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Fitting Styles: ITE, ITC, CIC, IIC
Warranty: 2 years
Launching in October, Oticon Own is the world's first custom aid that includes onboard Deep Neural Network AI technology (DNN) and is powered by the Polaris platform (first seen in Oticon More). This means it is really good at recognising and understanding everyday sounds, not just speech. This is because it is a network built on 12 million sounds that Oticon has recorded globally.
Why is this a good thing? Well, we simply hear with our brains and not with our ears. Oticon Own hearing aids are designed to give you the most realistic listening experience that supports how your brain naturally works (Oticon calls this BrainHearing technology). It also offers more of the meaningful sounds around you, more balance and clarity of all the little details in life.
What is clever is that the MoreSound Amplifier ensures that your soundscape is balanced and amplifies it in such a way that it keeps the important details and contrast of sound. This is a different compression and amplification approach and quite unlike the conventional way of compression.
Back in 2021, Oticon launched the More hearing aid range, which boasted BTE models with a new operating system. But, this release did not appeal to ITE hearing aid wearers and this new technology wasn't accessible in this type of style. That is until now.
The Oticon Own 5 hearing aids are one of the entry performance levels and even though they still include BrainHearing Technology - you will lose some of the core features offered by this hearing aid range. It is important to know which features you won't get with this level and speak to an audiologist about whether they would benefit your hearing needs.
When comparing Oticon Own 5 hearing aids with Own 1 there are fewer processing channels, fitting bands and less percentage in the Spatial Balancer feature. To view all the features available in this range and the top performance level - read our Own 1 product page
As consumers are drawn more towards the discreet hearing aid models, Oticon has made miniaturisation one of their focus points since Oticon Opn ITE options. The result? Smaller, more discreet ITE hearing aids that meet the needs of the patients.
This is especially true for the Oticon Own 5 IIC hearing aids, which are said to be invisible in 9 out of 10 ears, which is supported by Oticon's White Papers. This is made possible by developing smaller components, better software and process methods.
There are five ITE hearing aid styles, five colours and five performance levels. This technically means that there will be a style, performance and colour that suits your needs. Because these are custom hearing aids, each one will be moulded to your unique ear shape and ear canal characteristics. This will ensure that you will get the most discreet shape possible.
And the colours: Beige, Light Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Brown and Black. There are also transparent shells available.
MoreSound Intelligence: This captures, optimises and enhances sounds to provide hearing aid wearers with access to complete sound - offering individual sounds more clarity than other singular sounds.
Spatial Sound: This feature supports your awareness of your surrounding sounds, so you can choose what to focus on. This aid has built upon such a directional strategy we saw way back with Opn - instead of the beamforming strategy of other hearing aids.
Basically, the Own is accessing a bigger scope of surrounding sounds, but keeping speech clear and you can tell the difference. Nuanced sound without being overwhelming.
MoreSound Amplifier: This balances amplification quickly and precisely so that the all-important details and dynamics are audible and accessible to those with hearing loss.
Oticon Own hearing aids will be soon compared to the Phonak Virto Paradise and Starkey Evolv AI, as they all are ITE models and are set at similar price points. But, what makes Own so special? Arguably Own has a better more advanced operating system to date, as it uses DNN and sophisticated AI processes than others of its ilk. In reality, this means that new Oticon hearing aids require around 30% less listening effort than their older aids.
As stated above, this connectivity is only available in the ITC and both ITE models, as the IIC and CIC styles are none-wireless. The Oticon Own 5 hearing aids provide direct streaming to both iPhone and Android devices. You can also access hands-free calls from iPhones and iPads - using your hearing aids as personal headphones.
None of the Oticon Own 5 hearing aids are rechargeable though and because there are only two styles that have Bluetooth connectivity, you'll have to choose between features and size. It is also worth mentioning that these two Bluetooth options can have an added telecoil feature, but not both. So again you'll have to choose between connectivity and this feature.
Call us free on 0800 567 7621 to speak with one of our audiologists about the Oticon Own hearing aid range and what it could do for you and your hearing. Alternatively, you can watch the Own video below and read our range page here
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**Please note, there will be an additional surcharge of £125 if we are pairing a single hearing aid with an existing aid bought from another company where we are taking over the aftercare responsibilities and looking after both hearing aids**
Paul Harrison is an audiology expert at Hearing Aid UK, with over 20 years of audiology experience and a member of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists Council (BSHAA) between 2015 - 2020.
Here, at Hearing Aid UK, we offer a wide range of hearing aids available on the market - keeping up to date with the best and latest hearing aid technology.
We can support your hearing healthcare in clinic or in the comfort of your own home and with nationwide coverage, we will have an audiologist near you.
Whatever your hearing loss level, budget, or style our audiologists can help you find the perfect hearing solution for you.
Do not spend hundreds of pounds without getting a second opinion from us.
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 check list to make sure that is the case.
If in doubt, feel free to give us a call. That's what we're here for.
If you have a 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 miniscule time delays as well as the difference in 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 required. A phenomena known as “binaural summation” means that the hearing aids can be set at a lower and more natural volume setting than 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 it’s 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 cover for £80 per year per aid. Find out more here
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 we offer all our customers here
Hearing Aid UK offers all their customers free home visiting services and home visits for hearing aids - 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 here
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.
When we refer to a product as 'Latest Launch', we mean it is the latest to be released on the market.
When we refer to a product as 'New', we mean that the product is the newest hearing aid model on the market.
When we refer to a product as 'Superseded', we mean that there is a newer range available which replaces and improves on this product.
When we refer to a product as an 'Older Model', we mean that it is has been superseded by at least two more recent hearing aid ranges.