I Tried Hear.com's At-Home Test for New Prescription Hearing Aids. Here's How It Works

You no longer need to leave the house to be fitted with prescription hearing aids.
All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Putting aside their exorbitant cost, the trouble with prescription hearing aids is the prescription. Find a doctor. Get an appointment. Sit in a waiting room. Suffer through an hour of testing before getting the hard sell on a pair of hearing aids. Why, the indignity of it all is even worse than going deaf.
Telehealth offers a glimmer of a solution, but as everyone who's tried to show off a concerning mole to a doctor via a smartphone camera knows: Video technology can only get you so far. Audiological testing requires significant one-on-one interaction and plenty of technology to back that up. Every audiogram I've sat for has been inside a sophisticated, soundproof chamber.
Hear.com—a company that sells prescription hearing aids online and via traditional retail channels —has a workaround. It puts all the technology needed to perform a full-on hearing test in a box and mails it to you along with a set of prescription hearing aids, then walks you through the whole thing with an audiologist via a video call. I've taken Hear.com's virtual hearing test twice—this is what a tele-hearing exam looks like, should you decide to take one. It's All Online
The process begins with a simple discussion. If you've never had hearing aids before, this is probably a good first step; veterans will likely skip it, especially if they know what model hearing aids they want (or how much they want to spend). A Hear.com salesperson will discuss your personal impressions of your hearing loss, any hearing aid devices you have tried, prior audiological testing, and your budget (along with any insurance you have). From there, they will suggest the best hearing aids (from their product line) to meet your needs, though you can also advocate for a specific product if you've already identified one.
Next, you'll set a time for your testing and hearing aid fitting, and a few days later, a box will arrive on your doorstep. Open it up, and the collection of hardware and the tangle of wires connecting it all may seem daunting, but rest assured, with even a modicum of technical knowledge, it all goes together quickly, and Hear.com professionals can guide you through any confusion over the phone.
Despite the significant amount of gear inside, the box is about as organized as it can get. On top, you'll find a Microsoft Surface tablet that has been stripped down to do just one thing: serve as the conduit for a video-based audiology session. After plugging the Surface into wall power, you'll find a USB breakout box to connect to the Surface's USB port. Assuming all the other devices are still properly plugged into that USB breakout box (which is far from assured; it's good to check everything is snug), you are effectively good to go. The Surface has no other functionality besides initiating the call with the audiology professional, and at the scheduled time you tap a button on the screen to get the session underway.
After greeting you, the audiologist will guide you through a series of tests. First is a physical exam of your ears, which is made possible thanks to the included USB-powered otoscope, which you probably know better as the lighted tool with the black, conical tip a doctor uses to look into your ear canal. There's no doctor to guide the tool by hand, so the audiologist will tell you how to position it in each ear so they can get a good look at your eardrum. And yes, you, too, can see what the doctor sees right on the Surface's screen. Spoiler: There is more wax inside your ear canal than you think. Can You Hear Me Now?
Assuming you have no physical damage that would preclude hearing aid use, it's on to the traditional hearing exams. This series of tests will consume the bulk of the appointment time, and most involve wearing a pair of oversize, noise-isolating headsets like professional musicians use. The tests were very familiar to me, starting with tones played at varying frequencies and volume levels in each ear, during which you tap the Surface screen whenever you hear something.
The test is then repeated with a bone-conduction appliance that attaches to your forehead with a Velcro band for another look at the way you process sound. Lastly, a third test measures your ability to distinguish various consonant and vowel sounds— sh vs. ch , for example—which is performed by having you repeat the words you think you hear back to the audiologist multiple times.
From all of this data, an audiogram is synthesized and presented on the screen of the Surface. Quality-wise, my Hear.com audiogram was nearly identical to the last professional audiogram I received in 2023 in an office setting. Hear.com's audiogram was even more detailed, because it tested my hearing at nine different frequencies, one more than the in-person visit. After going over the audiogram with me to discuss the particulars of my hearing loss, Hear.com's audiologist moved on to the hearing aid fitting.
You'll have purchased the hearing aids you're about to put on already and will find them in the box, inside a charger that notes they are fully charged and ready to use. If for some reason these aids aren't appropriate for the hearing loss measured in the testing, Hear.com will recommend an alternative at that time, but most customers should have a set in hand that will meet their needs, based on the previous intake call.
The aids are programmed remotely and wirelessly via another device connected to the USB breakout box, and I was directed to put the hearing aids on and then put them back in the charging case repeatedly so we could tweak the sound profile to my liking. Again, this is a standard process identical to how things would be done in a doctor's office. The doctor will then train a hearing aid novice on how to insert, charge, and clean the aids and go over any lingering paperwork that needs to be dealt with.
Hear.com sells its own hearing aids under the Horizon brand, which are private-labeled Signia hearing aids in the Signia IX series. There's not an easy way to see exactly which models Hear.com offers on its website, but they range from the Horizon 1IX ($1,975) to the Horizon 7IX ($4,950), the latter of which is what I was sent to try. Monthly payment plans are available for everything, and all of its hearing aids come with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
When the hour-long session is up, you'll be directed to keep all the testing hardware for a while until you are certain the aids work for you. A follow-up call a few weeks later will check on your progress (there's a learning curve with all hearing aids) and, once you're satisfied, you'll be instructed to return the testing equipment via a prepaid shipping label in the box.
I'll need to continue testing for longer, but so far, the Horizon hearing aids work great. Even better is the way you go about getting them fitted.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Forbes

