Ressourcen
Top 10 Free Online Hearing Tests You Can Try Today
The best free (and sometimes fun!) online hearing tests so you can see if you have a hearing loss—and what it might look like)
Aktualisiert am Sep 5, 2024
:format(webp))
An online hearing test is a quick way to check whether your hearing needs attention. At HearingTracker, we always recommend a comprehensive hearing assessment from an audiologist or licensed hearing care professional as the "gold standard." But many online tests are extremely helpful—giving you a good snapshot or approximation of your hearing status.
After testing over a dozen different ones, we picked the quickest, most comprehensive, and most convenient online hearing tests and apps for you. Each test is free and only takes a few minutes, and all you need is a pair of headphones. Let’s see how they compare.
:format(webp))
We recommend you find a quiet space and use wired over-ear headphones, though wireless headphones also work. Each of the hearing screeners below has its own setup instructions. Pay close attention to the recommended volume; some tests include a volume calibration step. You can complete these tests on your phone or computer.
Calibration and test conditions can make a big difference in accurate results. Don't neglect the instructions about taking the test in a quiet place. If there are noises that interfere with your ability to hear the test signals or distract your attention, this can significantly alter your test results. Likewise, if you choose to use in-ear earbuds for the test, make sure you have a good/consistent acoustic seal of the ear tips with your ears throughout the test. All earphones are different; it's possible that higher-fidelity ones will provide you with more accurate test results.
We recommend you take a couple of different tests from different websites/apps, including at least one that probes your hearing at different frequencies, and another that checks your speech comprehension. Even if you can hear fine at various frequencies, you might have trouble following conversations in noisy environments, which hints at a hidden hearing loss.
Note: Many hearing tests include a questionnaire and request contact data. Often, you can access your results directly, regardless of the information you shared. Questions about your hearing abilities can be a proxy for speech comprehension, so your answers might impact your overall results.
The table below summarizes the top-10 hearing tests and the companies' relationship to hearing aid sales. Most of the tests result in an audiogram, which is a graph depicting how loud different pitches (frequencies) need to be for you to hear them. Other tests result in a word or hearing level score or rating (e.g., slight to profound hearing loss, or good to poor hearing). Many of these tests require you to include your contact information, which can lead to your email and information becoming part of the company's marketing database, particularly if the company sells hearing aids or owns a hearing aid dispensing network.
Website or app | Results presented in... | No contact information required | Does not sell hearing aids |
|---|---|---|---|
Mimi app | Audiogram |
| |
SonicCloud app | Audiogram | ||
uHear app | Audiogram | ||
HearingTest.Online | Audiogram | ||
Check Hearing (WIN) | Words in Noise Score | ||
Soundly | Audiogram | ||
MDHearing Aid | Audiogram | ||
Audicus | Hearing level | ||
Shoebox | Hearing level | ||
ReSound | Hearing level |
With the above recommendations and caveats, we'll now move on to the best online hearing tests for you to try (not in rank-order), starting with three apps: Mimi, SonicCloud, and uHear.
The Mimi Hearing Test app is available for Apple iPhones and iOS devices; unfortunately, the company has discontinued its support for Android to "enhance our other offerings and better align with current technological and regulatory standards.” However, it remains one of our favorite online hearing tests and has been well-validated.
The test itself requires no registration, but it will ask you for your birth year during setup. Your results are stored on your device, and if you log in, you can save your Hearing ID to your Mimi account. If you’re using an iPhone, you can share your Mimi Hearing Test data with Apple Health and use it for customized hearing settings on your phone or the AirPods 2.
:format(webp))
During the initial setup, you adjust your headphones to a loud yet comfortable volume, preview what the test will sound like, and take a practice round. You can also specify what type of earbuds you're using for the test.
During the test, you hear a beeping sound over steady background noise. To indicate that you can hear the beep, you tap the large button on the screen, and when the beep disappears, you release the button. The program then moves to another test frequency (pitch) sound, and the process repeats.
I had to skip the left ear because my unilateral hearing loss meant I didn’t hear enough on that side to keep the test going, but my overall grade was “excellent,” and my better ear was “unknown.”
The Mimi test also generates an audiogram of your hearing loss by frequency/pitch, and this can be downloaded to your phone or computer for future use (including with the Apple Health app for iOS users). You can read more about how to read and interpret a hearing test here. As the screening test results remind us: "Mimi Health Hearing Test (HTS-01) is a screening tool for hearing ability. It does not supersede or replace a decisive diagnosis by a physician and is not intended for monitoring, treatment, or alleviation of any disease or disability..."
The same can be said for any of the tests reviewed here.
