[brento]

I was told I could benefit from hearing aids, but was told they would cost $5K to $8K depending on which ones I wanted. I've decided for now that I'll put up with the issues associated with not having them for now. I was also told they blue tooth doesn't work very well if you have an android phone, so I'm hoping that there can be some real innovation and competition in this space to drive the prices down and also improve the technology!

[mgerdts]

If you can find your way to Costco, make an appointment with their audiologist. The test is free and hearing aids are less than $900 each. Follow-up visits are free. You do not need a Costco membership unless you decide to make a purchase. If you are unhappy with your purchase you can get a refund on the hearing aids and the membership.

I believe that most of their hearing aids support bluetooth, but only when you get a pair. I only need one, so no bluetooth for me.

I've had fittings by two people at Costco. One is an audiologist and the other was less credentialed, but I forget the title. I could hear better when fitted by the audiologist.

[jki275]

This is so true! We were told 8k, Costco got us a top of the line set with all of the features the other set had for less than 2k for the set. Costco made a customer for life out of that deal. They do glasses as well, though I haven't used them for that and don't know if the discounts are as good or not.

[pkaye]

I just started using hearing aids and went with the Costco Signature. Half the cost of hearing aids is the office overheads since hearing aids need significant tuning. Costco is able to leverage its existing store overhead to minimize it. The Costco ones re made by Phonak and based on the features on the Phonak Marvel series.

[Hovertruck]

I don't have any first-hand experience to share, but my wife used to work at https://www.audicus.com/ which is a startup focused on exactly this problem, in case you're interested in further research.

[gedy]

If you have access to Costco their in house brand is much less (~$1600 pair) and good. Also I really like Bose Hearphones which work better for me and were $500, assuming you don't mind looking like you are on a conference call all the time.

[cedricd]

Have you seen https://www.listenlively.com/ They're a fair bit below what you've quoted above.

[dhosek]

That seems really high. I have the fanciest hearing aids that Costco sells (rechargeable, Bluetooth, optional external microphone) and I spent under $5K on it.