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The pace of innovation in the audiology world is incredibly fast. Major hearing aid manufacturers frequently update their lines with brand-new technology. I can barely keep up myself. I completely understand if you feel overwhelmed by the options.
Harley Street Hearing is fully independent. I can recommend whatever hearing aids I believe are genuinely the best for you. I have no brand loyalty and no corporate bias. This independence gives me hands-on experience with almost every device on the market. Whether you’re upgrading your current tech or buying your first pair, this post will help you cut through the noise. You can feel completely confident ahead of your next audiologist visit.
Meet some of the leading modern hearing aids
Let’s start with a physical comparison of the latest hearing aid releases. In this roundup, I’ll cover:
- Oticon Intent
- Phonak Audéo Infinio
- Starkey Edge AI
- Widex Allure
- Signia IX
- ReSound Vivia
Here’s a quick run-through of what’s on offer from each brand:
Oticon
The Intent miniRITE is currently the only model on Oticon’s newest platform.
Phonak
Two models available:
Starkey
Part of the Edge AI family with three RIC models:
- mRIC R
- RIC RT
- RIC 312
Widex
One model on the Allure platform:
The Resound Vivia family, released in February 2025, includes:
- RIE312
- RIE13
- Micro RIE
Signia
Four RIC models in the IX family:
Finding the smallest hearing aid
If cosmetics are your top priority, the ReSound Vivia RIE is the smallest receiver-in-canal option on the market. The Starkey mRIC R follows closely. The Phonak Audéo Infinio and Widex Allure are also highly competitive.
However, choosing a device solely based on appearance can lead to compromises. Discretion often comes with a trade-off in features or battery life. I highly recommend evaluating performance alongside cosmetic appeal before making your final choice. If you prefer bold, design-forward aesthetics, look at the Signia Styletto, Phonak Slim or Widex SmartRIC lines.
Feature #1: Suitability
Each hearing aid model has its own individual fitting range. This range outlines the level of hearing loss the device can comfortably manage.
Matching power to hearing loss
You might think it makes sense to buy the most powerful hearing aid available so it lasts as long as possible. That logic works to a point. However, a more powerful hearing aid requires a more powerful speaker. If physical discretion matters to you, choosing the correct power level is essential.
The speaker’s power also directly impacts frequency response. High-power speakers tend to provide slightly less high-frequency amplification. It is absolutely vital that the power level matches your unique hearing loss profile.
Fortunately, receiver-in-canal (RIC) style features fully interchangeable speakers. If your hearing changes over time, you will not necessarily need a brand-new device. Your audiologist can simply swap the speaker wire to meet your updated needs.
Phonak ActiveVent Receiver
Phonak’s ActiveVent is, without question, my favourite unique receiver technology. It has been a standout feature across several product generations.
A built-in moving piston sits inside the custom earmold. This piston automatically shifts positions based on your background environment. It controls how much sound enters your ear canal naturally versus passing through the hearing aid’s digital processor.
In turn, this can enhance how clearly you’ll hear. It will enhance how well you hear in noise, how your voice sounds, and how music or calls sound on your phone.
If you’re wondering why this matters, there are both positives and negatives to having your ear canals either open or closed. Depending on your hearing loss, sometimes it’s beneficial to have a hearing aid that can do both on different occasions. Until ActiveVent was released by Phonak, this wasn’t possible.
In a quiet environment, you might want the vent to be open, allowing all sound in and out, connecting you with your environment. Yet, when you’re in noise, it’s better to have your ears completely closed. In noisy rooms, the vent snaps shut. This forces all the sound through the microphones to maximise digital noise reduction. Without a closed vent, unmanaged background noise leaks directly into your ear canal.
ReSound M&RIE Receiver
To highlight the impact that it has on music, when streaming is activated from your phone, ActiveVent will close. This blocks sound both in and out, enhancing music and giving it a greater depth and richness.
Alternatively, ReSound have their own unique receiver technology, Microphone & Receiver-In-Ear. This is the only receiver technology available that has an extra microphone sitting at the entrance of your ear canal.
