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

LifeEar is doing what's claimed and is meeting my needs. The instructions have several key omissions that need to get included. I took off a rating point for that.My situation was reduced hearing on the right side. A condition I was born with. I'd had audiograms over the years but didn't get a hearing aid because they were expensive and the technology wasn't up to what I expected. Today there are more and better options and that prompted me to look again. From the description, LifeEar seemed to meet my needs at a modest price and with the full money back guarantee I had nothing to lose trying it.The order was processed quickly and shipped Priority Mail. Had it in 2 days.The unit was smaller and lighter than I expected. After a couple of learning curve tries, I was able to put it on and take it off in seconds. It's very comfortable. I can't tell I'm wearing it even after all day. I almost made the big mistake of taking it into the shower because I forgot I had it on. It's not waterproof.On first try, there was a loud amp feedback squeal drowning out the sound. I contacted customer service and learned that the problem was the tip / ear piece not fitting my ear canal tightly (a loose fit makes much squeal) and I should change to the larger size "power tip". The larger tip comes in a separate little plastic bag in the box. But, the instructions don't say what it is or what it's used for and the word "power" is misleading. I switched to the larger tip and the problem went away. Switching was no easy task. It took small needle nose pliers and considerable force. I think a little film of baby oil on the coupling would have made it slide right in but I didn't do that because of potential problems with the return warranty. LifeEar may want to comment on using that technique (or some other) to make the change easier.The unit has 2 primary spectrums, uniform amplification & high end boost. With each of those is a noise reduction option giving 4 total choices. It takes some time to optimize the settings. In my case, after decades of imbalance, having uniform 360 hearing was a new experience. It took me 4 days to try out the choices, indoor and outdoors, and finalize the settings I now use.Almost no information is provided on batteries so I had to do more digging. My first battery lasted 7 days wearing the unit all day. The batteries cost very little. The settings are retained when the battery is removed. A "dual beep" sequence notifies when the battery is about to die. Other advice I got from customer service on batteries: - "Store batteries in their original packaging as "loose" batteries in a jar or bowl may come in contact with metal, which may result in the batteries shorting before they are activated by removing the pull-tab. - Once the battery pull-tab has been removed, the battery will slowly degrade whether or not it is being used in your LifeEar. Do not remove the pull-tab from a battery until you are ready to use the battery. - Remember that zinc-air batteries need a period of time in contact with the air to fully charge before use. Waiting at least 60 seconds after removing the pull-tab (some users have found 3-5 minutes more effective) will assure that you get the full battery life out of your battery. - Try to remove the battery from the LifeEar when not in use—this will extend the battery life as well as allow the LifeEar to dry out overnight."This material needs to get included with the instructions too. Although customer service responds very quickly, users should have the information up front not after problems occur.

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.