:format(webp))
SonicCloud gives you a hearing test featuring animated figures, then displays the results and allows you to easily apply them to a multitude of audio devices, including your smartphone, radio stations, podcasts, etc, for enhanced hearing. Like the Mimi app, SonicCloud is in wide use by companies like Sony, Jabra (GN Audio), and even HearingTracker. It is also included in Apple’s Health app "Audiogram" section, which allows you to take the test and then apply it for listening on your iPhone, AirPods, and other iOS-compatible devices. It's also available as an Android app.
:format(webp))
For calibration, the hearing test presents a number of tones and asks how many you hear. Once this is done, it then moves on to a series of lively animated screens that feature various cartoon characters and a slider control where you indicate the softest tone heard at different frequencies/pitches. It also offers a “fine tune” button to home-in on exactly when you can no longer hear the pitch. You do this for both the right and left ear.
The app then provides you with an audiogram showing the consonants and vowels you may be missing, as well as a hearing score. From there, it allows you to further fine-tune your listening preferences and apply them to your devices. The test does require you to enter your name or email.
uHear is an app for Apple iOS phones and tablets developed by hearing aid manufacturer Unitron (part of the Sonova group, the world's largest hearing aid company). It features three tests for hearing screening: Hearing Sensitivity, Speech in Noise, and a Questionnaire. The test, which has been favorably reviewed in several scientific papers, requires no personal information to get the results.
For the Hearing Sensitivity test, you listen to a series of tones visually represented as a rotating colored bar that moves around the outside of a circle. You press the "Heard It" prompt whenever you hear a tone, which varies in pitch throughout the test. The rotating bar around the circle turns green or red when you succeed or fail at hearing the test tone. Inside the circle is a percentage indicating how much of the test you've completed. When finished, you are presented with an audiogram (500 Hz to 6 kHz) with areas noting normal to profound hearing loss and a summary of your results. You can name your test, and it's kept within the app for future reference.
:format(webp))
HearingTest.Online is a passion project by Dr. Stéphane Pigeon, a professional audio engineer and sound designer. Following a personal hearing incident, he built his own online hearing test.
Dr. Pigeon’s test takes a bit of patience and focus since everything is compacted into a single page, rather than letting you click through multiple short steps. While it may feel more difficult, the test results are instant, and you don’t have to share your contact data.
First, you use the hand-rubbing technique to calibrate your volume, a method that Dr. Pigeon claims he invented. Then you scroll down and complete the test grid for both ears or each ear individually. Scroll further down to see your personal audiogram, which you can print, save, or bookmark. Click the “Overlay” button to see which everyday sounds correspond to different frequencies and volumes.
The standard test covers frequencies from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz (or 8 kHz). Further down on the page, however, you can switch to different test versions, adding additional frequencies in the lower (bass) or higher (treble) range. No other online test offers a more granular screening.
:format(webp))
Check Hearing is a project by Dr. Christopher Chang, an ENT doctor in Virginia. He created the site to offer his patients online hearing tests during the pandemic. Initially, he licensed the hearing test developed by Dr. Stéphane Pigeon (see above), but later added his own modules.
Check Hearing offers one of the best speech comprehension tests available online. The Word-In-Noise (WIN) test uses Speech Reception Thresholds (SRTs) and lets you try both ears or each ear separately. Instead of the hand-rubbing calibration, this module instructs you to set a comfortable volume. Next, you tap the tiles corresponding to the words you hear spoken. Once completed, you receive an instant result.
:format(webp))
As noted, the website also provides several other modules for hearing screening, including a Home Online Hearing Test (similar to the above HearingTest.Online) which yields a simulated audiogram, Pulsed Tone Hearing Test Using Sliders to assess noise hypersensitivity or "hyperacusis," Overall Percent Hearing Loss Calculator, and Projected Hearing Loss Calculator. We did not evaluate these tests.
The Soundly hearing test was developed by an independently-owned online marketplace for hearing aids and care.
This test features an intuitive user interface and comprehensive frequency testing. First, you complete a short questionnaire, then you calibrate your volume—but just as you’re ready to start the test, you need to enter your name and email address to proceed.
For the test itself, you move six sliders for six different sounds, one at a time, until you can barely hear each sound. You do this for each ear individually.
:format(webp))
This simple routine creates a basic audiogram that covers frequencies from 250 Hz to 8 kHz. Soundly, HearingTest.Online and MDHearing are the only other online hearing screeners we tested that cover this frequency range.
Keep in mind that your results depend on how well you calibrate your volume. While the audiogram might not be accurate in absolute terms (e.g., if your volume was too low), the trend is dependable.
