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Written By:
Kimberley BradshawHead of Online Medical Content
Medically Reviewed By:
Paul HarrisonAudiology Expert at Hearing Aid UK
Updated and medically reviewed: 4th February 2025
Specsavers vs Amplifon Hearing Aids
What are the differences between hearing aid retailers Amplifon and Specsavers?
Overview | Who is Specsavers? | Pros and cons of Specsavers | Who are Amplifon? | Pros and cons of Amplifon | Conclusion
Researching hearing aid providers in the UK - Specsavers hearing aids vs Amplifon, who's better?
When searching for a dependable hearing aid provider in the UK, it’s essential to invest time in doing research, a step that will undoubtedly pay off. But where should you start? Begin by exploring trusted resources, such as reputable comparison websites and authentic customer reviews, to pinpoint providers with a solid track record, like those featured in the Which? Report.
Key considerations should include the provider’s qualifications, expertise, and experience within the industry. Aim to choose one that offers a broad selection of hearing aid brands and models, ensuring you can find the right fit for your individual needs. It’s equally important to assess the quality of their customer service, particularly their aftercare offerings.
By conducting thorough research, you can make an informed decision and select a reliable hearing aid provider. In this article, we’ll compare two popular hearing aid retailers in the UK, Specsavers and Amplifon, to help bring more clarity to your decision-making process.
What are the disadvantages and advantages of both Specsavers hearing aids and Amplifon hearing aids?
Specsavers and Amplifon are two popular hearing aid providers in the UK. While Specsavers is a well-known name on the high street, Amplifon, though still known, is perhaps not as widely recognised. We believe it could be useful, from a consumer perspective, to explore the pros and cons of both Specsavers and Amplifon.
In our experience, many of our customers tend to compare Boots with Specsavers rather than Amplifon. However, we believe that contrasting Specsavers with Amplifon offers valuable insights for those researching hearing aids, particularly if it’s your first time exploring options.
The key point is that you’ve already taken the important step of acknowledging your hearing loss and recognising the need to improve your hearing, and that, in itself, is the most significant hurdle to overcome.
Specsavers vs Amplifon Hearing Aids
Who is Specsavers?
Specsavers hearing aids
Specsavers is regarded as the largest hearing aid retailer on the UK high street. With around 600 locations, either standalone or within their optician branches, they certainly boast an impressive presence. They offer hearing aids from two manufacturers, typically changing every few years. As of now, these are Signia and Phonak.
However, the majority of the hearing aids they provide are from their own "Advance" range. These "Advance" hearing aids are also made by Signia and Phonak but are based on older generations of technology rather than the latest models. As a result, the Advance range lacks the advanced features and improvements found in the newer branded versions.
It’s also important to note that because the Advance range is exclusive to Specsavers, only their dispensers are able to re-program or maintain the devices. Therefore, if you need to have your hearing aids adjusted by an audiologist from a different company, it’s unlikely to be possible.
What are the advantages of Specsavers hearing aids?
They provide a home visit service for your convenience.
Consumers generally regard the services they offer, including customer support, hearing tests, and the overall experience, as being of a high standard.
What are the disadvantages of Specsavers hearing aids?
Consumers tend to rate them as average in terms of staff knowledge, professionalism, and experience.
Specsavers hearing aids are also considered average when it comes to their appearance, range, comfort, and overall suitability for the wearer.
As previously mentioned, access to aftercare is quite limited. For example, if you need your devices adjusted, you'll have to return to a Specsavers dispenser.
Other useful hearing aid retailer articles:
Amlifon Hearing Aids Versus Specsavers Hearing Aids
Who is Amplifon?
Amplifon hearing aids
Although Ampifon is an Italian company, it has established a strong presence in the UK and now operates in 18 countries worldwide. Their headquarters is based in Milan, with a UK office located in Manchester.
Currently, Ampifon runs around 200 centres across the UK and employs approximately 100 dispensers. Like Hidden Hearing, they offer a home visiting service, though it's important to note that this service isn't available in all areas of the UK.
Ampifon entered the UK hearing aid market in 2006 through its acquisition of Ultravox, which owns brands like Amplivox, Ultratone, Sietech, and Hearing Health. While they don’t have ties to any specific hearing aid manufacturer, they’ve built a strong working relationship with Resound over the years.