30 minutes ago

• Forbes

Connected Minds: Preparing For The Cognitive Gig Economy

Alex Lazovsky is a General Partner at Palo Alto Growth Capital, a VC firm based in Palo Alto, California—the heart of Silicon Valley. Imagine a future freelancer leasing out a slice of their own mind to a multinational corporation for an hour. In this speculative future, neural implants could allow human brains to plug into a shared 'neural cloud' on demand. Brainpower becomes a tradable resource—cognitive gig workers for hire. It sounds like science fiction, yet rapid advances in neurotechnology and big investments in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could someday bring that vision closer to reality. To understand how these advancements could affect businesses and investors, let's take a closer look at the existing technology and where it may be heading. Neurotech startups are already blurring the line between man and machine. Neuralink recently raised over $600 million in a funding round, catapulting its valuation to about $9 billion. This investor enthusiasm reflects the 'convergence of neuroscience and AI' and the belief that it could redefine how humans interact with technology. Neuralink demonstrated a human patient controlling a cursor and even browsing the internet using only their thoughts—early evidence of the transformative potential of high-bandwidth brain implants. Neuralink is not alone. Synchron, an Australian-American firm, has developed a less invasive implant that can be fed into the brain's blood vessels via the jugular vein, avoiding open brain surgery. Meanwhile, Precision Neuroscience raised over $100 million to develop an implant enabling users to control devices with thought. Venture capital is flooding into neurotech—total funding topped $2.3 billion in 2024, a more than threefold increase from just two years prior. From medical device firms to Big Tech, many investors see the brain as the next big platform. These efforts focus initially on healing—giving paralyzed patients new means to communicate or control prosthetics. But their long-term implications could reach further. Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that by the early 2030s, we may be able to network the human neocortex to the cloud over high-bandwidth connections. Companies like Neuralink, Paradromics and Blackrock Neurotech are already working on the technical substrate—micron-scale electrode threads and wireless interfaces—that might one day support a neural internet. Early research offers intriguing hints. In one experiment, neuroscientists connected three people's brains so they could jointly play a Tetris-like game via brain-to-brain communication. The system, dubbed BrainNet, showed that multiple minds can collaborate through a direct neural link, even across the internet. 'Our results raise the possibility of future brain-to-brain interfaces that enable cooperative problem-solving by humans using a 'social network' of connected brains,' the team noted. If human brains become nodes on a neural network, a new marketplace may emerge around cognitive capacity on demand. Just as cloud computing turned computing power into a utility, a 'cognitive gig economy' could turn mental work into a cloud service. Individuals might rent out spare brain bandwidth in exchange for payment, performing data analysis, pattern recognition or creative brainstorming via direct neural link. A company of the future might hire 1,000 connected minds for an hour to crowdsource a tough research problem—not by convening a meeting but by literally tapping into distributed human brains through the neural cloud. Such scenarios sound surreal, yet they extrapolate from trends already in motion. Automation and AI are transforming traditional jobs, but paradoxically, human intelligence may become a commodity itself—outsourced, fractional and ubiquitous. Knowledge workers could one day freelance their neurons, akin to Uber drivers lending their cars or time. A 'Brain-as-a-Service' industry might arise, with exchanges or platforms matching those who need cognitive help with those willing to provide it via neural link. For all its promise, this cognitive gig economy raises profound ethical and societal questions. If your brain is connected to the cloud, who safeguards your mental privacy? Brain data can reveal deeply personal information—emotions, memories, even subconscious biases. Questions of cognitive liberty loom large: Would people feel pressured to get brain implants to compete in the future job market? Could employers favor workers who can literally 'multitask' with an AI coprocessor in their heads? There's also the risk of neuro-exploitation. In a world where disadvantaged individuals might rent out their mental processing to make ends meet, new forms of inequality could emerge. The cognitive gig economy might empower people to earn money with their minds, but it could also commoditize human cognition, treating thoughts as labor units. If the 'main products of the 21st-century economy' indeed become 'bodies, brains and minds,' as Yuval Noah Harari suggests, society must grapple with how to value and protect those minds in the marketplace. What steam power and electricity were to past centuries, neural interfaces might be to this one—a general-purpose technology that could transform economies and lives. For forward-looking investors and executives, I recommend keeping a close eye on your head because it may also be your next capital asset. If the next era becomes one of connected minds, those who can balance bold innovation with human-centered ethics might shape a future where brainpower for hire could truly benefit humanity. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

