Over the years, the warehouse house Costco is dedicated to offering customers the opportunity to get all their supplies in one place. Costco supplies have grown over the years to cover the area of hearing aids. With the OTC hearing aid bill Passed into law, Costco has become one of the largest suppliers of the hearing aid.
There are 5 major brands that make up the brands of Costco hearing aids. These brands include the Phonak, Kirkland Signature, Rexton, Bernafon and the ReSound. These brands are designed with different levels of hearing damage in mind. Your choice of a brand should be selected according to your type of hearing loss. Costco hearing aids are designed to take care of mild to severe hearing loss problem. There are quite a number of options to select from ranging from open fit hearing aids to Behind the Ear (BTE) hearing aids and other kinds of hearing aids. Some hearing aids are designed with possible options of either streaming sound directly into the ear. There are other hearing aids designed with mobile phone support features.
We will look at the five types of hearing aids offered by Costco and the features that make them unique.
Types of hearing aids offered at Costco
Phonak Hearing Aids
The Phonak hearing aids the Brio 3 sold at Costco comes in three different designs. The designs include Behind the Ear (BTE), in the ear (ITE) and the Receiver in Ear (RIE). There is also a variation of the RIE called the Power RIE. This model is designed to work in tough conditions. Whether it’s in a noisy environment or harsh weather conditions, this model is designed with a very advanced operating system to help improve the sound quality.
The Brio 3 is designed to suit the individual user’s style. They come in different colors so you can select what best compliments your outfit. Phonak hearing aids are designed with a remote app for iOS and the Android phone versions. This remote app can be used to control the Brio 3 Remote Controlled (R-C) hearing aids. This improves hand-free phone calls and music audio streaming to your hearing aid.
The Phonak hearing aid has 8 channels of customization for different hearing problems. The Phonak hearing aid is cost effective and good for those with a low budget.
Essential model
This is popularly known as V30 or B30.it include a basic feature set which has 8 channels that customize the hearing aids level across different frequencies. These hearing aids are perfect for those who have basic listening requirements in quiet settings, for example, the budget-minded wearers.
Standard model
The standard Phonak hearing aids are popularly known as the B50 or V50. The standard model is made up of the basic features and basic upgrades. The features include an audio streaming device for the hands-free mobile experience.
Advanced model
The advanced model of the Phonak hearing aid is basically known as the B70 or V70. The advanced model consists of all the features of the essential and standard models. It also has other advanced features such as music accessibility and dialogue fluency enhancement and environment noise canceling. The advanced models are designed with 16 channels. The advanced Phonak hearing aid is designed for people who spend a lot of time in noisy environments.
Reducing Tinnitus effect with the Phonak hearing aid
Tinnitus is one of the common problems faced by hearing aid users. It can occur in various forms. It can either be the hearing of sound when no external sound is present. Other times the tinnitus effect can be felt in the form of ringing in the ear. There are other times when it will be experienced in the form of a roar of music. The tinnitus reduction features cut across all brands of the Phonak hearing aid. This feature is designed for use under the supervision of a hearing expert. It constitutes part of the hearing aid tinnitus therapy.
Phonak pediatric hearing aids
When it comes to the production of excellent hearing aids for pediatrics, Phonak has a good reputation among hearing experts. The pediatric line of hearing aids from Phonak are called the Sky V. they are designed for mild hearing loss as well as severe hearing loss in pediatrics. They are designed with features and colors that are attractive to children and infants.
Phonak hearing aids designed for special purposes
The Phonak brand has pushed their hearing aid further by manufacturing hearing aids for special purposes. These special purposes hearing aids include the following:

  • Hearing aids for a severely damaged hearing loss. Phonak offers a highly effective hearing aid known as the Naida V which is designed for adults with severe hearing loss. The Naida V is available in BTE model and RIC models. they boast of 4 different levels of technology.

  • Hearing aid for people experiencing single-sided Single sided deafness is a common phenomenon. This is why Phonak has manufactured dedicated devices for this condition. The CROS B and the CROS II are designed with the view of helping people suffering from single-sided deafness. These hearing aids are made up of two hearing aid devices. One is fitted with a microphone while the other is fitted with a receiver. The microphone is inserted in the ear with the hearing loss while the receiver is inserted in the good ear. This hearing aid is designed to pick up signals from the bad ear and send them to the good ear. This set up is useful in speech recognition and is also localized. This means it can help you to easily identify the direction of a speech.