As a result, most of the hearing aids they sell are from Resound. To put things into perspective, around 11% of their customers opt for Widex, while approximately 19% choose Phonak hearing aids.
What are the advantages of Amplifon?
- In the last Which? Report, they were considered ‘good’ with keeping to appointment times, facilities offered, staff, and service in general.
- They have a large number of centres nationwide and globally, therefore, there will be a store conveniently near you.
What are the disadvantages of Amplifon?
- In the latest Which? Report, that they didn’t score very well in hearing aid choices offered to customers as well as their transparency in pricing and model information.
- Another low score in the same report was the pressure they were putting on their customers to purchase with them. We feel that they potentially have quite a biased approach to which hearing aid manufacturers they talk about and promote, such as Resound.
- Their home visiting service is quite limited and heavily dependent on where you live.
Other useful information when researching hearing aids:
- Best hearing aids
- Hearing aid types
- Hearing aid brands
- Hearing aid prices
- Bluetooth hearing aids
- Rechargeable hearing aids
- AI hearing aids
What should you really be paying for your hearing aids?
We believe you shouldn’t be paying over the odds for your hearing aids. While they’re an important investment, the price should be reasonable, and transparent, and include essential benefits like aftercare, a warranty, and more – with no hidden charges.
Price is often one of the biggest misunderstandings surrounding hearing aids, with many people thinking they’re simply too costly. In reality, the cost varies based on factors such as the severity of your hearing loss, your budget, your lifestyle, and whether features like advanced technology and connectivity matter to you.
For instance, when we assess your hearing, review the results, and take your specific needs into account, we may find that you don’t require high-spec or feature-packed devices. If that’s the case, we’ll recommend hearing aids that are a perfect fit for you.
The hearing aids you choose might not be the priciest models, but they’ll be the right ones for you, designed to improve your hearing, keep you connected, and truly enhance your life. Finding the right solution is a game-changer.
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Common FAQs when researching hearing aids and hearing loss
Is this the best hearing aid model for me?
If you are looking at this page then it is likely that an audiologist has suggested that you purchase this particular hearing aid, so is this the best model for you?
In general, any audiologist will always be recommending to you the model that best suits your needs. Here is a useful checklist to make sure that is the case.
- Audiologist level of knowledge: The audiologist you have seen will hopefully have a wide knowledge of all available hearing aids, however, some will only be familiar with a small number of brands and therefore may not really be in a position to know which model is the best for you. It is OK to challenge their recommendation and ask them to justify why this particular brand is the one for you.
- Do research: Read about the hearing aid that was recommended. Does it seem like it will suit your lifestyle? Does it have more or less features than you need?
- Be aware of sales targets: Many high street retailers have specific tie-ins to a particular manufacturer/brand. The hearing aid they have suggested may still be the correct one for you, but do your research so that you know why they might have recommended it.
If in doubt, feel free to give us a call. That's what we're here for. In the meantime, read all about our review of the best hearing aids here
Do I need one hearing aid or two?
If you have significant hearing loss in both ears, you should be wearing two hearing aids. Here are the audiological reasons why:
Localisation: The brain decodes information from both ears and compares and contrasts them. By analysing the minuscule time delays as well as the difference in the loudness of each sound reaching the ears, the person is able to accurately locate a sound source. Simply put, if you have better hearing on one side than the other, you can't accurately tell what direction sounds are coming from.
Less amplification is required: A phenomenon known as “binaural summation” means that the hearing aids can be set at a lower and more natural volume setting than if you wore only one hearing aid.
Head shadow effect: High frequencies, the part of your hearing that gives clarity and meaning to speech sounds, cannot bend around your head. Only low frequencies can. Therefore if someone is talking on your unaided side you are likely to hear that they are speaking, but be unable to tell what they have said.
Noise reduction: The brain has its own built-in noise reduction which is only really effective when it is receiving information from both ears. If only one ear is aided, even with the best hearing aid in the world, it will be difficult for you to hear in background noise as your brain is trying to retain all of the sounds (including background noise) rather than filtering it out.
Sound quality: We are designed to hear in stereo. Only hearing from one side sounds a lot less natural to us.
