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Home > Hearing & Wellness > Amazon "hearing aids" or Smart Hearing? We asked a hearing specialist to test both to See What Actually Works

Amazon "hearing aids" or Smart Hearing? We asked a hearing specialist to test both to see what works best

Published by Emma Whitfield | Hearing & Wellness | Last update: Feb 24 👁 584256 📖 4 min

Let's talk about something no one really warns you about when you start losing your hearing: the Amazon trap.


You search "hearing aids." You see dozens of options. £29. £49. £89. 

 

Thousands of five-star reviews. Prime delivery tomorrow.


You think… surely worth a try for that price?


We thought the same. So did thousands of our readers. Most of them ended up with a drawer full of disappointments.


We kept seeing two names come up in our reader feedback:


Amazon hearing devices, the cheap and easy option millions of people try first,


and Smart Hearing, a smaller company that's been growing fast, selling what they say is a real, certified hearing aid direct for £149.


One costs £29-49. The other costs £149.


So we asked Dr. Joanne Prescott, hearing specialist with 26 years fitting hearing aids on the NHS and in private clinics, to test the most popular Amazon hearing devices against Smart hearing.


And what she found explains why so many people give up on their hearing.

But first — what's actually being sold on Amazon?

This is where it gets confusing. Because Amazon listings say "hearing aid." The pictures look like hearing aids. The reviews say they work.


But Dr. Prescott is blunt about it.


"Most of what you see on Amazon for under £100 aren't hearing aids at all. 

 

They're amplifiers. An amplifier just makes everything louder — voices, background noise, the fridge, your own breathing. All at once. 

 

A real hearing aid is a certified medical device (see below) that makes voices clearer without making everything else unbearable. 

 

That's what people actually need."


An amplifier is a megaphone strapped to your ear. 

 

A hearing aid is a smart computer in your ear.


And that matters, because the reason most people struggle isn't volume — it's clarity.

What do Amazon devices and HearWell have in common?

  • Both are sold online. Both are delivered to your door. No clinic appointments, no waiting lists, no salespeople.
     
  • Both are much cheaper than what you'd pay at Boots or Specsavers — because neither has high street shops, commissioned staff, or corporate overheads driving up the price. That's why a pair of hearing aids that costs £3,000+ in a clinic can be sold for a fraction of that online.

But that's where the similarities end. Because what's actually inside the device — and what it does to sound — is completely different.

Where they're different

  • Amazon devices are amplifiers. HearWell is a UKCA-certified medical device — registered with UK health authorities, the same certification process as brands costing £3,000+ (certification available on their website).
     
  • Amazon devices make everything louder. HearWell makes voices clearer — the sounds you actually need to hear come through, without the rest overwhelming you.
     
  • Amazon devices have no professional support. HearWell has a UK-based support team that responds within hours — real people who will call you on a Saturday if needed.
     
  • Amazon devices typically have no meaningful return policy for used items. HearWell offers a 45-day home trial — if they don't work, send them back for a full refund.
     
  • Amazon devices cost £39-£89 with a lifespan of a few weeks, if you're lucky. HearWell costs £149 with a guaranteed 2-year lifespan, which is basically 20p per day (and if it breaks within those 2 years, you get a free replacement).

Think of it this way: a £29-49 Amazon amplifier is like buying reading glasses from a petrol station. They might sort of work, but they're not made for you. 

 

HearWell is like a proper pair from an optician — designed for the job, comfortable enough to wear all day, and you don't have to squint through them.
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She tested both for 4 weeks with 6 volunteers — here's what happened

Dr. Prescott recruited six volunteers. Three men, three women. Aged 64-79. All with mild to moderate hearing loss. 

 

Five of them had previously tried at least one Amazon hearing device. All five had stopped using them.


She tested the Amazon devices and HearWell across real-life settings over four weeks.


With the Amazon devices, the pattern was consistent — and consistently disappointing.


