Keep Hearing, Keep Living: Why World Hearing Day Matters After 60
Understand today’s options -- from over‑the‑counter and prescription hearing aids to easy‑to‑use hearing apps -- so you can choose the help that fits your life.
Every year on March 3, the World Health Organization marks World Hearing Day. The date 3/3 was chosen intentionally -- those two threes look like a pair of ears. Clever, right?
The 2026 theme focuses on children, but the statistics behind this day tell a story that matters just as much to older adults. The WHO estimates that over 80% of people who need ear and hearing care never receive it. That’s not a small gap. That’s a crisis hiding in plain sight.
For seniors, the connection is personal. Hearing loss tends to sneak up gradually, so it’s easy to chalk it up to a noisy restaurant or a soft-spoken grandchild. But untreated hearing loss is linked to social isolation, cognitive decline, and a reduced quality of life. Today is a good day to pay attention.
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The Problem This Article Solves
You may have noticed that TV dialogue is harder to follow than it used to be. Maybe you’ve started asking people to repeat themselves, or you’ve quietly turned up the volume higher than anyone else in the room seems to need.
The good news is that technology has quietly gotten very good at helping with exactly this. This article walks you through what’s available -- from free phone apps to affordable hearing aids to TV accessories -- so you can take a few practical steps today, not someday.
Start With a Free Hearing Test on Your Phone
Before you spend a dollar, test your hearing. The Mimi Hearing Test app (available for iPhone and Android) is consistently rated as one of the best free options available. It takes just a few minutes, requires no email signup, and saves your results so you can track changes over time.
The test gives you a detailed breakdown of how well you hear at different sound frequencies -- essentially a simplified version of what an audiologist would measure. It won’t replace a clinical exam, but it will tell you whether a follow-up with a professional makes sense.
The World Health Organization is also releasing a free app called HearWHO, designed specifically for community hearing screening. Worth keeping an eye out for it.
Affordable Hearing Aids That Don’t Require a Prescription
Since 2022, the FDA has allowed over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids in the U.S. for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. You no longer need a doctor’s visit to get started. That changed everything -- especially the price.
MDHearing is one of the most recognized names in this new OTC category. (I may earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.)
Their lineup covers a wide range of budgets:
MDHearing AIR -- $297 per pair; behind-the-ear style, rechargeable, with advanced noise reduction and free lifetime audiologist support
MDHearing NEO / NEO XS -- $297 to $397 per pair; compact in-ear designs with 18-hour battery life and four selectable listening environments
MDHearing NEO XS PRO -- $597 per pair; MDHearing’s smallest model, very comfortable, with strong noise reduction and feedback cancellation
MDHearing VOLT MAX 2 -- $597 per pair; behind-the-ear style, rechargeable, and the only MDHearing model with smartphone app compatibility for personalized programming
MDHearing’s biggest strength is the price point and their free lifetime support from audiologists -- a benefit most competitors don’t offer. Their one limitation worth knowing: most models don’t offer Bluetooth audio streaming to your phone. If you want to pipe your phone’s audio directly into your hearing aids, the VOLT MAX 2 is the model to consider.
The National Council on Aging has reviewed MDHearing favorably, noting that the hearing aids are comfortable, secure, and discreet.
Other Hearing Aid Options Worth Knowing
MDHearing is a great entry point, but it’s not the only game in town. Depending on your budget, lifestyle, and how much support you want, there are several other paths worth exploring.
Costco: Hard to Beat for Value and Service
If you have a Costco membership, their hearing center deserves a serious look. Costco currently sells four main brands -- Philips HearLink, Jabra Enhance Pro 30, Rexton Reach, and Sennheiser Sonite R -- with prices ranging from $1,499 to $1,699 per pair. That sounds like more money than an OTC model, and it is. But the comparison isn’t quite apples to apples.
What you’re getting at Costco is a prescription-grade hearing aid fitted by a licensed hearing specialist, with unlimited free follow-up appointments and a six-month return policy. Traditional audiology clinics charge $3,500 to $4,500 for the same devices, so Costco represents roughly 65% savings compared to a private clinic. The Jabra Enhance Pro 30 at Costco supports both iPhone and Android streaming, hands-free calling, and rechargeable batteries -- all included in that one price.
