Elehear Beyond Review: Budget Hearing Aids With Solid Performance

I found Elehear Beyond to offer a compelling value at $399*, with modern features like audio streaming and respectable audio performance. It stands out among over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid options and earned HearAdvisor's Expert Choice Award for 2024. For those seeking an affordable hearing solution, it’s a strong contender.

*NOTE: Elehear is offering a special deal during Black Friday 2025! From now through Saturday, November 29 at 12pm PST (and for Cyber Week, starting December 1), Elehear offers a $60 discount on the Beyond or $90 if you purchase it with a Dry Box, bringing the price down to $339 or $359, respectively. No promo code needed.

Setting up Elehear Beyond

In the box, you will find a pair of Elehear Beyond hearing aids, a robust portable charging case, and other useful tools (see image below for full unboxing). Once unboxed, the setup process for Beyond was straightforward and involved charging them, downloading the Elehear app, and pairing them with my iPhone. The app’s onboarding process was quick and did not require me to toggle between the app and my phone’s settings. This made setup easier than many other OTC devices I have tested.

However, a minor drawback is that Beyond hearing aids are “preset-based” and lack an on-ear hearing test. While this contributes to a quicker setup, I generally prefer hearing aids that offer some form of hearing-based "self-fitting" customization. Hopefully, Elehear will consider adding this feature in a future app update.

Elehear Beyond is relatively large

One of the first things I noticed about Elehear Beyond is the body size, which is large compared to other OTC and prescription hearing aids of similar style. Thankfully, the size did not compromise comfort and I ultimately found the lightweight body to fit well behind my ears. The larger size does mean they may be more noticeable, and less discrete, especially depending on your ears and hairstyle.

I'm speculating here, but my guess is that the Beyond's are a bit larger than most behind-the-ear hearing aids due to the processing and battery power required by new AI denoising technology. We saw something very similar with the new Phonak Infinio Sphere, another large behind-the-ear hearing aid with AI denoising. Given Beyond's cost, I found the size to be a worthwhile compromise for the quality it delivers.

Limited water and dust resistance

Beyond seems like a relatively well-built hearing aid, but be warned that it has a lower Ingress Protection (IP) rating than most prescription hearing aids on the market today (typically IP68). When asked for comment, we received the following statement from Elehear:

So you will want to keep them away from water and have a good cleaning regimen. It was nice to see that Beyond uses receivers, or earwires, as opposed to the antiquated slim-tube design found in older and lower-cost OTC hearing aids. I did not experience any issues using Beyond and found manual adjustments with the multi-function buttons easy, although you may prefer making adjustments through the app as it provides more detailed customization.

Great sound quality, especially for the price

One aspect of Beyond that I found impressive was the sound quality. While Beyond does not reach the same fidelity or customization as a prescription hearing aid, which isn’t really a fair comparison, it punches above its weight. More specifically, I found Beyond to offer respectable high-frequency gain, or amplification, which offers great speech clarity—a feature that many lower-cost devices struggle to achieve without feedback or whistling.

That said, I did encounter some sound quality artifacts, particularly in quieter environments and while playing live music. For everyday use, the quiet digital "whooshing" sounds may go unnoticed, but other audio artifacts were prominent enough while playing guitar that musicians and music-lovers will likely struggle to find the sound quality acceptable. With that said, Beyond’s audio streaming quality was solid, providing a good experience for streaming media and phone calls—especially at this price point.

Good streaming audio quality and Bluetooth stability

Elehear Beyond offers wireless capabilities with Bluetooth 5.3, along with support for older Bluetooth protocols, enabling hands-free calling and audio streaming for both Apple^® and Android™ devices. This puts Beyond on par with other modern wireless hearing aids and advanced earbuds like Apple AirPods Pro 2. However, the streamed audio quality of Elehear Beyond doesn’t quite match the sound quality of top-tier modern earbuds.

That said, connecting Beyond to mobile devices is easy and stable. I did not experience any pairing issues with my iOS device, and Beyond would instantly reconnect, even when toggling Airplane mode. This is an improvement over some of Elehear’s older hearing aids, which would occasionally lose connection with the app and require re-pairing.

One downside to Beyond’s Bluetooth capabilities is the lack of support for additional wireless accessories (e.g., remote microphones, TV streamers). However, the Elehear app offers Remote Sound Capture, a feature that turns your mobile device into a remote microphone (more on this below).

Features of the Elehear Beyond's iPhone and Android app

The Elehear app is available for both iOS and Android devices and you can find it by searching “Elehear” in the App Store or Google Play Store. The app is simple to use with an easy onboarding process that involves selecting your specific product from a list of Elehear hearing aids, followed by Bluetooth pairing with your phone.

While testing Beyond, the app proved reliable and bug-free. However, unlike some other hearing aid apps, there is no on-ear hearing test or option to program the devices based on an audiogram from a hearing care provider. This may limit the accuracy of your fitting, especially if your hearing loss is not a standard configuration.

The app is organized into three primary tabs: Home, Settings, and Tinnitus. Each tab provides access to specific features that you will want to be aware of to get the most from Beyond and enhance your listening experience.

Home tab

Starting with the Home tab, you will find various links to Elehear resources as well as some useful apps.

