OTC vs Prescription Hearing Aids: What Our Speech-in-Noise Tests Showed
The FDA rule, the measured gap between $1,000 OTC aids and $5,000 clinic aids, and who needs which.
The rule
Since October 2022 adults with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss can buy FDA-regulated OTC hearing aids without an exam. Moderate-to-severe loss, children, sudden loss, pain, dizziness or one-sided loss still need a hearing professional.
What we measured
Speech-in-noise gain in a 65 dB café: Phonak Sphere Infinio 6.8 dB, Oticon Intent 5.6, Kirkland 11.0 5.2 (all prescription); Jabra Enhance Select 4.5, Sony CRE-E10 3.8, Lexie B2 Plus 3.4, Eargo 7 2.9 (OTC); Audien Atom Pro 2 0.9. Each decibel of SNR gain is roughly 10% more words understood in noise.
What the money buys
Above $1,500, most of the price is the AI noise processing (Phonak) and the clinic. Kirkland at Costco proves a prescription fitting can cost $1,499.
Our path
Mild loss, mostly quiet rooms: Lexie or Sony. Mild-to-moderate, restaurants matter: Jabra Enhance Select or Kirkland. Anything worse, or unsure: an audiologist first.
» See the full rankings: Best Hearing Aids of 2026, Best Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids .