Rechargeable Hearing Aid Options

By Kathy Mellott, AuD

The newest generation of rechargeable battery technologies are making life easier for hearing aid consumers. Two new rechargeable hearing aid models and an innovative new retrofit rechargeable battery system hit the market in late 2016, finally giving consumers a choice of options as easy and convenient to charge as your cell phone.

The recent product innovations have changed the picture completely. Now, rechargeable hearing aids feature

A full day of use The new products provide around 24 hours of use time.

Familiar form They provide daylong power in the same familiar hearing aid form.

Less hassle Many users complain about having to constantly replace the small disposable batteries in their hearing aids. The rechargeable batteries never need to be replaced just insert the hearing aids into an easy-to-use recharging unit at night.

The new rechargeable hearing aid models come from two of the “Big Six” manufacturers of premium hearing aids. Phonak's Audo B-R hearing aids and the Sivantos Signia Cellion primax hearing aids reportedly last 24 hours on a full charge. Each integrates a lithium-ion rechargeable battery into the hearing aid's sealed body, and both come with a simple charging station.

The retrofit option comes from ZPower, which has been developing and refining its own unique silver zinc battery technology for the past decade. ZPower's rechargeable batteries can be used instead of standard disposable batteries in many existing hearing aid models. The original battery compartment is swapped out for ZPower's retrofit battery compartment, which allows any compatible hearing aid to use rechargeable silver-zinc batteries.

Contact your hearing healthcare professional for more information and to see if your hearing aids can be retrofit to rechargeable.