One thing to know: Costco discontinued their famous Kirkland Signature house brand after 2022. That was actually a positive development -- the current lineup includes name-brand technology at still-reasonable prices, rather than pushing one budget option regardless of fit.
Jabra Enhance: Best Overall OTC Pick
If you want an OTC hearing aid with remote professional care built in, Jabra Enhance Select is the consistent top recommendation across multiple independent review organizations. The Jabra Enhance Select 700 includes three years of professional care and unlimited remote adjustments through the Jabra app, and it supports the newer LE Audio Bluetooth standard for lower latency and hands-free calls. The NCOA named it their Best Overall OTC pick for its sound quality, long battery life, and standout customer service.
Eargo: The Invisible Option
Eargo makes tiny in-ear hearing aids that sit completely inside the ear canal and are largely invisible from the outside. The Eargo 8 adapts automatically to different listening environments throughout the day. If visibility is your biggest concern and you’d rather nobody know you’re wearing hearing aids at all, Eargo is worth a look. They also offer the Eargo SE and Eargo LINK at lower price points for budget-conscious shoppers.
Lexie: Best Value with a Bose Connection
The Lexie B2 Powered by Bose is a behind-the-ear OTC hearing aid that lets you create up to 10 personalized sound settings in addition to four presets -- more customization than most OTC competitors offer. Lexie includes lifetime audiology services and a one-year warranty, which is unusual for the OTC category. If you’re comfortable tinkering with an app to dial in your sound preferences, Lexie delivers a lot for the price.
When You’re Watching TV Alone in a Room Full of People
One of the most common complaints among seniors with hearing loss isn’t the audiologist’s office or the phone -- it’s the TV. You want to follow the dialogue. Everyone else wants the volume normal. A few technologies solve this gracefully.
RF wireless TV headphones connect to your television via a small transmitter and send audio directly to your ears -- independently of whatever volume the TV is set to. RF systems are generally preferred over Bluetooth for TV use because they have lower delay (no lip-sync problems) and a longer range around the house.
Dedicated TV speakers for the hearing impaired are a different option. The SIMOLIO SM-621D is a wireless speaker that uses built-in hearing aid technology to clarify dialogue, and you simply place it next to your chair -- no headphones required. The ChairSpeaker CS3 takes a different approach with a near-ear design that clips to your recliner and directs sound toward you from inches away.
ZVOX soundbars are worth mentioning separately. ZVOX makes TV soundbars with a feature called Dialogue Boost, which specifically amplifies speech frequencies to make conversations easier to understand without cranking up the overall volume.
The Hearing Tools Already Sitting in Your Phone
You may not realize your iPhone or Android phone already has hearing-specific features built right into the settings -- and most people never turn them on.
On an iPhone:
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices to pair compatible hearing aids directly to your phone
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning to turn on captions for video content
Apple’s Live Captions feature (in newer iOS versions) can transcribe spoken conversations in real time
On an Android phone:
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Enhancements > Hearing Aid Support to activate hearing aid pairing
Live Transcribe (Google) turns spoken words into on-screen text in real time -- free, and remarkably accurate
Samsung Galaxy S25 devices now support LE Audio, a newer Bluetooth standard that offers lower latency and hands-free calling through compatible hearing aids
These features are free. They take about five minutes to configure. And for many seniors, they make a noticeable difference in how comfortable everyday tech use feels.
A Few Action Steps for Today
World Hearing Day is a good nudge, but the goal is to actually do something. Here are four things you can do right now:
Download the Mimi Hearing Test app (free, iPhone) and test your hearing today
Compare hearing aid options online -- start at mdhearingaid.com for OTC pricing, and check your local Costco hearing center if you want professional fitting
Open your phone’s Accessibility settings and turn on captions and hearing device support
Look into an RF TV headphone system or a near-ear TV speaker if TV dialogue is your biggest daily frustration
Hearing health doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision between doing nothing and an expensive audiology appointment. There’s a whole spectrum of tools in between -- most of them affordable, many of them free -- and today is as good a day as any to start.
