Most modern hearing aids can receive phone audio directly through Bluetooth, but the method depends on your hearing aid’s age and features. You have four main options: direct Bluetooth streaming, a telecoil connection, an intermediary streaming device, or simply holding the phone in the right spot. Here’s how each one works and how to set it up.
Direct Bluetooth Streaming
If your hearing aids were made in the last five or six years, there’s a good chance they support direct Bluetooth streaming from your phone. This is the most seamless option: phone calls and audio play straight into your hearing aids like wireless earbuds, with no extra equipment needed.
The setup differs slightly depending on whether you use an iPhone or Android phone.
iPhone (MFi Hearing Aids)
Apple uses a protocol called Made for iPhone (MFi) that many major hearing aid brands support. To pair:
- Go to Settings, then Bluetooth, and make sure Bluetooth is turned on.
- Go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Hearing Devices.
- Turn your hearing aids off and back on.
- When the hearing aid name appears under “MFi Hearing Devices” (this can take a minute), tap the name and respond to the pairing requests.
Once paired, phone calls automatically route to your hearing aids. You can adjust volume and settings through the Accessibility Shortcut by triple-clicking the side button, or by adding a Hearing Devices button to Control Center. There’s also an option to enable controls directly on the lock screen, which is useful for quick adjustments mid-call.
Android (ASHA Protocol)
Android phones use Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA), which works over Bluetooth Low Energy. The pairing process is similar: open your phone’s Bluetooth settings, put your hearing aids in pairing mode (usually by turning them off and on or opening and closing the battery door), and select them when they appear. Your phone needs Bluetooth 4.2 or higher, which covers most Android phones sold in the last several years. Not every Android phone implements ASHA equally well, though. Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones tend to have the most reliable support, while some budget Android devices may not support it at all. Check your hearing aid manufacturer’s website for a list of compatible phones.
Using a Telecoil
A telecoil (sometimes called a T-coil) is a small copper coil inside many hearing aids that picks up magnetic signals. When you hold a compatible phone near your ear, the telecoil receives the phone’s electromagnetic signal directly, bypassing the hearing aid’s microphone entirely. This cuts out background noise and can make phone conversations noticeably clearer.
To use it, switch your hearing aid to its “T” or telecoil program. Some hearing aids have a physical button for this, while others require you to cycle through programs. Then hold the phone to your ear as you normally would. Not all hearing aids have telecoils, especially smaller in-the-ear and receiver-in-canal models where space is tight. Your audiologist can tell you whether yours does and help you activate the program if it isn’t already set up.
On the phone side, look for the FCC’s hearing aid compatibility ratings. Phones get two scores: an “M” rating (M1 to M4) for use with hearing aids in regular microphone mode, and a “T” rating (T1 to T4) for use with telecoils. In both cases, 4 is the best. The FCC considers a phone hearing aid compatible if it scores at least M3 and T3. These ratings are listed on the phone’s packaging and spec sheet. If you rely on a telecoil, look for a T3 or T4 rated phone.
Streaming Accessories for Older Hearing Aids
If your hearing aids don’t support direct Bluetooth streaming, an intermediary device can bridge the gap. These are small clip-on or pendant-style accessories that pair with your phone via Bluetooth and then transmit the audio wirelessly to your hearing aids using a proprietary signal.
Each hearing aid manufacturer makes its own version. Oticon’s ConnectClip, for example, works with several of their product lines including Oticon Real, More, and Opn models. It clips to your shirt, pairs with your phone, and streams calls and audio hands-free. Phonak, Signia, ReSound, and Starkey all offer similar devices. The downside is an extra piece of equipment to charge and carry, but for hearing aids that lack built-in Bluetooth, it’s often the only way to get wireless phone streaming.
These accessories typically cost between $200 and $350 and are available through your audiologist or directly from the manufacturer.
Acoustic Coupling: Just Holding the Phone
The simplest approach requires no technology at all. You hold the phone’s speaker near your hearing aid’s microphone and let the hearing aid amplify the sound as it would any other audio in your environment. This is called acoustic coupling, and it works with every hearing aid and every phone.
The trick is phone placement. If you wear behind-the-ear hearing aids, the microphone sits on top of or behind your ear, not inside the ear canal. Research on acoustic coupling with behind-the-ear aids found that positioning the phone’s speaker to the rear of the ear, in line with the hearing aid’s microphone, produced the best signal quality compared to other positions. In practice, this means sliding the phone up and slightly back from where you’d normally hold it. It takes a little experimenting to find the sweet spot. For in-the-ear hearing aids, placement is more intuitive since the microphone is inside the ear itself.
Acoustic coupling works in a pinch, but it picks up background noise along with the phone audio. For regular phone use, one of the other methods will give you a much cleaner signal.
Fixing Common Connection Problems
If audio only streams to one hearing aid, the most likely cause is that only one aid was paired during setup. Check your hearing aid app (myPhonak, Oticon ON, ReSound Smart 3D, or whichever your brand uses) and look under the device list to confirm both aids appear. If only one is listed, unpair both, then start the pairing process from scratch so both aids connect.
Other common fixes for dropped or one-sided connections:
- Low battery: A hearing aid with low battery power may disconnect or fail to be detected. Make sure both aids are charged or have fresh batteries.
- Bluetooth refresh: Turn Bluetooth off on your phone, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on. Restarting the phone can also help.
- Interference: Other wireless devices or crowded Wi-Fi environments can disrupt the connection. Try connecting in a different location to rule this out.
- Flight mode: Some hearing aids have an airplane mode that can be triggered accidentally. Restarting the hearing aids (opening and closing the battery door, or placing them in the charger briefly) usually exits this mode.
- Software updates: Outdated phone operating systems or hearing aid apps can cause pairing failures. Update both your phone’s OS and the manufacturer’s app, and ask your audiologist about firmware updates for the hearing aids themselves.
Auracast: What’s Coming Next
A newer Bluetooth standard called Auracast is beginning to appear in hearing aids. Built on Bluetooth LE Audio, Auracast allows hearing aids to pick up audio broadcasts from public sound systems in airports, theaters, houses of worship, and other venues, in addition to phone streaming. Several hearing aid manufacturers already offer Auracast-enabled models, and some public venues have started installing broadcast systems.
If you’re buying new hearing aids, it’s worth checking whether a model is listed as “Auracast-enabled” (ready to receive broadcasts now) or “Auracast-ready” (will gain compatibility through a future software update). Widespread venue adoption is still a few years out, with an international standard for Auracast venues expected by late 2027. For hearing aids that aren’t Auracast-compatible, separate receivers paired with a neckloop will eventually offer a way to access these broadcasts as well.