TIX (the latter with a telecoil) RIC, the Styletto IX slim-RIC, and the Silk Charge & Go IX, a unique instant-fit rechargeable Completely-in-Canal (CIC) hearing aid.

Widex Rechargeable Hearing Aids

Widex MOMENT SHEER sRIC is one of the smallest rechargeable lithium-ion RIC hearing aids on the market. The sRIC represents Widex's second foray into lithium-ion technology, succeeding the mRIC, and features redesigned microphone ports so it’s easier and more comfortable to hear, process, place, and discern sounds in even the most complex listening environments. The SHEER sRIC, which uses the MOMENT family chipset that was introduced in March 2020, has a new charger that no longer has what some users viewed as a cumbersome lid, and it offers 29 hours of listening time on a full charge of 4 hours.

Widex introduced its latest RIC hearing aid, SmartRIC, in February 2024. With a unique 20-degree curve at the top of the hearing aid, SmartRIC’s dual-microphone directional system is both higher up on the ear and closer to being on the horizontal plane than traditional RICs, reportedly allowing it to align better with the wearer's focus, leading to a greater signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for noisy environments. The rechargeable device, which also uses the MOMENT chipset, has an impressive battery life of up to 36 hours of usage on a single charge, making it the company’s longest-lasting RIC. It also has Widex's first portable charger that carries 5 extra charges for on-the-go use.

Rexton Reach

Rexton is the sister company of Signia and Widex, and its hearing aids that are sold at Costco, HearUSA and HearCanada, hear.com, and private practices contain top-notch rechargeable technology. Introduced in March 2024, Reach R-Li T boasts 39 hours of battery life or 34 hours with 5 hours of streaming. It also gives you 4 hours of use on a quick 30-minute charge. Reach gives you the option of two chargers: the Charging Station R or the portable Travel Charger. Each fully charge the aids in 4 hours and come with a USZB-C power adapter.

Rechargeable vs Disposable Hearing Aids Usage

Do you ever forget to charge your cell phone at night, only to have it die halfway through the next day? Do you spend a lot of time “off the grid” without access to electricity? Are you a power user who streams audio to your hearing aids 16 hours a day? If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a possibility that rechargeable hearing aids aren’t your best choice. Hearing aids with disposable batteries may work better for you.

But if you’re accustomed to recharging your phone and would prefer not to have to change your hearing aid batteries, you're not alone. In fact, hearing aid users have made it clear they would generally prefer rechargeable hearing aids over their disposable-battery counterparts.

In 2016, HearingTracker surveyed US consumers about their rechargeability preferences after two industry leaders, Phonak and Signia, each announced upcoming hearing aid models with lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Of the 510 hearing-aid owners who responded to our survey, 89% said their aids used non-rechargeable disposable batteries, but 70% said they would prefer rechargeable hearing aids.

Four years later, in May 2020, we polled the members of our Facebook support group and found a huge jump in rechargeable hearing aid ownership, up to about 30% from 11% in 2016.

At the end of 2021, a whopping 4 out of 5 (79.4%) Receiver-in-Canal (RIC) and Behind-the-Ear (BTE) hearing aids sold in the U.S. were rechargeable, and these two hearing aid styles accounted for 87% of all hearing aid sales, according to Hearing Industries Association (HIA) statistics. As noted earlier, the MarkeTrak consumer survey indicates that about half (52%) of current hearing aid owners use rechargeable aids.

Should You Purchase Rechargeable Hearing Aids?