Fancy some further reading on this topic? You can read about why two hearing aids are better than one in our article, hearing aids for both ears, here
What are the benefits of rechargeable hearing aids?
For most people, the main benefit of a rechargeable hearing aid is simple convenience. We are used to plugging in our phones and other devices overnight for them to charge up. Here are some other pros and cons:
For anybody with poor dexterity or issues with their fingers, having a rechargeable aid makes a huge difference as normal hearing aid batteries are quite small and some people find them fiddly to change.
One downside is that if you forget to charge your hearing aid, then it is a problem that can't be instantly fixed. For most a 30-minute charge will get you at least two or three hours of hearing, but if you are the type of person who is likely to forget to plug them in regularly then you're probably better off with standard batteries.
Rechargeable aids are also a little bit bigger and are only available in Behind the Ear models.
Finally, just like with a mobile phone, the amount of charge you get on day one is not going to be the same as you get a few years down the line. Be sure to ask what the policy is with the manufacturer warranty when it comes to replacing the battery.
Looking for more information on rechargeable hearing aids? Read our dedicated page on the topic here
Are behind the ear aids better than in the ear aids?
For most people, the answer is yes. But it's never that simple.
The majority of hearing problems affect the high frequencies a lot more than the low ones. Therefore open fitting hearing aids sound a lot more natural and ones that block your ears up can make your own voice sound like you are talking with your head in a bucket. Therefore in-ear aids tend to be less natural.
However the true answer is we can't tell until we have had a look in your ears to assess the size of your ear canal, and until we have tested your hearing to see which frequencies are being affected.
People with wider ear canals tend to have more flexibility, also there are open fitting modular CIC hearing aids now that do not block your ears.
There is also the age old rule to consider, that a hearing aid will not help you if it's sat in the drawer gathering dust. If the only hearing aid you would be happy wearing is one that people can't see, then that's what you should get.
Most people can adapt to any type of hearing aid, as long as they know what to expect. Have an honest conversation with your audiologist as to what your needs are.
What are channels, and how many do I need?
Generally speaking, six or more. Unless it's none at all.
The number of channels a hearing aid has is often a simplistic way an audiologist will use to explain why one hearing aid is better than another, but channels are complex and it is really not that straightforward. Here are some reasons why:
Hearing aids amplify sounds of different frequencies by different amounts. Most people have lost more high frequencies than low and therefore need more amplification in the high frequencies. The range of sounds you hear are split into frequency bands or channels and the hearing aids are set to provide the right amount of hearing at each frequency level.
Less than six channels and this cannot be done with much accuracy, so six is the magic number. However, a six channel aid is typically very basic with few other features and is suitable only for hearing a single speaker in a quiet room. The number of channels is not what you should be looking at, it's more the rest of the technology that comes with them.
As a final note, different manufacturers have different approaches. One method is not necessarily better than any other. For example, some manufacturers have as many as 64 channels in their top aids. Most tend to have between 17 and 20. One manufacturer has no channels at all.
Where can I get the hearing aids covered?
Hearing aids are easily lost, misplaced or damaged and typically are one of the most expensive personal possessions an individual can own. We offer hearing aid warranty coverage for £80 per year per aid. Find out more about this service we provide here
How much does the hearing test cost?
All our audiologists use the very latest technology and provide the full range of tests to accurately measure your hearing for free. Find out about what hearing healthcare services we offer all our customers here
Do home visits cost extra?
Hearing Aid UK offers all their customers free home visiting services, even in a care home environment, for no extra cost. Including hearing tests, fittings, maintenance, check-ups and much more in the comfort of your own home and at your convenience. Find out more information about our home visits here
How come you're much cheaper than other places?
Here, at Hearing Aid UK, we are dedicated to offering low hearing aid prices. We achieve this by having no head office and low marketing costs. Our hearing aid prices are amongst the lowest you will find anywhere in the world. Explore our prices, brands, and models here
Other pages you might find useful
Best Hearing Aids 2025
View Best Hearing Aids 2025 Audiology Home Visits
View Audiology Home Visits Hearing Tests at Home UK
View Hearing Tests at Home UK Need advice? Give our hearing aid experts a call for FREE
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