Jabra Enhance Hearing Aids: Expert Review (2024) (2024)

Jabra is arguably the most modern hearing aid brand. Their diverse range of hearing-enhancement products, sold under the Jabra Enhance banner, caters to a new breed of hearing aid consumers who want the latest and greatest in technology but prioritize convenience, transparency, and low cost.

For the more casual retail shopper, Jabra offers self-fitting over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, designed to resemble modern wireless earbuds, for $799 a pair. For those seeking a more personalized experience, Jabra sells premium, telehealth-fitted OTC hearing aids for $1,995 a pair. And for those who want a more traditional experience, Jabra also offers premium prescription hearing aids at Costco for $1,599 a pair.

Many people know Jabra as a large consumer electronics company that makes office headsets and wireless earbuds. Fewer people know that, since 2000, Jabra has been owned by GN Store Nord, one of the world's largest hearing aid manufacturers (known for their ReSound and Beltone brands). GN also owns e-gaming giant SteelSeries and military headset maker FalCom, so it draws its technology from a large pool of audio expertise and resources.

Under the parent brand of Jabra, GN sells hearing aids under three distinct sub-brands, each broadly catering to a different type of consumer:

• Jabra Enhance Pro hearing aids are prescribed and dispensed in person by licensedhearing care providersexclusively atCostco hearing aid centers.
• Jabra Enhance Select hearing aids are sold online through Jabra's website, and through retailers like Best Buy and Amazon. They are OTC hearing aids that always come with professional telehealth care from the Jabra Audiology Team.
• Jabra Enhance Plus are earbud-style OTC hearing aids, sold in the same places as Enhance Select, but with much more limited telehealth support.

In-depth information about these product groups and their specific offerings can be obtained by clicking on the above-bolded links, and we briefly summarize each below.

The key to understanding the different Jabra product groups is to see them as a gradient from a complete do-it-yourself OTC self-fitting approach (Plus) to professional hearing care (Pro), with your choice of anything in-between (Select). In this way, Jabra gives you as wide a selection of products and services as possible, depending on "where you are" in your hearing care journey.

What we love about Jabra Enhance

Limitations

What hearing aids does Jabra sell?

Jabra sells Jabra Enhance Plus, Jabra Enhance Pro, and Jabra Enhance Select hearing aids for between $799 and $1,995. They are available at a number of retailers, with varying degrees of professional care. Let's talk about them, one by one.

Jabra Enhance Plus

OTC hearing aids from Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and more

Who's it for: People with mild-to-moderate hearing loss who want an inexpensive do-it-yourself (DIY) hearing solution or may just be getting started on their hearing improvement journey.

Price: $799 a pair

Available at: JabraEnhance.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and other retailers and online websites

While most over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are essentially simplified redesigns of hearing aids you get in a clinic, Jabra Enhance Plus was one of the first specifically made for OTC. Introduced in February 2022, these hearing aids look like high-tech audio earbuds, but they deliver high-quality speech amplification and employ directional microphones, noise reduction, and feedback suppression—functions typically associated with traditional hearing aids. Importantly, the Enhance Plus also offers an intuitive self-fit interface to match the amplification to your unique hearing loss. The devices can also stream Bluetooth^® audio and provide hands-free calling for iOS devices (but not Android).

Jabra Enhance Plus is on HearingTracker's list of Top-10 OTC hearing aids and was selected as a 2023 Expert Choice Winner by the independent testing lab HearAdvisor.

HearingTracker Audiologist provides his perspectives on the Jabra Enhance Plus hearing aid. Closed captions are available on this video. If you are using a mobile phone, please enable captions clicking on the gear icon.

Jabra Enhance Select

High-quality hearing aids delivered online with pro support

Who's it for: People with mild-to-moderately severe hearing loss who are reasonably tech-savvy and are looking for a higher-level OTC hearing aid—but still may want online assistance and guidance from a licensed hearing care professional.

Top models: Jabra Enhance Select 500, Jabra Enhance Select 300, Enhance Select 50R

Price: $995-$1,995 a pair

Available at: JabraEnhance.com, and the 50R can also be found at popular retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon.

When purchasing Jabra Enhance Select through JabraEnhance.com, you select the products and amount of professional support you want. The team at Jabra Enhance™ is one of the leaders and pioneers in the "blended" or "hybrid" model that melds OTC hearing aids with professionally administered telehealth care.

All Jabra Enhance Select models are rechargeable receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids. With RIC hearing aids, the main body of the hearing aid sits behind your ear, with a small plastic-coated wire running down to a speaker in your ear. All Enhance Select models offer Bluetooth audio streaming for compatible Apple and Android phones. Select 500 and 300 come with a portable charger that provides the aids with over 24 hours of use time and carries 3 full charges; the 50R has similar battery life but relies on a slightly antiquated desktop charger.

Enhance Select models at JabraEnhance.com are available from $995 to $1,795 per pair, depending on model, and you can add 3 years of telehealth care to all models by opting for the Premium Package for an additional $200.

