Oticon Companion

Review by eFreeware

The most interesting thing about Oticon Companion is that it turns a phone into the control surface for a pair of hearing aids. Volume, programs, muting, battery status and streaming all sit behind one app instead of on tiny buttons behind your ear. Oticon A/S built it for people who already wear compatible Oticon aids and want to adjust them without drawing attention.

It is free, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, which is unusual for a companion app tied to hardware. With more than a million installs and a 4.2 average across roughly 20,000 ratings, it has clearly found a working audience since its January 2023 release.

Everyday control over volume, programs and quiet

The core of the app is adjustment. You can change the sound volume for each hearing aid separately or move both together, which matters when one ear needs more help than the other. There is also a mute function for cutting out your surroundings when you want to concentrate, and the ability to switch between programs that your hearing care professional has already configured.

That last point is the one I would pay attention to. The programs come from your clinician rather than being invented in the app, so the app is a remote control for settings someone qualified has tuned. For a wearer, that means the app is about convenience and quick access rather than self-fitting. I would expect this to appeal to someone who moves between listening situations during a day and wants to change mode without fiddling with the aids themselves.

Battery levels are visible in the app as well, which removes some of the guesswork about when a charge or a fresh cell is due. None of this is exotic on its own, but together it covers the adjustments a wearer reaches for most often.

Speech, streaming and the features tied to newer models

SpeechBooster is the feature aimed at noisy rooms: it reduces background noise and brings speech forward. Oticon notes it works on all hearing aid models except Zeal, Jet PX, Zircon, Opn, Ruby, Jet and Siya, so older or entry-level aids may not offer it. Streaming is the other headline capability, sending calls, music and podcasts straight to the aids, though availability can vary with the phone model you carry.

Two equalizers give finer control where the hardware supports them. A streaming equalizer adjusts streamed sound, and every model supports it except Opn, Siya and Jet. A separate sound equalizer adjusts the sounds around you and is listed for Reveal, Verit, Play SI, Zeal, Intent and Real. Streaming comfort, which reduces background noise while audio is being streamed, is limited to Reveal.

The app also handles wireless accessories paired with the aids, such as TV Adapters, the EduMic and ConnectClip, and it can connect to and adjust an Auracast broadcast on Reveal, Verit, Play SI, Intent and Zeal. HearingFitness, a progress-tracking feature, appears on the same group of newer models. The pattern is consistent: the more recent your aids, the more of the app you can use.

Finding aids, filter reminders and remote appointments

A handful of features sit outside day-to-day listening. If the aids go missing, the app can help locate them, but this requires location services to be left on at all times.

Support material and troubleshooting guidance are built in, and you can book an online appointment with your hearing care professional. That combination strikes me as the practical backbone of the app for anyone who lives some distance from their clinic or would rather resolve a question without traveling. It does not replace the clinician, but it shortens the loop between noticing a problem and getting advice.

Pairing first, and what your phone and aids need

Before any of this works, the hearing aids have to be paired with the app. That is the starting point the developer sets out, and it is the step everything else depends on. If you wear aids from 2016 to 2018 and have not updated them, a hearing aid update is required before the app will function, and Oticon recommends keeping aids updated during routine check-ups.

On the phone side, Android 13 or later is recommended for the best performance. Because compatibility also depends on the hearing aid model, the phone model and, for some streaming functions, the two together, the sensible move is to confirm your own combination before assuming a particular feature is available to you.

Who gets the most from it

The clearest fit is someone who already wears compatible Oticon aids and wants discreet control from a phone they are carrying anyway. If your aids are from a recent generation, you are likely to see the fuller set of tools, including the equalizers, HearingFitness, Auracast tuning and wax filter reminders. If your aids are older, the app still handles volume, programs, muting and battery checks, but the newer additions may not appear.

It also suits wearers who value remote contact with their hearing care professional and who use wireless accessories at home, such as a TV Adapter. Anyone who wants to adjust their aids frequently through the day, rather than set them and forget them, will get more out of having the controls on a screen. The app is a companion to the hardware, not a substitute for it, so its value rises with how closely your aids match what it supports.

A companion worth pairing with recent Oticon aids

The caveat is built into the design. So much of the feature set is tied to specific hearing aid models and, for streaming, to the phone you use, that two wearers can install the same app and get noticeably different experiences. Pairing is mandatory, older aids may need an update first, and Android 13 or later is recommended.

My recommendation is straightforward for anyone wearing compatible Oticon aids from recent years: install it and make use of the controls, the equalizers and the progress tracking. If your aids are older, the core adjustments are still there, and it costs nothing to see which extras your model supports.

What's new in version 1.8.0

In this update, we have added wax filter replacement reminders to help you keep your sound quality at its best, and streaming filter for clear and comfortable streaming especially in noisy environments, both available for compatible devices.