CBS News

31 minutes ago

• CBS News

Dog on Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus leading way on novel obsessive-compulsive disorder therapy treatment

It has become common for dogs to be used for a variety of behavioral health solutions, including those like post-traumatic stress disorder, for instance. But at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, there is a single dog that is being used in a rather unique way: helping patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, manage their symptoms. Cate Rush, a social work fellow who works on the campus, has had Otis the Bernese Mountain Dog since her junior year of her undergraduate studies. He's helped in her in a variety of ways throughout her adult life, and she's now using him to help her patients as well. Cate Rush with Otis CBS "I just feel like it's so special that he's able to do something that humans cannot," she said. Otis is a trained therapy dog but works with a specific set of clients. Most of the patients that come see Cate have OCD. "Therapy dogs aren't commonly used for OCD so it's been a bit of a learning experience how to use him," she said. The research on the use of dogs for OCD patients is still evolving, as is most of the research around therapy dogs in general. It's only been since the turn of the 2000s that having dogs used as aids for behavioral health solutions has become more common. But it's rare to see one that is working with OCD patients. Otis is the only dog of his kind on the medical campus in Aurora. Obsessive-compulsive disorder currently affects 2.5% of the United States population and can be treated with what is called exposure and response prevention therapy, or ERPT. It usually involves exposing patients to things that trigger their obsessive behaviors while giving them tools to help prevent them from engaging in their typical compulsions. A 2010 study by the University of Pennsylvania, cited in the National Institute of Health, showed that ERPT can significantly reduce OCD symptoms in up to 80% of patients. CBS That's where Otis comes in. He can help in a variety of ways, as a supportive and helpful sidekick to those being exposed to triggering things or situations or, in some cases, being a walking exposure therapy himself. "There are a lot of patients who might have contamination fears," Rush said, "They can use him in exposure so I've had patients touch his paws or rub his belly." "I had a patient and one of her final exposures in the IOP -- the intensive outpatient program -- was to high five Otis and that was really sweet," she added. While Otis isn't part of any official research at Anschutz just yet, his presence signals an evolving approach to behavioral health solutions. One wag at a time.

Yahoo

38 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Anixa Biosciences to Host an Investor Webcast on June 26, 2025

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Anixa Biosciences, Inc. ("Anixa" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer, today announced that it will host an investor webcast presentation on June 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT. During the webcast, Dr. Amit Kumar, Anixa's Chairman and CEO, will conduct an introductory presentation that will cover key aspects of Anixa's business including an overview of the Company's therapeutic portfolio, its business strategy, market opportunity and near-term milestones. After the formal presentation, investors will have an opportunity to ask relevant questions through an interactive Q&A portal. To listen to the webcast or to ask questions during the live event, please pre-register at the following link: An archived version of the webcast and presentation will be available on the Company's website, About Anixa Biosciences, Inc. Anixa is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer. Anixa's therapeutic portfolio consists of an ovarian cancer immunotherapy program being developed in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center, which uses a novel type of CAR-T, known as chimeric endocrine receptor-T cell (CER-T) technology. This technology is differentiated from other cell therapies as the natural ligand of the FSHR receptor, FSH, binds to the FSHR receptor on the tumor cell instead of an antibody fragment. Moffitt is a world leader in cancer immunotherapy treatments, pioneering next-generation cell therapies such as CAR-T, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) to harness the power of the immune system. The Company's vaccine portfolio includes vaccines being developed in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic to treat and prevent breast cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as additional cancer vaccines to address many intractable cancers, including high incidence malignancies in lung, colon, and prostate. These vaccine technologies focus on immunizing against "retired" proteins that have been found to be expressed in certain forms of cancer. The breast and ovarian cancer vaccines were developed at Cleveland Clinic and exclusively licensed to Anixa. Cleveland Clinic is entitled to royalties and other commercialization revenues from the Company related to these vaccine technologies. Anixa's unique business model of partnering with world-renowned research institutions on all stages of development allows the Company to continually examine emerging technologies in complementary fields for further development and commercialization. To learn more, visit or follow Anixa on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. Forward-Looking StatementsStatements that are not historical fact may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but rather reflect Anixa's current expectations concerning future events and results. We generally use the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "likely," "will" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including those concerning our expectations, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth in "Item 1A - Risk Factors" and other sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements when evaluating the information presented in this press release. Contact:Mike CatelaniPresident, COO & CFOmcatelani@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Anixa Biosciences, Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data