Phone audio not reaching your hearing aids usually comes down to one of a few fixable problems: a Bluetooth pairing issue, an audio routing setting on your phone, or a physical blockage in the hearing aid itself. The good news is that most of these have straightforward solutions you can try at home before visiting your audiologist.
Check Your Audio Routing Settings First
The most common reason phone calls don’t play through hearing aids is that your phone is sending audio to the wrong output. Both iPhones and Android phones have settings that control whether call audio and media audio go to the hearing aid or the phone’s built-in speaker. On iPhone, you can choose whether phone and media audio are routed to your hearing device from the Lock Screen or within Settings under Accessibility. If this routing is set to the phone speaker, you’ll hear nothing through your aids even though they’re paired and connected.
On Android, the path varies by manufacturer, but you’ll generally find hearing aid audio options under Settings, then Accessibility, then Hearing Devices. Make sure both call audio and media audio are toggled on for your hearing aids.
Bluetooth Pairing and Compatibility
Modern hearing aids connect to phones using a low-energy Bluetooth protocol rather than the standard Bluetooth your wireless headphones use. Apple developed its own version called Made for iPhone (MFi), and Google created a similar one called Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA). Both stream stereo audio directly to both hearing aids at once, but they require specific phone hardware and software to work.
For Android phones, you need Android 10 or later and Bluetooth 5.0 hardware at minimum. Not every Android phone that meets those specs supports ASHA, though. Hearing aid manufacturers publish compatibility lists (usually as PDFs on their websites) that tell you exactly which phone models work. If your phone isn’t on that list, direct streaming simply won’t function, and you may need a separate streaming accessory.
iPhones have supported MFi hearing aids since the iPhone 5. If you have an iPhone and MFi-compatible hearing aids, pairing issues are more likely a settings or software glitch than a compatibility problem. Try unpairing your hearing aids in Settings, restarting the phone, and pairing again from scratch.
The Manufacturer App May Be Blocking Audio
If you use a companion app from your hearing aid manufacturer, there may be a streaming toggle buried in its settings that’s been turned off. In Phonak’s myPhonak app, for example, there’s a specific “Bluetooth streaming” toggle under the Devices menu. If that toggle is off, your hearing aids won’t accept phone calls or media audio even though they appear connected. Other brands like Oticon, Signia, and ReSound have similar controls in their apps. Open your app, look for anything labeled “streaming,” “Bluetooth,” or “audio source,” and make sure it’s enabled.
Low Battery Cuts Streaming First
Streaming audio over Bluetooth draws significantly more power than basic hearing aid amplification. When your battery gets low, many hearing aids quietly disable Bluetooth streaming to preserve enough power for core hearing functions. You might not realize this is happening because the aids still seem to be working for everyday sounds.
Most hearing aids give a low battery warning through a beep or a notification in the companion app. If you’re using disposable batteries, swap in a fresh pair and try again. For rechargeable aids, charge them fully before testing. If streaming drops out at the same battery level consistently, that’s your threshold, and you’ll want to plan charging around it.
Wax Buildup Can Muffle Streamed Audio
This one catches people off guard because they assume a physical blockage would affect all sound equally. It does, but streamed phone audio is already quieter and less dynamic than the amplified environmental sound your hearing aids process. A partially clogged wax guard can make streamed calls sound weak, muffled, or distant while everyday hearing still seems mostly fine.
Signs that a wax guard needs replacing include sound that seems distant or hollow, intermittent crackling or static, or a device that seems dead even with a fresh battery. Most hearing aids come with replacement wax guards and a small tool for swapping them. If you haven’t changed yours recently, this is worth trying before anything else. It takes about 30 seconds per aid.
Wireless Interference and Range
Hearing aids operate on the 2.4 GHz frequency band, which is the same band used by Wi-Fi routers, microwaves, baby monitors, and countless other devices. In environments crowded with wireless signals, you may experience clicks, audio dropouts, or overall degraded sound quality during streaming. This is especially noticeable in busy offices, airports, or apartment buildings with dozens of overlapping Wi-Fi networks.
Range matters too. Bluetooth Low Energy connections between phones and hearing aids typically work within about 15 to 20 feet, but walls, your own body, and interference can shorten that. If your phone is in a back pocket or across the room, the connection may become unreliable. Keeping your phone on the same side as your dominant hearing aid, or simply closer to your body, often solves intermittent dropout problems.
Older digital cell phones could also cause a loud buzzing when held close to hearing aids due to electromagnetic interference from the phone’s antenna. This is less common with modern smartphones, but if you notice buzzing when the phone is near your ear during a traditional (non-Bluetooth) call, try holding the phone slightly farther away or switching to streaming mode instead.
Telecoil Mode and Older Hearing Aids
If your hearing aids don’t support Bluetooth at all, they may have a telecoil (T-coil) instead. A telecoil picks up magnetic signals from compatible phones and loops them directly into your hearing aid. For this to work, your phone needs a hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rating, and your hearing aid needs to be switched to the telecoil program. If you’re in the wrong program mode, you won’t hear phone audio through the aids.
Telecoils can also pick up magnetic interference from nearby electronics, fluorescent lights, or occupancy sensors, which sometimes produces a harsh buzzing that drowns out the phone call. If you rely on a telecoil for calls, positioning matters: hold the phone so the speaker aligns with the telecoil in your hearing aid, which is usually near the top of a behind-the-ear model.
Quick Troubleshooting Checklist
- Restart both devices. Turn your hearing aids off and on, then restart your phone. This clears most temporary Bluetooth glitches.
- Check audio routing. Make sure your phone is set to send call and media audio to your hearing aids, not the speaker.
- Open your hearing aid app. Confirm that Bluetooth streaming is toggled on.
- Replace the wax guards. Even if they look clean, swap them to rule out a partial blockage.
- Charge or replace batteries. Test with full power to eliminate low battery as the cause.
- Check compatibility. Verify that your phone model and operating system version are on your hearing aid manufacturer’s supported device list.
- Reduce distance and interference. Move your phone closer and away from other wireless devices.