ReSound boasts that having this extra microphone in the ear, it allows the hearing aid to take into account the shape and size of your personal anatomy. In turn, this will have a significant impact on the sound, giving you a more immersive hearing experience.
This microphone is automatically enabled in a quiet environment when you want to hear everything that’s going on around you. When the hearing aids detect any degree of background noise, this additional microphone switches off, and then the directional microphones on the hearing aids kick in, giving you the most effective speech understanding and background noise that ReSound can produce.
As a result, ReSound claims that this improves sound localisation by around 15% when compared to omnidirectional BTE microphones, and around 10% when compared to hearing aids that provide pinna compensation.
Feature #2: The Tip
If this part of your hearing aid isn’t right, then your hearing aids will not function as well as they should do.
It’s easy to think that the tip is just about comfort, but there’s way more than that to consider when choosing the right setup for you.
For example, it can affect:
- the clarity and sharpness that your hearing aid provides,
- how full and rich it sounds,
- how good it sounds when streaming from your phone, and
- most importantly for most of you, how well it copes in background noise.
The easiest option for both you and your audiologist is to fit you with a generic rubber tip. I’ve had plenty of patients land in my clinic with hearing aids from other practices that haven’t been working well. All I’ve needed to do is make a custom mould, perform real ear measurements, and sprinkle on a little magic. That has transformed the tech into a brand new set of hearing aids.
So if I were you and being fitted with a hearing aid, I would ask your audiologist if custom tips are suitable for you.
Feature #3: User controls
When it comes to controlling hearing aids, some of my patients like the ability to adjust their settings, and others don’t like to make any adjustments whatsoever.
Each hearing aid manufacturer has their own way of allowing you to make adjustments to the settings. I’ve split into two groups for you today:
firstly, physically, and secondly, via each manufacturer’s respective app.
Physical Controls
There are four different categories for physical adjustments. Bear with me, because it’s worth learning about this first group, which I personally feel is the most versatile. This is my favourite group.
Group 1: Rocker Switches (My Favourite)
These hearing aids have a rocker switch built in, meaning there are technically two buttons on each hearing aid. Because they’re soft keys, their functions can be customised for your needs, such as:
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Volume control
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Mute function
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Changing programmes (e.g. connecting to a loop system, TV, or even a restaurant mode)
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Answering or hanging up phone calls
Group 2: Single Button
The second group of hearing aids has just a single button, which still gives you some degree of adjustability, but in my opinion, it’s a little bit more fiddly.
What I mean by that is:
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The right hearing aid button will turn the volume up
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The left hearing aid button turns both hearing aids down
Other than that, the functionality is pretty similar to group one.
Group 3: Tap Control
Now, this is a pretty cool feature. Some hearing aids have tap control, which is a spin-off of the accelerometers built into the devices.
From a user control point of view, these hearing aids let you:
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Answer or decline phone calls by tapping your ear
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And in the case of Phonak Infinio, you can even activate Siri or Google Assistant — without needing to take your phone out of your pocket
Not everyone uses this, but those who do absolutely love it.
Feature #3: App-Based Controls
The downside of adjusting your hearing aids using physical buttons is that it can clearly be a bit fiddly. And while your hearing aids will beep in your ears to notify you of any changes you’ve made, it’s not the same as being able to see what you’re doing on your phone.
That’s why adjusting your hearing aid settings using each manufacturer’s individual app has been a game-changer in audiology.
Plus, it gives you access to a ton of other features not possible using a button or two.
Now, my plan isn’t to go into too much detail on the apps today — because honestly, they’re all fairly similar, and this is already a lengthy video!
But if I had to choose my two favourite apps, I would hands down recommend:
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Phonak’s myPhonak app
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ReSound’s Smart 3D app
They’re the most reliable, user-friendly, and intuitive, and they give you access to loads of useful controls you won’t find in other apps.
Feature #4: Water resistance
Every hearing aid that I’m covering today has an IP68 water resistance rating, meaning they can technically be submerged in a metre and a half of water for 30 minutes, and they should still function afterwards.
