More people are experiencing hearing loss than ever before. That’s led to an increased number of people needing hearing aids; however, you shouldn’t get the first one you see. Instead, you’ll need to consult your audiologist and compare different options.

Some of this could be easier said than done. If you don’t know how to compare hearing aids, then you could be confused. You’ll naturally want to get the option that offers the most benefits for you. Knowing what features to consider will be vital to this.

While hearing devices can come with a range of features, some can be more important than others.

Adjustable Settings

The default settings on a hearing aid aren’t customized to your specific needs. While it could help with your hearing, it won’t be as impactful as possible. While all hearing aids will come with certain settings, some offer more adjustability than others. That could make a significant difference in how you hear. These should be relatively easy to change, although your audiologist can help you if you need. You might need to adjust these throughout the day, so it’s worth picking an option that makes settings easy to adjust.

Bluetooth

You’ll likely have several devices that are Bluetooth-enabled. Your phone, television and gaming console will be some of the more obvious examples of these. What you may not realize is that you can connect these to your hearing aids. To do so, however, you’ll need to make sure that your hearing device is Bluetooth-enabled too.

Quite a few options come with this by default, although many don’t. Focusing on this could be beneficial for several reasons. Perhaps the most notable is that you can listen to your phone, speakers, television, and other devices more clearly. You’ll have a much better listening experience.

Directional Microphones

Directional microphones can make a significant difference in how you hear. They make it much easier for you to hear in noisy environments. That makes them an attractive feature to consider. While quite a few hearing aids have these, not all of them do. Some options will even have several of them built-in. These work by increasing the sound coming from one direction while reducing noise coming from another.

That makes it easier to understand things if you’re at a music show, for example. It’s worth going for a hearing aid that has at least one of them. Since they make it easier to hear in loud environments, you can engage in your typical daily activities with ease.

Choosing between hearing aids can be a difficult decision. You’ll want to get your hearing as close to what it was like before as you can. With the various differences between options, the choice can be tricky. It’s worth speaking to an audiologist about the decision.

They can give you recommendations based on your type of hearing loss, among other things. That leads to a better hearing experience for you over time.