WARNING DISCONTINUED Newer Starkey Models Available
2024 Update: This hearing aid range is now discontinued. View more advanced Starkey ranges here
The Starkey “IQ” range was launched in the UK in March 2018, as usual, six months after its successful launch in America. This is an update to the previous Starkey Muse and Halo models with some added features that we will cover below, we will avoid the standard jargon-riddled marketing talk that accompanies such launches and focus on what is truly interesting about these new hearing aids.
Hearing aids that you can pop into a charging unit instead of using normal batteries for are becoming increasingly popular. What is interesting about the new Starkey models is that they have gone with the more popular integrated Lithium-Ion model but managed to make them about 30% smaller than the equivalent Lithium Ion hearing aids made by Phonak and Signia.
They have also increased the battery life to 30 hours which means that even if you forget to charge them up one night, you are likely to still be fine the following day as long as you are not a heavy user.
Not a new feature, but one worth mentioning anyway. Starkey is still about the best at preventing feedback/whistling in hearing aids. It’s a specialist area of theirs and this means that for difficult to fit hearing losses where whistling could be an issue, you are likely to get more clarity from a Starkey IQ hearing aid than you might otherwise. No feedback, without compromising volume.
This feature is described by Starkey as “inspired by virtual reality” but it is basically an upgrade to the hearing aid’s operating system. they have altered how the directional microphones work in order to make the sound quality more natural and immersive so that when you are in an environment with background noise present, the overall experience is a more pleasant one with a focus on the speech in front of you but without isolating you from surrounding sounds.
Great for music, with the new IQ range, music is now processed separately from speech, meaning that where both are present you won’t suffer a lower quality of either the music or speech sounds.
If you want to know what any of them mean, please give us a call. We have no call centre here, the phones are always manned by an audiologist. Call us free on 0800 567 7621 for more information about this range.
**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.
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 checklist to make sure that is the case.
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
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
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
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. 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.
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
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
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
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
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.