Now, this isn’t just a rating reserved for hearing aids — you’ll also find it in things like your smartphone, which you might even be watching me on right now.
That said, two manufacturers — Phonak and Starkey — have gone the extra mile and put their hearing aids through some seriously rigorous testing to ensure they can handle the hammering they’re likely to get in daily life.
This includes robustness testing like:
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Simulated sweat tests
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Seawater, saltwater, and chlorinated water exposure
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Freshwater testing in a pressurised chamber
Phonak’s Protection
Phonak are boasting that they’ve:
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Added additional microphone protection
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Sealed the seams with silicon
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And coated the internal components with a parylene coating — which I’m told is the same protection system NASA use on their spacecraft
Starkey’s Approach: Pro8 HydraShield
On the other hand, Starkey have developed their Pro8 HydraShield waterproofing, which includes:
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A Kevlar-reinforced receiver — the same Kevlar used in military-grade bulletproof vests
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Redesigned acoustic ports
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An internal microphone mesh barrier
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Silicon-sealed casing
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And specially coated internal components too
I’d say for the majority of you watching, the standard IP68 rating will be more than enough.
However, if you live a lifestyle that demands next-level protection, then one of those two models — Phonak or Starkey — may just be the right hearing aid for you.
Feature #5: Battery power
Modern power configurations fall into two distinct categories: traditional disposable cells and integrated lithium-ion rechargeable systems.
Disposable vs rechargeable batteries
If you choose a disposable battery model, the runtime is determined by the physical size of the cell rather than the brand of the hearing aid. Most compact models utilise a size 312 battery, which generally lasts between 5 and 7 days. High power models may feature a larger size 13 battery, stretching the lifespan to 7 or 10 days before requiring a manual change.
Clinic data and online surveys show that the majority of modern users prefer rechargeable options. Rechargeable platforms generally split into two runtime tiers.
Standard tier
Provides roughly 24 hours of continuous use on a single charge. This covers a full waking day comfortably.
Extended tier
Brands like Signia and Widex offer up to 35 hours of power per charge. Starkey leads the industry with a massive 51-hour maximum runtime.
Understanding battery degradation
Manufacturers do not build extended battery capacities just for multi-day trips. All lithium-ion cells lose health and capacity as they age. After a few years of constant use, a rechargeable battery will naturally hold less charge.
If a smartphone battery degrades, it is an inconvenience. If a hearing aid battery dies prematurely, it cuts off your ability to communicate. Extended battery capacities provide a crucial functional buffer. As the chemical cells age over 3 or 4 years, the device still retains enough capacity to clear a full waking day. If battery health drops significantly, most major manufacturers will replace the cells under their standard warranty terms.
Feature #6: Technology levels
Now, not only are there various models of these hearing aids available, but each also comes in different technology levels too, each with differing features around the hearing aid’s ability to cope in background noise, around how they’ll provide you with clarity and distinction, and also around how they’ll cope in more complicated listening situations. Now, keep in mind that you’ll pay more for a more advanced hearing technology level and prices can vary depending on the audiologist that you see.
This table compares the different features in the various technology levels of the Oticon Intent. These are the differing features within the family of Phonak Infinio hearing aids. Here are all of the differences between the Starkey Edge AI hearing aids. Next, this table shows the various features that you’d have access to in the Widex Allure family of hearing aids. The penultimate table outlines the features in each of Resound’s Vivia family of hearing aids, and then finally, this table contains all of the information that you need to know about the features within the Signia IX hearing aids.
Yes, I get it, there is a lot of information on each of these tables and there is way too much information to cover in today’s video without making it 14 hours long. And I’ve got to be honest now, I don’t think I can keep up this level of enthusiasm for as long as it would take to cover them all. But I would suggest taking a solid look through each of these tables, looking at the features that resonate with you, and then having a good chat with your audiologist about its suitability for your hearing loss and your hearing difficulties.
