Bernafon Digital Hearing Aids

Bernafon Hearing Aids UK

Discover Bernafon hearing aid models, features, prices, and reviews

Who makes Bernafon hearing aids?  Bernafon is owned by Demant A/S, which also owns the hearing aid manufacturer Oticon and the hearing aid retailer Hidden Hearing. Bernafon is perceived as the lower-cost alternative to Oticon. For instance, it's like Volkswagen compared to Audi, which are both parts of the same company.

Where are Bernafon hearing aids made?  Bernafon's UK manufacturing hub is in Hamilton, Scotland, where they also make Oticon hearing aids.

If you've been to Hidden Hearing, then no doubt they'd recommend Bernafon or Oticon digital hearing aids.  If you're struggling to understand the make and model names of Bernafon hearing aids, then here's a simple guide to help:

Understanding the technology levels

The Bernafon hearing aid technology levels are 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1.  The higher the number, the higher the technology level and the higher the price.  They also introduced another technology structure, with Bernafon Encanta in March 2024.  These are categorised as 400, 300, 200, and 100, with the higher number being the most advanced technology.

►Click here to go to Bernafon hearing aid models

A short history of the brand

Are Bernafon hearing aids good?  Bernafon was established in 1946 in Switzerland by Hans Gfeller. It is one of the biggest producers of hearing aids today, with its products being sold in 70 countries around the globe. As part of the Demant Group (which also has the Oticon and Sonic hearing aid brands), they have always strived to develop the highest quality hearing technology.

Hearing and understanding are essential for communication. Drawing on years of Swiss innovation, Bernafon is ideally positioned to support those with hearing loss to regain their quality of life and strengthen communication with family and friends.

Bernafon uses advanced technologies and high-quality technology to significantly reduce the negative effects that hearing loss has on people, their families, and society as a whole.

The company’s hearing aids use advanced technology to offset hearing loss while offering useful extras such as wireless connectivity for seamless pairing with your mobile phone. Their hearing aids are known for their natural sound quality and discreet, yet inexpensive designs.

Bernafon Hearing Aids Reviews

Reviewing Bernafon hearing aid technology

Special features

Bernafon understands that the environments that hearing aid wearers face are not static, but dynamic. They never sit still for one second. Our environment can rapidly shift from quiet and subdued to loud and boisterous, often in seconds.

The company, therefore, believes that because of the opportunities for unforeseen changes, it's best not to label certain listening situations. Their concept is that the sound environment is an active and continually evolving landscape.

These dynamic situations demand a dynamic hearing aid. To help wearers keep up with these dynamic shifts, Bernafon hearing aids aim to persistently monitor the surroundings for any changes in sound and help the wearer understand speech, even in the face of these changes within sound. Key to this philosophy is their DECS technology.

Smart Sensor technology and Smart Noise Management

Bernafon's Smart Sensor Technology uses motion detection to understand and switch your focus on one person or many amongst the noise. Smart Noise Reduction, combined with the Smart Sensor, allows you to benefit from a greater range of sound details - even in noise.

Smart Noise Management adjusts to the environment you are in, giving you improved sound quality and clear speech in noisy listening scenarios. Smart Directionality uses different listening strategies and prioritises depending on your soundscape. Such as the localisation of speech within sound. Giving you better speech direction, clarity, and understanding in all listening situations.

Hybrid Noise Management combines directional microphones with advanced noise reduction, working across 24 frequency bands to help you focus on speech in noisy settings.  Whilst the Transient Noise Reduction reduces sudden, sharp sounds like cutlery clinking or keyboards tapping, making everyday life more comfortable. 

Hybrid technology

Bernafon's Hybrid technology, inspired by animals' acute hearing abilities, enables wearers to experience a 360-degree auditory environment. Like animals filtering unwanted noises while focusing on specific sounds, this system prioritises sounds of interest.

Wearers can seamlessly transition from immersive surround sound to focused attention, similar to animals tuning in to prey while blocking out distractions during hunting. This innovative approach ensures superior hearing in noisy environments and reduces fatigue compared to traditional hearing aid processing strategies.

Bernafon’s Hybrid Technology blends two distinct sound processing approaches, giving users a more natural, lifelike listening experience. Whether you're in a quiet room or a bustling street, this dual processing system adapts smoothly to the environment, helping you hear clearly in a range of situations.