  • The extended-wear hearing aid device. This kind of hearing aid is designed to stay in the ear much longer. It saves you all the stress of daily handling the hearing aids. One of such models designed by Phonak is the Lyric. This model is an IIC hearing aid that is completely hidden in the ear canal. This process is carried out by a hearing aid professional. The hearing aids are meant to remain in the ear until the batteries run out. When this happens, the device is replaced. This kind of hearing aid is not suitable for people with all forms of hearing loss. Using this kind of hearing aid must be done with a lot of considerations and help from a hearing aid professional.


Kirkland Signature hearing aids
This offers premium technology, modern style and powerful performance to give a discreet and natural listening comfort.it has two models; KS 7.0 and KS 8.0.
The KS 7.0 is compatible with accessories like smart connect, smart power charger, smart remote, speech connect and other smartphone apps.it look like Trax42’s design on the exterior.it has a dedicated volume control, rechargeable batteries and android compatible.it also has noise management premium performance, music enhancer
The KS 8.0 is the improved version of KS7.0 model. The model KS 8.0 first made its grand appearance in February 2018. it is customized to help you hear your own voice more naturally without echoes or distractions, has energy efficiency to preserve battery life, can automatically adjust to different environments and reduces ambiance noise.it can stream music and phone calls from your iPhone directly to your hearing aid.
The Kirkland signature comes with dedicated volume control with a water-resistant coating. This hearing aid is designed to work in tough conditions and suitable for those who perspire a lot.
The Kirkland Signature has a mobile app that helps you to control the volume of your device as well as adjust the device settings.
Rexton hearing aids
This offer a high level of durability and extensive personalization. The Rexton hearing aids at Costco centers consists of the latest model design the legato brand. The legato ix is designed to be completely hidden in the ear. This kind of hearing aid does not require an impression to fit. They are designed to last for a long time and are powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The Rexton hearing aid is Bluetooth compatible and is commonly known as a RIC hearing aid. The Rexton is designed to offer voice amplification over noisy backgrounds. The Rexton hearing aid is designed to be controlled using special Android apps and also the Connexx smartphone. The Connex is designed to automatically connect your hearing aid to TV, to Bluetooth phones and music players. The accessories that come with the Connex smartphone include the following: the smart connect which is used to connect the hearing aid to other devices like the television, the phone, and other music streaming devices.
The Bernafon brand of the hearing aid
This brand of the hearing aid sold a Costco is one of the smartest devices when it comes to adjusting to environmental sound automatically. The Bernafon is designed to adjust to the sounds around you at any point in time. This device can be controlled using the EasyControl A app which is designed to work with iOS. This app enables you to stream audio directly to the hearing aids. It also enhances the quality of calls as well as hands-free calls. Bernafon hearing aids are designed especially for Apple devices that run on the iOS apps. The Bernafon hearing aids come in the following types:

