Empower Hearing Amplifier. Digital Noise Reduction, Feedback Cancellation Enhances Speech. 4 Program Nearly Invisible Behind The Ear 12 Channel Device Aids Hearing. Ready to Wear, 1 Yr Warranty

It's no secret that there is a hearing aid Mafia made up by a group of licensed specialists who by law are the only people allowed to dispense "professional" hearing aids. The Food and Drug Administration regulates the industry which only makes things worse for the consumer in terms of out of pocket expense. I bought this LifeEar unit to test a theory that I had regarding the industry and I'm glad that I did.I'm a 42yr old male. I had an unsuccessful middle ear surgery on my right ear to correct a moderate hearing loss problem (worst decision of my life). The surgery left me 90% deaf in that ear. At my local ENT center, I purchased a top of the line hearing aid which cost me a whopping $2500 (no insurance help - thanks!). After my 30 day trial period, I returned the unit because I could not justify the expense. My main complaints with the hearing aid were that it was not user adjustable, the sound quality was poor and that I had to return to the hearing center every time I needed to make an adjustment. I made four "programming" visits in 30 days and still could not get the unit to work as expected based on the expense.I decided to purchase this LifeEar Hearing "Amplifier" (note that they cannot legally call it a hearing aid) to see what the comparative differences were. I should note that my review is based on swapping out the earpiece supplied by LifeEar to the custom mold that was made at my ENT center which cost me $50. I would recommend doing the same if possible as the custom molds reduces the amount of feedback in the earpiece. With that said, the LifeEar earpiece works well and is not a poor design by any means – I simply have a custom piece so I use it instead.Here are the results:The sound quality of the LifeEar is better than the expensive, custom tuned, multiple-microphone hearing aid. It has plenty of power for me with my major hearing loss. There are 10 levels of volume and I usually keep mine set on a volume setting of 8 or 9 (for reference, my 70yr old Father with age related hearing loss tried it and he preferred a much lower setting of around 3-4). I love the fact that I can easily adjust the volume which was my #1 complaint with the $2500 hearing aid. The 4 different program settings do work. I prefer the standard #1 setting where everything is amplified, but the other settings do help cut down on the white noise and/or amplify the high pitches (depending on which you choose). Wind noise is much less of an issue with the LifeEar compared to the $2500 hearing aid. Battery life is exactly 6 days for me which is about the same as the other unit.The fit is very comfortable although the tubing does stick out a little more than the expensive custom unit. I’m sure that I could order a proper size replacement tube, but it doesn’t bother me a bit and it’s very comfortable. I wear my LifeEar 16 hours every day and I forget that I’m wearing it.To summarize, the LifeEar has far exceeded my expectations so far. After forking over $2500 for a so called “professional” hearing aid that was a disappointment, I knew there had to be a better option. I ordered the LifeEar for no reason other than to compare it to the one that I had returned. Having this unit confirms all my suspicions that the professional hearing aid industry is rigged. There is absolutely no reason to pay $2500 or more for a hearing aid that will not do the job that the LifeEar will do. I can’t wait to go back to my ENT center and give them a piece of my mind for trying to rip me off.

My right ear is , I would estimate , perhaps 40 decibels down and has intermittent tinnitus . I bought LifeEar before heading to a conference . I tried adjusting it every way I could . It was useless . To even approach any audible gain , it would be prone to feedback squealing any time I brought my hand near my head . That did prove , tho , that the unit intrinsically had sufficient volume for me to hear -- if it had been amplifying normal sounds . I stopped using it after 2 days and 1+ battery .The conference happened to tour the Schönbrunn Palace where we used external , over the ear earpieces to hear the guide . I wore mine on my right ear and , while I needed the volume maxed , I could hear the tour guide clearly .Thus the problem was not simply that my ear is too bad to help . Rather , it seems the LifeEar's sound simply was not coupling to my ear canal -- except when it went into feedback .My background is in psychophysics with a significant understanding of auditory psychophysics . And my CoSy programming language very suited for such tasks as next-generation hearing aids . So I was quite interested in whether a $300 aid would work for me . And quite disappointed that it didn't . I guess it's time to go to a specialist .I do think a problem was the coupling of the sound to the ear canal because the "bud" had to be positioned very carefully for me to hear anything from it -- and that is a design consideration I had not considered .

I really wanted to like this hearing aid, but the sound quality was just not working for me.Pro's: Very comfortable, discreet behind the ear, thin cord over the ear that's clear, and the ear bud inside is very comfortable. It can also be easily turned up or down by pushing the button on the back.Con's: will easily whistle very loud if you touch it or almost cover it with your hand. I appreciated how I could turn the volume up when I needed to, but it has no internal sensor (obviously) to turn itself down when people start raising their voices around you, so the sound can quickly become overwhelming. I would need to keep the volume down at a moderate low level in case others began to raise their voices around me- but then I can't hear people at all when they lower their voices. It was frustrating. I think I got spoiled from trying out the expensive $5k ones earlier, as they have internal computer sensors that will automatically adjust the volume up and down according to the sounds around you- that feature is priceless on the high end styles. But overall, if you're desperate for better hearing, these will definitely amplify the sound and they are very discreet and comfortable.