Oticon's "Open" Sound Philosophy
Oticon is the second most popular hearing aid brand (after Phonak). The brand has built a fanbase around its “open” sound philosophy. While Phonak hearing aids tend to quiet background noise and focus on voices, Oticon lets in a fuller soundscape.
To manage the more open soundscape without degrading speech clarity, Oticon captured a massive library of everyday sounds (over 12 million) and used those recordings to train its hearing aids.
The result is an onboard deep neural network that makes intelligent decisions about what sounds you should hear—pretty cool stuff.
If you like hearing more birds, nature, and other life sounds, Oticon is a compelling option.
New 2023 Upgrades
In February 2023, Oticon released a new flagship product called Oticon Real. The update replaces Oticon’s previous flagship Oticon More.
Oticon Real improves on the previous generation (Oticon More) in three meaningful ways:
- Sudden Sound Stabilizer quickly reduces the sound of loud noises like doorbells, dogs barking, or dishes clanging. According to Oticon, these improvements reduce listening effort by 22% in challenging situations.
- Wind and Handling Stabilizer reduces wind noise and the sound of your hair or hand when it touches your hearing aids.
- Like most leading brands, Oticon allows remote updates from your audiologist (after an initial in-person visit). Until now, wearers needed to download a separate app for remote appointments. Oticon has now combined this feature into its main app. Nice touch!
Oticon Real comes in three technology levels.
Real 1 has the most robust features for complex environments like restaurants and travel.
Real 2 has robust features but loses a few more sophisticated options for handling background noise.
Real 3 is Oticon's budget option which is best for those who live a quieter lifestyle or spend time in small groups.
👍 Pros for Oticon Real :
Very respected product with millions of happy wearers
More open sound quality than other top brands
Easy-to-use app
Better management of loud or intrusive sounds
Available in both rechargeable and non-rechargeable models
👎 Cons for Oticon Real:
Requires in-person care (no direct-to-consumer option)
More expensive compared to telehealth and OTC options
The app is simple but offers less independent customization than other leading brands
Only Available in Styles Behind The Ear
Note that Oticon Real is only available in styles that sit behind the ear. If you choose to get a custom-molded hearing aid (which fits inside the canal instead of behind the ear), you'll want to look at Oticon’s Oticon Own.
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To get Oticon Real hearing aids with local care, we recommend you work with ZipHearing.
ZipHearing represents a network of 600+ hearing professionals around the country and offers pre-negotiated pricing at 25%-40% below the national walk-in average for the same product.
Click the "find care" button above to be connected with a local clinic.
Using ZipHearing, you can access the same clinics found in the phonebook at a reduced rate due to the negotiating power of ZipHearing's thousands of customers.
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Hearing aids purchased through one of our in-home or local clinic care partners come with a 45-day risk-free return policy. If you change your mind, don't like the product, or want to try something else, you get 100% of your money back.
Oticon Real hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled and rechargeable. Oticon Real hearing aids now offer fully hands-free calling on iPhone, meaning you can take a phone call through your hearing aids without your phone in hand. If you use an Android phone, you can listen to a phone call through your hearing aids but will need to hold the phone up to capture your voice.
Oticon has leading artificial intelligence features that analyze your setting and match it to one of 12 million soundscapes. The Oticon app allows for volume and setting control and enables remote audiology visits after your initial fitting. You can also use the Oticon app to turn your phone into a remote microphone.
Oticon Real hearing aids are offered in rechargeable and non-rechargeable models. The rechargeable model gives 16-22 hours of power with three hours of charge, and a 30-minute quick charge provides an additional six hours of power. Oticon Real hearing aids come with a travel case that carries additional cordless charges.
Oticon Real comes with built-in Sudden Sound Stabilizer quickly that reduces the sound of loud noises like doorbells, dogs barking, or dishes clanging. According to Oticon, these improvements reduce listening effort by 22% in challenging situations.
2 hearing aids
Charger, or 1 year supply of batteries
3 year factory warranty
Face-to-face, in-person fitting and programming
"Oticon's hearing aid model stands out due to the device's artificial intelligence"
"Two-time 2022 Red Dot Global Design award winner."
"Oticon pioneered smart hearing aids that use a deep neural network to learn what sounds are important."
"Mind blowing hearing technology!"
What people are saying:
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The breakdown
Oticon Real hearing aids come at a comparable price to the other top-of-the-line products like Resound One and Phonak Audeo Lumity. So what makes this hearing aid different?
Oticon has a fundamentally different philosophy on sound. As the name suggests, their product gives you more sounds like birds and water instead of suppressing everything other than voices, and this philosophy leads to a more natural soundscape.
The tech inside
Oticon has leading artificial intelligence features that analyze your setting and match it to one of 12 million soundscapes. The Oticon app allows for volume and setting control and enables remote audiology visits after your initial fitting. You can also use the Oticon app to turn your phone into a remote microphone. Oticon Real comes with rechargeable or disposable batteries and allows Bluetooth streaming from Android and Apple devices.
Getting up close
Oticon Real hearing aids sit behind the ear and offer simple-to-use buttons for volume control.
Ear tips and the behind-the-ear wires can be adjusted based on your ear size and shape.
The Oticon Real comes in 9 colors, including silver, black, grey, beige and olive green.
Overall notes:
Oticon Real is an undisputed leader among top-tier hearing aids. If you can swing the price and you are attracted to the idea of hearing more of the sounds around you vs. solely focusing on voices, this product is a fantastic choice.
Patients who use Oticon love the natural sound, Bluetooth connectivity, rechargeable battery, and reliability. Oticon makes products that are as good as they come.
Oticon is among the best. If you are looking for all-around, top-of-the-line technology, this is an excellent choice.
