The best device is the one that fits how you actually spend your days. Here is how to narrow the field.
AT A GLANCE
- Start With Where Communication is Hardest
- Amplified Phones and What They Do Well
- Captioned Telephones for Following Every Word
- Devices for Television and Entertainment
- Personal Amplifiers for Out and About
- Alerting Devices for the Sounds You Should Not Miss
- Match the Device to Your Home Setup
- Questions Worth Asking Before You Decide
Choosing a communication device for hearing loss can feel daunting as there are more options than ever before. How do you know which option is right for you? Sometimes product pages tend to describe features rather than situations that it would help.
The most useful way through this is to work backward. Rather than starting with the technology, start with the moments in your week where you experience the most difficulty hearing. Here are a few of the main categories of devices available for the situations people with hearing loss describe as the most challenging.
Start With Where Communication is Hardest
Spend a few days paying attention to when hearing feels like the most work. Most people find their difficulty clusters in one or two specific situations rather than spreading evenly across the day.
Common patterns include missing words on the phone but hearing fine in person, following one-on-one conversation easily but losing conversation in group settings, hearing speech but not the doorbell, or managing everywhere except in front of the television. Each of these situations points toward a different solution, and some point toward more than one.
Take a moment to recognize the strategies you already use to manage hearing situations. These workarounds help indicate where an assistive listening device could help. Asking people to repeat themselves, turning the television volume louder than what others find comfortable, avoiding phone calls, or letting someone else handle appointments over the phone are all signals of where a communication device could help.
Amplified Phones and What They Do Well
Amplified telephones increase call volume well beyond what a standard phone provides, often by 40 decibels or more, and many let you adjust tone as well as volume. Boosting the higher frequencies can help considerably, since high-pitched voices are often the first that become harder to hear.
Amplification works well, but if you find that turning the volume up makes speech louder but not clearer, amplification alone may not be the answer. Look for amplified phones that let you adjust the sound frequency as well as volume. Our guide to types of hearing loss and how they affect phone communication explains why volume and clarity are not the same .
Captioned Telephones for Following Every Word
A captioned telephone shows written captions of what your caller says on a built-in screen while you listen. You read along as you talk, which means you are not relying on volume alone to catch names, numbers, and details.
This tends to suit people who find phone calls tiring or stressful. Captioned telephones are also important for accuracy on calls that matter, such as appointments, prescriptions, and financial conversations. CapTel offers several models designed around different home setups, including the CapTel 840PLUS that does not require internet, the CapTel 880i with its large display, and the CapTel 2400i with a touchscreen display. Our guide to telephone devices for hard of hearing compares the categories in more depth.
Devices for Television and Entertainment
Television is one of the most common sticking points, largely because the audio mix is often not designed for clarity and everyone in the room has different needs for volume.
Closed captions are the easiest thing to try, and it’s simple to find them in the settings of the TV you already have. Beyond that, television listening devices send audio directly to a headset or neckloop with its own volume control, so you can set your level independently from everyone else in the room. Soundbars help too, particularly ones with a dialogue or speech mode. Our roundup of the best assistive listening devices for TV walks through what is available.
Personal Amplifiers for Out and About
Personal amplifiers are small devices with a microphone and a headset that bring a nearby speaker’s voice directly to your ears. They are useful in the car, at a medical appointment, or in a restaurant where one-on-one conversations may occur in a noisy background.
Personal amplifiers are not a substitute for hearing aids, and they generally amplify all sounds rather than filtering intelligently. What they do well is handle a specific situation at low cost, which makes personal amplifiers a reasonable solution to try while you are figuring out what works best for you.
Alerting Devices for the Sounds You Should Not Miss
Speech gets most of the attention, but the sounds that carry safety information matter just as much. Doorbells, smoke alarms, telephone rings, and kitchen timers can become a problem if they go unheard.
Alerting systems convert those sounds into flashing lights, vibration, or both. A bed shaker connected to a smoke alarm addresses a genuine safety gap for anyone who removes hearing aids at night. Our overview of different alert methods for people with hearing loss covers the range.
Match the Device to Your Home Setup
Before ordering anything, it is worth confirming what your home can support.
Some captioned telephones require an internet connection, while others work over a standard analog telephone line without internet. If you have moved to internet-based phone service or cell service only, that impacts your options. Check where the phone jacks are, whether the router reaches the room where you make most calls, and whether there is an outlet nearby, since most of these devices need power as well as a line.
If you wear hearing aids, confirm their compatibility with communication devices directly with your audiologist rather than from a product page to make sure you have accurate information for your specific equipment.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Decide
A few questions tend to surface the right answer faster than any comparison chart.
Which specific situation is this device meant to fix? Where will it physically live in my house? Does it need internet? Is there a trial period or return window? Who do I call if it does not work as expected?
It is also worth asking about cost. Some equipment is available at no cost to people with hearing loss, like a CapTel phone. Other equipment may be available through a state or local program. Reach out to community support groups near you to see what others in your area are using. Your doctor or audiologist may also have helpful suggestions. The right product for you may be less expensive than you think.
Every hearing situation is unique, and the solutions are just as personal. The right device for you is the one that solves the situation you named at the start, and that you will still be using six months from now.
Take the next step:
- Explore CapTel phone models to find the one that fits your home setup
- You or someone you know may be eligible to receive a CapTel phone at no cost
- Have questions? Call CapTel at 1-800-233-9130
Keep exploring: More on a helpful guide to phones for hearing loss | Visit the CapTel blog | Share this article with a friend
An expert in telecommunications accessibility, John travels throughout the US educating consumers & businesses about telecom support for people with hearing loss. He’s served as President of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Madison Chapter and spent eight years on the TDI Board of Directors advising on policy matters.