It's clear that consumers are increasingly voting with their wallets in favor of rechargeables. But rechargeable hearing aids have their upsides and downsides. Here are the top-7 things to consider before purchasing rechargeable hearing aids for yourself or a loved one:

• Manageability - Hearing aids are small devices that require a lot of manual dexterity. Sometimes older adults or very young kids have trouble getting them into their ears, turning them on and off and, especially, changing those tiny batteries. Rechargeable hearing aids with built-in lithium-ion batteries eliminate that dexterity challenge.
• Cost - Rechargeable hearing aids generally cost more than hearing aids that use disposables. But constantly replacing disposable batteries with new ones can cost $50 dollars or more per year, depending on how much power your hearing aids draw. So, in comparing hearing aid prices, keep in mind the extra cost of ownership of disposable-battery hearing aids.
• Environmental concerns - The carbon footprint of rechargeable batteries is significantly smaller (better) than disposable batteries. Rechargeable batteries in hearing aids are generally expected to last for 5 years or more, so you don’t have to worry about recycling very often. Disposables last only a few days to a little over a week, and you may feel guilty for tossing them in the trash.
• One charge per day - Until recently, rechargeable hearing aid batteries failed to meet the one-charge-per-day standard that consumers have become accustomed to with their mobile phones. Earlier batteries based on nickel metal hydride technology suffered from shorter life and less stable power output. But new lithium-ion batteries last all day, making an overnight charge easy—although, in some cases, streaming and AI-driven processing can make longer use times dicey.
• Convenience - If you don’t want to carry around spare packs of batteries everywhere you go, rechargeable hearing aids are a great solution. On the flip side, you do need to remember to charge rechargeable hearing aids every night. Forgetting to place them in the charger at night can mean the difference between hearing and not the following day.
• Power outages - For campers, frequent travelers, or people who live in areas frequently hit by hurricanes and natural disasters (i.e., with long power outages), you might encounter extended periods when its difficult to plug in your recharger. In these cases, hearing aids with disposable batteries can be a safer option.
• Decreased charging capacity - Just like your cell phone, the rechargeable lithium batteries in your hearing aids will lose their energy capacity over time. After about 4 or 5 years, you may find they start pushing the limits of working for an entire day, particularly if you have a more severe hearing loss, frequently stream audio, or often find yourself in challenging listening situations (see "How long do rechargeable batteries last before needing to be replaced?" below).

When you look at the pros and cons, it’s clear both disposable hearing aid batteries and rechargeable hearing aids are here to stay. Which you choose depends on your specific needs.

Lithium-ion Rechargeable Batteries

All of the global hearing aid manufacturers now offer lithium-ion rechargeable hearing aids. They utilize the same technology found in your mobile phone and hundreds of other rechargeable consumer products. Providing a strong combination of energy and power density, they can now yield more than a full day of power for hearing aids, even when paired with power-hungry Bluetooth devices. And thanks to their consistent power output, users don’t experience the malfunctions or intermittence that limited hearing aids based on earlier rechargeable technologies.

Consumers have generally given most of these premium-level rechargeable hearing aids high marks for performance and ease of use. And they are proving to be reliable, too.

No More Battery Door

For safety and performance reasons, lithium-ion batteries are sealed into the cases of hearing aids. Unlike hearing aids with replaceable disposable batteries, they don't have battery doors. That's a benefit to users who sometimes have difficulty manipulating the small controls on hearing aids and who are happy to have one less moving part to worry about.

Sealed batteries also provide better moisture, dirt, and debris protection for the hearing aids. You'll find that many of the highest quality rechargeable hearing aids have ingress protection (IP) ratings of IP68—the highest possible level for these types of devices—and have extra protection due to the sealed battery.

How Much Do Rechargeable Hearing Aids Cost?

If you check out our compare hearing aids page, you may see that prices for rechargeable hearing aids can range anywhere from well under $3,000 a pair to nearly $7,000 per pair. The flagship rechargeable hearing aids from the top brands have all been top-performing, premium-priced models. But even in the premium category, there is a broad range of prices.

And when you’re assessing prices, consider the total cost of ownership of hearing aids with disposable batteries versus rechargeable hearing aids. Let’s do some math:

• If you shop around on Amazon for disposable hearing aid batteries, you can purchase them for as little as 30 cents each.
• If you wear your hearing aids in both ears 16 hours per day, and if you plan on getting about 75 hours of use out of each disposable battery, you end up needing approximately 150 hearing aid batteries a year.
• That amounts to around $50 per year for batteries.
• If you keep your hearing aids for five years, the batteries add $250 to their total cost.