With their latest flagship product, Jabra Enhance Select 500, you're getting all the exceptional technology found in an advanced, smaller RIC hearing aid at about half the cost of what you might find at a traditional hearing aid clinic. Select 500 is 25% smaller than the Select 300, features the latest Bluetooth LE technology (allowing for reception with Auracast broadcast devices), and also contains an accelerometer that enables tap controls for hands-free audio streaming with iPhones and iPads.

The Select 300 includes hands-free calling for compatible iPhones (iPhone 11 or higher) and several advanced speech and sound processing technologies.

Jabra Enhance Pro

High-tech device with professional services from Costco

Who it's for: People who want a top-tier technology hearing aid at one of the lowest price points possible, dispensed in person by a trained hearing care professional.

Top models: Jabra Enhance Pro 20 micro RIE 60S and RIE 62/RIE 13

Price: $1,599 a pair

Available at: Exclusively at Costco

In the last 15 years, Costco has become the second-largest distributor of U.S. hearing aids surpassed only by the VA, and the Jabra Enhance Pro is currently one of the three major hearing aid brands offered there, along with Philips HearLink and Rexton. State-licensed hearing care professionals at Costco Hearing Centers dispense these hearing aids at exceptionally low prices compared to other hearing care offices.

The Jabra Enhance Pro 20 was launched at Costco in November 2023 and features the retailer's smallest rechargeable receiver-in-ear (RIE, which is the same thing as a RIC) hearing aid with cutting-edge ReSound technology and future-ready Auracast broadcasting capabilities.

At $1,599 per pair, the Enhance Pro 20 is a hearing aid that fits discreetly behind the ear and provides speech-in-noise and quality sound, tap controls, and Bluetooth streaming for iOS and Android smartphones and devices, with hands-free calling functionality for compatible iOS devices and Samsung Galaxy S23 running Android 14. You can get it in either a rechargeable or size 13 disposable battery model (RIE 62/RIE 13).

Closed captions are available on this video. If you are using a mobile phone, please enable captions clicking on the gear icon.

Enhance Select, Plus, or Pro? Pricing and the Jabra Enhance brands

The pricing of Jabra Enhance Select hearing aids is certainly attractive at $995 to 1,195 a pair. When purchasing at JabraEnhance.com, you decide whether to pay for telehealth, and whether to pay for the hearing aids with financing through their partner Bread^®. Of course, hearing aid financing requires credit approval and an added percentage rate which will increase the overall cost of the hearing aids.

Keep in mind though that Jabra Enhance Select hearing aids never come with in-person care. In contrast, Costco sells Jabra Enhance Pro 20—with generous in-person care—for $1,599, which is only $100 more than buying the Select 300 without telehealth! Another factor worth considering: Costco's Enhance Pro 20 is based on the ReSound Nexia, which is a newer generation of ReSound technology than what's in the Select 300 (it's based on the ReSound OMNIA). You can purchase the Enhance Select 500, based on Nexia technology, for $1995 with telehealth service.

The Jabra Enhance Pro 20 from Costco includes a charger, Bluetooth compatibility, hands-free calling (Apple products), and in-person service. Also, some Costco locations offer remote care, allowing you to get both in-person care for the fitting and remote care as needed.

Beyond buying your hearing aids at a warehouse or from JabraEnhance.com, you may also be able to find in-person professional care and competitive ReSound products/pricing at local hearing care practices. Particularly for individuals with more severe or complex hearing loss, in-person care with more personalized service is required or simply the preferred route. The same goes for anyone with bothersome tinnitus, dizziness, or a chronic health problem (diabetes, etc.) that necessitates more individualized hearing care and time than busy Costco clinicians might be able to devote.

An in-person comprehensive hearing examination by a licensed hearing care professional followed by the appropriate prescriptive fitting, real-ear verification, and validation remains the "gold standard" for obtaining a hearing aid.

Finally, if you do want to go it alone and take the DIY route, there is the Jabra Enhance Plus which was designed specifically as an OTC-only self-fit hearing aid. This is largely reflected in its $799 price tag. It should be noted that Jabra Plus users are supported by a fairly comprehensive website and self-help page that includes instructional videos, FAQs, and more. The product's parent group, GN, is keenly aware that licensed hearing care providers can be instrumental to a person's success with hearing aids, so they also provide you with a network of Certified Jabra Enhance Centers; however, any services from these hearing care centers (mostly Beltone offices) will come at a price.

Quality options for hearing better

Jabra is unique in that it provides quality hearing solutions for almost anyone in any phase of their hearing journey, except for those with more complex hearing loss, bothersome tinnitus, or medical contraindications. The best part is you can choose relatively inexpensive technologies at the service levels you think you need; the bad part is, except for the Enhance Pro at Costco, you won't get an in-person hearing examination by a hearing care professional—and we don't want to minimize the importance of this fact.

But no matter the Jabra brand or model, these hearing aids generally have good—and in some cases state-of-the-art—technology supplemented by the option of (at least) professional telehealth.