Hybrid Sound Care

Exclusive to the Alpha XT models, Hybrid Sound Care tackles common annoyances like wind noise and rubbing sounds (e.g., from glasses or face masks). It prioritises the microphones least affected by these disturbances, helping reduce background interference and making conversations clearer and more comfortable, especially outdoors.

DECS technology

As the heart of all its approaches, Bernafon utilises this technology to help individuals hear better. No strict classification limits are used by the technology. It operates infrequently changing listening settings, which allows the wearer to adjust their sound levels dynamically and seamlessly.  This essentially means that the system looks into your world of sound and keeps tweaking hearing aid settings for optimal benefit.

Dynamic Feedback Canceller and ChannelFree 

This new Dynamic Feedback Canceller (DFC) operates ten times faster than the system that preceded it, which means it is the fastest and most efficient feedback cancellation technology.

The ChannelFree feature enables the entire use of audio signals, without dividing them into several channels. Audio quality can be processed more naturally and without the loss of high frequencies, which are vital for a high-quality hearing experience, especially when listening to music. The effect is a very natural and rich sound.

Upgraded Bernafon app and available accessories

The new-look Bernafon app offers more than just basic controls. It provides spoken alerts, conversation tracking to help monitor your listening environment, and remote adjustments by your hearing care provider—handy if you're not able to get to a clinic.

Besides hearing aids, Bernafon features a broad variety of hearing aid accessories to complement your hearing experiences, such as apps, streamers, microphones, and remote controls. Such as the Bernafon hearing aids TV adapter - TV-A - as well as the SoundClip-A, and RC-A Remote Control.

Improved connectivity and rechargeability

The latest Bernafon hearing aids keep you connected with modern life.  Using Bluetooth Low Energy, they can stream audio directly from iPhones and Android devices that support ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids). Great for calls, music, and video chats.  Plus, the Alpha XT miniRITE T R model comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

A 3-hour charge gives you a full day’s use—no need to fiddle with disposable batteries. It also includes a telecoil for easy connection to loop systems in theatres, churches, or public buildings.

Notable Bernafon Hearing Aids UK

What hearing aids have Bernafon launched?

Bernafon Encanta hearing aids

Launched in March 2024, the Bernafon Encanta hearing aid's main focus was to offer four clear performance levels that cater to each unique hearing loss. For example, a hearing solution that fits in with your hearing loss needs, lifestyle, and budget.

Wearers will also appreciate the Smart Sensor technology that detects head and body movements.  This technology gives you seamless listening transitions in various environments, such as focusing on one person in a group and engaging in a larger group conversation by providing better speech understanding.

Related reading:  

►Bernafon Encanta hearing aid range

►Bernafon Encanta 400 Pro hearing aids

Berafon Alpha XT hearing aids

Launched in March 2023, the Bernafon Alpha XT hearing aids promised to be an extension of the Hybrid Technology, first seen in the original Alpha, but more comprehensive. It still incorporated the core Hybrid features but with a new complementary feature - the Hybrid Sound Care, which removed noise at the beginning of the signal processing.

Related reading:  

►Bernafon Alpha XT hearing aid range

►Bernafon Alpha XT 9 hearing aids

Bernafon Alpha hearing aids

Launched in  March 2020, the Bernafon Alpha hearing aids included hybrid processing technology (a world's first at launch) and set the standard for balance between delivering natural, optimised sound, increased speech understanding, and improved listening comfort, using the way animals naturally hear.

Related reading:  

►Bernafon Alpha hearing aid range

►Bernafon Alpha 9 hearing aids

Bernafon Leox hearing aids

Launched in 2019, the Bernafon Leox hearing aids were the first superpower and ultra-power aids to include True Environment Processing for severe to profound hearing loss.  With advanced amplification, strong feature settings, and realistic sound for the wearer.

Related reading:  

►Bernafon Leox hearing aid range

►Bernafon Leox 7 hearing aids

Bernafon hearing aids overview

Bernafon is a respected hearing aid brand under the Demant Group, offering affordable yet advanced alternatives to Oticon. Designed and manufactured in Scotland, their hearing aids blend Swiss innovation with practical features tailored to different levels of hearing loss. Technology ranges, including the Encanta and Alpha, provide solutions that suit a variety of needs, lifestyles, and budgets.

Key features include dynamic sound processing, motion-sensing Smart Sensor technology, and Hybrid Technology for clear, natural hearing in changing environments. Many models offer Bluetooth streaming, rechargeable batteries, and remote fine-tuning via the Bernafon app, making them a flexible and user-friendly choice for modern hearing support.