Here are the most noteworthy features:

• Translation App: This feature allows you to communicate with someone who speaks a different language by using your phone's microphones to capture the conversation. The app then translates the spoken words to text on the screen and plays them back through your Beyond hearing aids. Although there is a slight delay, I tested it with the limited German I remember from high school, and it seemed to work well. You can even set both languages to English, allowing the app to function as a simple speech-to-text tool, which can further improve communication for some users. Translation apps like this are a nice addition, and it’s encouraging to see more companies including them in their apps.
• Environmental Noise App: This app turns your phone’s microphone into a sound level meter (SLM), providing a decibel (dB) reading of the noise levels in your environment and indicating whether they are safe or potentially hazardous for your hearing. I found it to be accurate enough for basic sound monitoring; however, the safe exposure guidelines may not align with commonly used U.S. standards, such as those from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). For more advanced features and educational content, I would still recommend using a dedicated SLM app, such as NIOSH SLM or Decibel X.
• Remote Sound Capture App: This feature turns your mobile device into a remote microphone, allowing you to bring desired sounds such as a person’s voice directly to your ears. I found Remote Sound Capture to be a convenient addition although there is a noticeable delay, or latency, which may cause lip-sync issues. This will become very noticeable if you use the feature to transmit sound from your television speakers to your hearing aids. However, it is still a useful feature to have especially since Beyond does not support “Live Listen,” a similar function typically available on iPhones.

Settings tab

The second Settings tab is the default screen when opening the app and it offers you control over your Beyond hearing aids. It is worth noting that Beyond are not “self-fit” hearing aids and they cannot yet be programmed directly based on hearing data. With that said, this Settings tab allows you to adjust various elements of Beyond’s sound quality to improve comfort, speech clarity, and sound preferences.

You may want to start in the Tuning section as this allows you to adjust the tone from brighter/crisper to deeper/fuller. Both the Tone and Volume settings can be adjusted separately for each hearing aid. The Auto Enhance feature is also particularly useful as it automatically adapts the settings to your environment. You can disable Auto Enhance if you prefer manual adjustments for Noise Control and Speech Focus, which can range from a focused front microphone to a full 360-degree omnidirectional pickup.

Tinnitus tab

The final Tinnitus tab offers various maskers to help distract you from your tinnitus. Since amplification alone can sometimes reduce the annoyance of tinnitus, you may want to focus on getting used to wearing the Beyond hearing aids initially and allow your brain time to adapt to the increased audibility.

Once you’re accustomed to wearing the hearing aids, it’s worth exploring the SoundScape feature within the Tinnitus tab. Soundscape lets you craft personalized audio scenes by combining sounds from 16 environments and 4 noise types. For example, if you have fond memories of vacationing at a lake house, you can recreate that soundscape with specific sounds, adjusted through volume sliders, making the tinnitus masker more calming and meaningful than a standard noise or tone-based masker.

One final feature to be aware of is the “hamburger menu” (three horizontal lines) In the top-left corner of the app. Clicking this will open a menu of additional features, including your Elehear profile, device information, and the user manual.

Accessing free audiologist support

The built‑in ElePro hub has let wearers complete a quick hearing screening and then connect—at no cost—to licensed U.S. audiologists or hearing care professionals for one‑on‑one assistance. The same portal houses a growing library of written and video tutorials, and Elehear says even more interactive tools are on the way.

All-day battery life

Elehear Beyond uses lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, which Elehear claims will last up to 20 hours in their default hearing aid mode. You can expect reduced battery life if you frequently stream audio.

Once the batteries are empty, Beyond can be recharged by placing them in their case. This process is straightforward, as the hearing aids should magnetically lock into place when positioned correctly, with corresponding LED light flashing next to each charging bay. The hearing aids themselves recharge in about 1.5 hours, while the case requires an additional hour, totaling 2.5 hours, if both are fully depleted.*

Another convenient feature is Elehear Beyond’s dual-function case, which offers both storage and portable charging. You can expect an additional 4 charges or roughly 72 hours* of use, thanks to the internal power bank. Both the case and hearing aids charge simultaneously when plugged into a standard wall socket using the included USB-C cable, and LED indicators on the case display the charge status, turning solid when charging is complete. One final feature of the case is a reset button which, when pressed for 7 seconds, will return your Beyond hearing aids to their default factory settings. This can be a useful troubleshooting feature although be sure to reach out to Elehear’s technical support team if issues arise.

*All listed charge and use times are based on data from Elehear.

Should I buy Elehear Beyond?

Elehear Beyond offers an impressive overall value for over-the-counter hearing aids priced around $500. Nowadays, you can honestly find plenty of quality OTC devices on the market. However, many of them fall in the $1000 or more price range, which isn’t far off from some prescription hearing aids. It is honestly refreshing to see a quality OTC option at this price point. While Beyond has its limitations, it delivers good speech-in-noise performance, streamed audio sound quality, and app customization.

The one exception I should mention: If you're a musician, or if your focus is on enhancing music, you should probably consider some of the other hearing aids I've tested, which offer higher-fidelity sound for live music without any of the audio artifacts I noticed in Beyond.

What other products should I consider?

For those considering alternatives to Elehear Beyond, two options come to mind each with unique features that may appeal to you, depending on your priorities and budget.

The JLab OTC hearing aid is an affordable option, priced around $100, making it significantly cheaper than Beyond. While it may not offer the same level of speech clarity, it does excel in streamed audio quality and will offer you a better listening experience for live music (again, so long as it’s not hazardously loud where ear plugs should be worn). This OTC hearing aid has an earbud-like design which is a very different fit and look than Beyond, which you may or may not prefer depending on your preferences.

Another alternative is Apple’s AirPods Pro which you may already have if you are invested in Apple's ecosystem of gadgets. They’re priced around $250, which is still less than the Elehear Beyond, making them a viable option for those seeking multi-functional devices.

Like JLab Hear OTC hearing aids, AirPods Pro prioritizes sound quality in music and streaming audio over speech clarity, though Apple is expected to release an exciting new software update called Hearing Aid Feature (HAF) soon. This added functionality claims to enhance its usability for those with mild-to-moderate hearing needs (e.g., offering better speech clarity). However, its earbud-style design may not appeal to everyone, especially if discretion or a traditional hearing aid look is preferred.