Hearing aid styles
IIC - Invisible in the Canal
The hearing aid you cannot see, sits deep inside the canal and is very automatic. Comes with most of the main features you will find in other styles, but lacks a lot of the truly top end features you will find on some of the other styles of hearing aid.
- Invisible to the eye. No one can see you are wearing it
- Sound quality on par with larger models
- Much like a contact lense for your ear. Set and forget
CIC - Completely in Canal
A very discreet and virtually invisible hearing aid style. Can output more power than an IIC. CIC's are also some cases similiarly matching their larger counterparts for feature sets and functionality. Examples such as directionality and noise cancelling being two prime examples.
- Virtually invisible without sacrificing the most features
- Far more variety and options available than IIC style
- A couple of CIC models now feature wireless streaming
ITC - In the Canal
Bigger in size than a CIC for larger hearing loss but also increased functionality. This style due to its larger size, increases the features or in most cases today the number of features you can fit into the device. Bluetooth, ear to ear wireless and directionality are found in many ITC models.
- Bigger size means more features and longer battery life
- Identical to RIC options for feature parity in most cases
- Directly stream phone calls, TV and more into your ears
RIC - Receiver in Canal
Completely comfortable, highly discreet and fittable on the day. The BTE for the 21st century. The RIC is easily the most comfortable and cutting edge of today's hearing device styles. Comes in a huge array of very small shapes and sizes. Not to mention they are very discreet.
- Comfortable. Most people forget they are wearing it
- Most popular hearing aid style globally
- This style features the most cutting edge features
BTE - Behind the Ear
Larger sized hearing aid type, but comes with maximum hearing aid functionality. While RIC's can handle most hearing loss types, the BTE's are still the king of power when it comes to addressing the occasional hearing loss that need maximum power.
- Battery life goes for a week in most cases
- Can address virtually any hearing loss type
- Mostly for severe to profound hearing loss types