Now, that nicely brings me on to the subject of audiologists, and I’ve got to say to you: to make sure you get the best out of your ears, I am begging you to make sure that you find yourself an independent audiologist who has access to hearing aids from all hearing aid manufacturers. Why do I say this? Well, most chains—in fact, all chains—and a few independent practices only work with a handful of hearing aid manufacturers, and in that instance, you’re not necessarily going to be recommended what’s best for you, but whichever hearing aid technology they have access to or personally get the best deal on.
Feature #7: Artificial Intelligence
The leading platforms utilise complex offline artificial intelligence networks. Manufacturers train these internal algorithms using massive databases of acoustic environments. The hearing aid uses this data to automatically categorise your current room and adjust its audio settings in real time.
Automated sound architecture
The scope of this automated training is immense across the top brands:
- Phonak: Outfits its processors to analyse millions of sound scenes.
- Oticon: Utilises an onboard deep neural network trained on 12 million distinct environments.
- ReSound: Leverages a database of 13 million acoustic scenarios.
- Starkey: Configures its engine to make up to 80 million automatic adjustments every hour.
This processing power ensures you receive clear sound without manual adjustments. When you enter a noisy room, the computer narrows the microphone focus onto the person speaking directly in front of you while suppressing background chatter.
Interactive AI Alternatives
In contrast, brands like Widex and Signia approach artificial intelligence through user participation. Their mobile apps allow you to make manual adjustments when you are struggling to hear.
The app compares your real-time adjustments against data from thousands of other global users in similar environments. The system then optimises your acoustic settings based on those successful crowdsourced profiles. The only downside to this approach is that it requires your physical input. Most clinic patients prefer a fully automated system that handles adjustments seamlessly behind the scenes.
Feature #8: Motion sensors
Working alongside its artificial intelligence, Oticon, Phonak, Starkey, and Signia utilise accelerometers or motion sensors in their hearing aids. Now, this concept isn’t new in itself, with Signia first introducing motion sensors in their tech in 2019; Phonak in 2020; Starkey in 2023; and then Oticon finally joined the party in 2024.
If you’re sat there thinking to yourself, “Why on earth would a hearing aid have built-in motion sensors?” — that’s a fair enough question to ask. Hold on tight, because you’re going to love this. Essentially, they provide information to your hearing aids based on your movement, anticipating, with greater accuracy, the specific needs for your listening situation. In practice, this means that if you’re sat down in a restaurant, you’d normally want to hear the person speaking in front of you, and perhaps a little to the side too. However, as soon as you stand up and start walking, we would normally want to be able to hear the person by our side as we’re walking along, as it’s unlikely that you’ll have somebody walking in front of you and walking backwards. The motion sensors help the hearing aids to recognise that and adjust themselves accordingly.
Whilst this is available with Oticon, Phonak, Starkey, and Signia, some manufacturers only include this feature in their rechargeable models, so in my opinion, this should be another factor that pushes you towards rechargeable hearing aids.
Now, one last point on these motion sensors. If you’re thinking, “Matthew, your review is fantastic; however, you’ve missed out Resound’s hearing aids,” — you’re right, I have. But they’re solely used as a tap control feature for answering and hanging up phone calls, like so. They’ve got nothing to do with improving hearing in different listening situations.
In my opinion, the world of hearing aids is an incredibly difficult one to navigate. You’ll see different reviews online where hearing aid users conflict with one another, and to be honest, when it comes down to sound quality, online reviews can be pretty useless. Other people’s hearing won’t be the same as yours, they won’t have the same challenges as you, and remember, hearing aids come as a blank canvas. It’s the role of your audiologist to (A) choose the most appropriate hearing aid technology for you, and (B)—which is way more important—to set them up appropriately for you using gold standards.
Matthew Allsop is a Partner at Harley Street Hearing, and Europe’s biggest hearing technology Youtuber for Hearing Tracker, where he shares his honest opinion on all new hearing aid technology. Hearing Tracker is the world’s first truly independent resource for hearing aid customers. You can view his video comparing the best hearing aids of 2025 below.
Enjoy this article? You might be interested in some of our others:
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- The importance of getting hearing aids fitted by a professional