Quiet room: voices louder but tinny, unnatural. 

Television: volume helped, but clarity didn't improve. 

Phone calls: feedback and whistling made them unusable for most testers. 

 

The busy pub: completely overwhelming — every sound amplified equally, making conversation harder, not easier.


With HearWell, the difference was immediate.


Quiet conversation: clear and natural. 

 

Television: clear at normal volume. 

 

Phone calls: usable without feedback. 

 

The busy pub: still the hardest environment, but volunteers could actually follow conversations — something none of them could do with the Amazon devices.


But here's what Dr. Prescott found most telling.


"Every single volunteer told me the same thing about their Amazon experience — 'I thought my hearing was too far gone.' 

 

They genuinely believed hearing aids couldn't help them. 

 

They didn't know the difference between an amplifier and a real hearing aid. 

 

That's the real damage cheap devices do — they don't just fail, they make people give up."
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The verdict

Amazon hearing devices are cheap. And we understand the temptation — when you're not sure if hearing aids will help, spending £49 feels safer than spending thousands.

But for mild to moderate hearing loss — which is what 80-90% of people actually have — cheap amplifiers don't just underperform. They put people off getting help entirely and often made their hearing worse: 

  • Amazon devices make everything louder. HearWell makes voices clearer. Every tester noticed the difference immediately.
     
  • Amazon devices caused feedback and whistling in most tests. HearWell had none.
     
  • Amazon devices have no certification, no UK support, and returns mean shipping back to overseas warehouses. HearWell is UKCA-certified, UK-supported, and offers a 45-day no-hassle trial.
     
  • Amazon devices cost £39-£89 and end up in a drawer. HearWell costs £149 and all six testers were still wearing them daily at the end of the four-week test.
     

David, 69, one of the test volunteers, had tried three different Amazon devices before. He said: "I'd completely given up. Thought hearing aids were all rubbish. Turns out I'd just never tried a real one."
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Final thoughts

If you've tried Amazon hearing aids and they didn't work — that doesn't mean hearing aids don't work. 

 

It means you tried an amplifier, not a hearing aid.


If you've been put off by the experience — you're not alone. Most of our readers tell us the same thing.


And if you're thinking about trying HearWell but worried it'll be another Amazon disappointment — we understand. 

 

That's exactly why they offer a 45-day trial. If it doesn't work, send it back. No risk.


But based on Dr. Prescott's testing, and based on what thousands of our readers have told us, HearWell and a £49 Amazon amplifier are not the same thing. Not even close.


Normal price of HearWell is £300, but after this article, the founder extended their 50% discount for our readers (see button below).


At £149, that's less than 20p per day over a 2-year guaranteed lifespan. 45-day home trial — if they don't work, send them back for a refund.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Since this article was published, HearWell has gained tremendous attention and interest. 

The company has reached out to our editorial team to inform us that, for a limited time, they are offering our readers an exclusive 50% discount on HearWell.

Plus, every order comes with a 45-day risk free trial at home, 1 year warranty and free insured shipping.

 

If you don't experience clearer hearing within 45 days, you can just return it for a refund.

Try HearWell for 45-days at home, with free shipping and 1 year warranty

Check availability

Comments (3)

JanR58

3 Mar, 2026 at 1:16 pm

2 weeks with Hearwell now, amazing value! Returned my £2,400 Specsavers aids for full refund. These work just as well!! Already told 3 mates at the pub about them. should've found these sooner! Thx!
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Margaret_S

27 Feb, 2026 at 9:16 am

My son sent me this article yesterday after I missed another important phone call. Just ordered HearWell with the discount. On pension so the £149 price really helps. Fingers crossed! Will update in a few weeks
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RobertJames

19 Feb, 2026 at 10:22 am
 

Can finally hear the telly without subtitles! Wife doesn't have to repeat herself anymore. Should've done this years ago instead of waiting for NHS. Worth every penny!👍
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