  • ITE

  • RIE

  • BTE


ReSound hearing aids
There is quite a variety of hearing aids from this brand. Their products range from Tiny-in-canal hearing aids to the RIC types, Behind-the-ear hearing aids and hearing aids for children.
Resound design shearing aids to suit different skin tone types. The in-the-ear hearing aid from ReSound comes in 5 different skin tones color. The Behind-the-ear and the RIC are designed in few colors which include the dark, the dark grey, and the black and white. The RIC, however, may come in varying colors ranging from orange to purple and other attractive colors.
The Resound also has an iOS app that is compatible with the ReSound Forte models. The iOS app is designed to provide an easy way to control your hearing aids. You can upgrade your ReSound hearing aids with a few important accessories which include the microphone which is useful if you want to hear up to three people in a very noisy environment, the Television video/audio streamer for live streaming of TV programmes and audio into your hearing aids, the phone clip is also useful for those who wish to turn their hearing aids into hearing earplugs, this is suitable for mobile device users.
Costco hearing aid and the US Market
Over the years, Costco hearing aids offer the some of the Americans the opportunity to explore a different variety of the hearing aids. There is, therefore, the need to make a comparative study of how the Costco hearing aid compares with other hearing aids in the market.
In the US today, an estimated 15% of the adults which ranks at about 37million American population suffer from one kind of hearing loss problem. Costco hearing aid centers are scattered across various states in the United States to provide aids for the vast majority of the Americans with hearing problems.
When it comes to managing hearing loss problems, the hearing aid remains your best option. When selecting a hearing aid, there are a number of factors that determine which one to settle for. The lifestyle of the person with the hearing loss plays an important role in what the person decides to settle for as well as the kind of hearing loss to be managed.
Another important factor that can determine what hearing aid a person will settle for is the price. Depending on your budget, you can decide on the type and brand of the hearing aid to settle for. The average price of a hearing aid in the United States is over 1,500 dollars which is a whole lot of money. This is why the Costco hearing aids are ideal aids for a majority of the population as they offer hearing aids that cost far below that price. At Costco hearing aid centers, there are a lot of hearing aids which cost below 500 dollars which is just a fraction of the actual cost of a hearing aid out there.
The rise of the hearing aid technology over the years
As the world continues to grow with a lot of advancement in technology, the hearing aid technology continues to grow. Over the past decade, a lot of improvement has been made to the hearing aid technology. Unlike the earlier versions, the hearing aid can now do much better and offer more seamless hearing support than before. There are a whole lot of added features to give users a whole new listening experience.
The Costco hearing aids are pushing the experience forward with a lot of digital devices that fall in the trend of the modern day experience. Majority of the hearing aids from Costco are designed to be compatible with mobile devices and connects very well with other electronic devices. Advanced hearing aids make the job much easier and improve the quality of your life and relationship. Modern hearing aids are designed with a lot of quality and features that can help improve your lifestyle. There is a variety of hearing aids coming up every day with a lot of interesting features. This has made hearing aids more attractive to people with hearing loss as well as enjoyable.
The more powerful and features a hearing aid offers, the higher the price tag attached to the product. Therefore, the final product to settle for is hugely determined by the size of your budget.
There are a lot of funds and studies been devoted to the hearing aid research around the world. These researches are designed to figure out ways to improve on the hearing aid design and performance. In the future, we will have more advanced and improved hearing aids with a lot of interesting features and better performance. Researches are also looking for ways to cut down on the prices of the hearing aid to make it more affordable to people.
Costco free hearing examination
Most Costco stores with hearing centers offer a free hearing test for visitors. This free hearing tests also does not compel you to buy anything from the store. Costco free hearing tests are also not geared towards specific hearing conditions. They are only designed to determine if you require a hearing improvement. These tests are not meant to determine what caused the hearing loss.
Pros and Cons of the Costco hearing aids
Pros

  • The Costco hearing aid are cheaper and more affordable than your regular hearing aids.

  • Costco offers different brands and models of the hearing aid in one store.

  • Costco offers free cleaning services and checkups for hearing aid users.

  • Costco provides visitors with a free hearing examination and test.


Cons

  • Costco hearing centers are not present in all the stores.

  • Hearing aid selections are sometimes restricted to selected locations only.


Does Costco offer warranty for their product and services?
For most of the hearing aids offered by Costco, there is a damage and loss protection on the device provided by Costco at no additional price. However, the real warranty for the product comes from the manufacturers of each brand. Each brand and model may have a different warranty. What Costco does is to offer free cleaning services and cleans the hearing aids at no extra charges. From time to time, they offer programs which are geared towards sensitizing the people on how to use the hearing aid and the need to treat a hearing loss once it has been noticed. At these events, there are often demonstrations on how to use different types of hearing aids. These events are definitely not designed for product sales. They are only designed as a way of passing information and educating the people. Visitors to these events go home with enough information to help them decide what type of hearing aids best fit them.
The major complaint about Costco hearing aids
Complaints about the Costco hearing aid is more of a store to store thing. You find different stores with different ratings based on clients experience at the centers. There are some stores with a lot of positive reviews and ratings. There are also other stores with less than required a rating. These ratings are based on customer experience and some store limitations. Therefore, the rating from one store experience is unique to that location in most cases.
From various information gathered online from personal reviews, the major problem with Costco hearing aids revolve around the store location and the appointment time. There are also a few people who complained about some brands of the hearing aids offered by Costco. In general, Costco scores a 3-star rating cumulatively out of 5 stars. This 3-star rating is based on information gathered from the Consumer Affairs website. According to rating by the Better Business Bureau, Costco bags an A+ rating.
Conclusion
Hearing aids can be an expensive but useful investment. It is also one of the most reliable ways to treat an established hearing loss problem. With a vast number of people who require the hearing aid but not able to afford one, Costco hearing aids are therefore a step forward in the right direction. Introduction of their brands of hearing aids is very timely and also affordable. With lower prices and high performance, those who really need the hearing aid can now actually afford it. There is a variety of design and style to choose from. Costco has been able to cut down on the prices of the hearing aid device through the power of bulk purchase from brand manufacturers. Another step Costco is taking in the right direction is providing after-sales services for those who purchased their hearing aids. They also provide free training and information about the hearing aid brands. This training is only a means of passing information to the people. They are not designed to put compulsion on the people to buy the hearing aids.