In 2023, cell phones, Bluetooth, and other technology are a big part of our daily lives. Updates to Bluetooth and the latest hearing aid chips have made these everyday used devices even more functional and convenient for hearing aid users. The future is bright with direct Bluetooth hearing aid compatibility now available for iPhone and some Android phones. In this blog, we’ll break down some of the latest features for both Apple and Android devices. Features making cell phones and hearing aids more useful than ever before.

Cell phones, in general

All cell phones will come with a Hearing Aid Compatability (HAC) rating regardless of make and model. From 1 to 4, these ratings indicate how well a phone will work with two hearing aid factors: T and M. T stands for Telecoil or a particular coupling feature in the hearing aids. M is the measurement of immunity to radio frequency interference for hearing aid without a telecoil.  The higher the rating of these two factors, the better the two devices’ compatibility. For example, the iPhone 14 rates at M3, T4, the Google Pixel 3a M3, T3, etc. You generally want something with a minimum rating of 2 to work well with your hearing aids.

Additionally, any cell phone bought in the last ten years has Bluetooth capabilities. With updates in the last few years, direct connectivity between Bluetooth devices became much easier. Made for iPhone hearing aids have had this ability for years. But for Android users, a secondary device was needed as the go-between the phone and hearing aids. Well, no more. In 2019 the ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids) protocol release for Andoird made direct Bluetooth pairing possible. So now, as long as the phone and hearing aids are compatible, they can be connected with a few simple button presses.

Along with direct streaming capabilities, additional features can be used with and without hearing aids to enhance your listening experiences.

Apple Features

Live Listen – your phone becomes a remote microphone that streams directly to your hearing aids. In noisy environments like restaurants, this feature would make it easier for you to understand the conversation by cutting out a lot of the background noise.

Live Captions – adds captions to live speech picked up through the phone’s microphone and with media audio through FaceTime, apps, podcasts, etc. While this feature is still in testing, it’s now available with the newest iPhone update.

Android Features

Live Caption – automatically adds live captioning to any media being played on the phone. Including videos, podcasts, phone calls, video calls, etc.

Live Transcribe – provides captioning for speech picked up in the environment by the phone’s microphone. This feature would be great at doctor’s appointments, meetings, or other small social gatherings when you need a bit of added support.

Sound Amplifier – Optimizes sound from the phone’s microphone by increasing the loudness, augmenting the sound for better clarity, and adding noise reduction.

*These features are available on Google Pixel devices and most Samsung devices through the accessibility settings or additional apps.

Specific features within iPhone and Android are working to make cell phones and hearing aids more effective. These easy-to-use features make communication from audio media, phone calls, and environmental conversations more accessible to those with a wide range of hearing abilities.

Best Phones for Hearing Aids

The latest Bluetooth chip has made it far easier to connect hearing aids with various phones and other streaming devices. That said, certain phones still have more capabilities and easier connections for hearing aids than others. For that reason, here is our list of best phone compatibility with hearing aids.

• Apple iPhone (11 and up)
• Samsung Galaxy (S9 and up)
• Google Pixel (3a and up)

These phones allow direct connectivity to the hearing aids capable of using the specialized functions noted in this blog and some hearing aid-specific functionality.

If you’re in the market for a new phone, keep some of these additional hearing and hearing aid features in mind! For questions about compatibility, give us a call; we’d be happy to look up that information for you.