Most manufacturer’s warranties run for 2-3 years, but there have been manufacturers that offer warranties specifically covering the rechargeable batteries for longer periods. The bottom line is, if you plan on keeping your hearing aids for more than 5 years, you can save money by getting the rechargeable batteries replaced before the warranty expires. And, when you compare costs with hearing aids that use disposable batteries, keep in mind that paying a couple hundred dollars more for a rechargeable with similar features and performance may provide comparable lifetime value.

Rechargeables now make up the lion’s share of hearing aid sales, and that means more competition, more product-line expansion, and more lower-priced options.

How Long Do Rechargeable Batteries Last Before Needing Replacement?

Hearing aid manufacturers often cite the number of years of expected battery life in their specification sheets—typically 5 years—but batteries may last longer or shorter, depending on the manufacturer, the form factor and battery capacity, and your own usage/needs. As mentioned above, all rechargeable batteries lose their energy capacity over time, so it really does depend on your needs (i.e., hours of daily use) and the Day 1 capacity and deterioration rate of the specific batteries you’re using.

So here's a hot tip: Most hearing aids purchased from a clinic (not online) come with a 2 or 3-year warranty. Before that warranty expires, it's a good idea to ask your hearing provider about an “end-of-warranty refurbishment.” This involves your clinic sending the devices back to the manufacturer for updating and replacement of key components, like receivers and rechargeable batteries. Once done, the hearing aids should come back and function as if they're brand new. By doing this, you can effectively extend the life of your hearing aids from the usual 3-5 years to 6-10 years. We recommend doing this particularly if you really like how your hearing aids function.

The downside? There's usually a cost involved, you may be without your aid for a short period, and you will be delayed in receiving the latest "state-of-the-art" technology that you'd get with the purchase of new hearing aid. In some cases, you may not be able to get an end-of-warranty refurbishment if the hearing aid manufacturer no longer services or makes replacement parts for that model.

Battery Life and Operating Time

When using rechargeable hearing aids, battery life is one of the first concerns that comes to mind. How long will your hearing aids last on a single charge? Rechargeable batteries in hearing aids are actually much better than expected in terms of operational time, and this is thanks to careful power-consumption optimization by the hearing aid companies. When compared to wireless earbuds, which typically only last 4-8 hours, hearing aids are light years ahead, with operating times in the 18-30 hour range.

Battery Charge and Use Time by Model

There are many factors to keep in mind when reading the operating times published by hearing aid manufacturers. Some of the factors that will lead to less operating time include:

• Wireless streaming - If you stream wireless audio, this will reduce the operating time of your hearing aids. This includes Bluetooth audio streaming, but also includes using wireless accessories, like remotes.
• Speaker strength - When your hearing professional configures your hearing aids, they may need to select a higher-powered speaker (a "receiver" in hearing aid lingo) depending on your severity of hearing loss. Higher-powered speakers consumer more power and reduce battery life.
• Hearing loss severity - If your hearing professional has to crank up the volume to meet your needs, this will use more battery power on an ongoing basis.
• The age of your battery - After a year or two, your battery will not hold the same charge as it did on Day 1. This is the nature of li-ion batteries, and you should expect to replace your batteries after a few years if they are no longer getting you through the day.
• Sound environment - If you spend more time in noisy environments, your hearing aids will need to do more heavy duty sound processing in order to provide a cleaner sound, and this chews up the battery faster than minimal processing in quieter environments.

Given this fact, if you note that your hearing aids are not charging as fast and/or lasting as long as when you first purchased them, you may consider getting the rechargeable batteries replaced. If they are still covered under the manufacturer's warranty (usually 2-3 years), your hearing care professional might even be able to help you save some money and extend the life of your hearing aids (there may be a service charge for this).

We have attempted to pull together as much information as possible from the literature of the manufacturers, and will be adding to this list over time. Do bookmark this page, and leave a comment in the discussion section below if you wish to contend any of the information listed in the table above! Thanks.