MDHearing is an online hearing aid brand. The company offers a no-nonsense hearing test that’s easy, fast, and visually pleasing. There’s no questionnaire, but you do have to enter contact data to start the test. Then you set the lowest audible volume for six different frequencies, one ear at a time. At the end of the test, you get a left and right ear overview, as well as an audiogram with a more detailed interpretation of your results.
:format(webp))
Like Soundly, MDHearing’s test covers a wide frequency range, from 250 Hz to 8 kHz. But even though we used the same setup, our MDHearing results differ quite significantly from Soundly. The difference is the way the two screeners calibrate volume. MDHearing’s test operates at 100% volume, while Soundly lets you calibrate the volume using the sound of your hands rubbing together. Neither method is perfect. What matters is that the trends seen in both hearing tests are comparable.
If you do decide to take MDHearing’s test, remember to lower your volume when you’re done! There won’t be a reminder to do so.
Audicus sells its own line of online hearing aids, including subscription hearing aids.
The Audicus online hearing test can be frustrating, but only because it’s thorough. After entering your vital data and contact information, the test takes you through frequencies from 500 Hz to 8 kHz, one ear at a time. When you hear a sound, you press the spacebar on your keyboard, otherwise you click the “Not Heard” button. The test will retry sounds you couldn’t hear, and it will run through the whole test twice to ensure accurate results. Once the test completes, you’ll receive an over all score, along with left and right ear results.
Note: I had to cheat to complete this test since my unilateral hearing loss triggered a recommendation to consult a specialist. If you have unilateral hearing loss, that indeed is exactly what you should do!
:format(webp))
Shoebox is a provider of online hearing screening technology. Its website offers one of the few online hearing tests that don’t collect personal data, and that’s because they’re not selling hearing aids. However, we should mention that Shoebox is part of the WS Audiology (WSA) group, the parent company of hearing aid manufacturers Signia and Widex.
Following a short questionnaire about your perceived hearing ability, Shoebox guides you through the audio setup. The hearing check tries each ear individually. First, you calibrate the test volume, then you set the lowest volume you can hear for each of four different sounds. Once you’ve done this for both ears, you’ll get your results.
:format(webp))
ReSound is a hearing aid brand that’s part of the GN Group, one of the largest hearing aid manufacturers in the world.
ReSound’s online hearing test focuses on speech comprehension. It doesn’t probe specific frequencies and you don’t have to provide contact data to see the results. The test starts with a brief questionnaire, followed by somewhat vague setup instructions; I set my volume to 50%. You’ll hear combinations of words or numbers with increasing background noise. Although each ear is tried individually, the result doesn’t mention whether one ear is worse than the other, nor any other details about your test.
:format(webp))
Below are a few online hearing tests that didn’t make our top picks, and why:
:format(webp))
:format(webp))
An online hearing test is a preliminary result, not a diagnosis. If an online test suggests that you have hearing loss, make an appointment with a hearing care professional to verify these results and rule out underlying conditions. Immediately consult a doctor if you have experienced recent changes in your hearing, dizziness, pain, discharge, or ringing in your ears (tinnitus). We recommend a free, confidential online tool called CEDRA (Consumer Ear Disease Risk Assessment) from Northwestern University and Mayo Clinic to help rule out medical issues.
Although some of these tests appear to be quite good, you should be guarded about the accuracy of online hearing tests in general. These apps are helpful, but nothing will beat an audiogram administered by a skilled clinician in a sound booth using calibrated equipment. A hearing care professional can also look for factors like earwax, hidden hearing loss, and other medical conditions.
Acknowledging this, online hearing tests and apps can serve as valuable, easy, and free tools for screening your hearing. And some researchers are now examining their accuracy. For example, a study in 2022 looked at the Mimi and uHear (Unitron) apps. They concluded the Mimi Apple (iOS) version “had a high sensitivity, specificity…and no significant differences between the hearing levels it measured compared to those measured by standard audiometric testing, rendering it an accurate mobile application to use for a remote hearing assessment.” While the uHear app was slightly less accurate in the lower frequencies, its results were also pretty good.
In 2020, researchers at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins analyzed 44 unique apps for detecting hearing loss and made the point that only some have been independently verified for accuracy. This is still essentially the case. That’s why it’s a good idea to take at least a couple of the above tests when screening your hearing.
Tina Sieber ist eine Technologiejournalistin mit über 10 Jahren Erfahrung und einem PhD in Biochemie. Nach einem Anfall von plötzlichem einseitigem Hörverlust wurde bei ihr 2018 ein gutartiger Gehirntumor diagnostiziert. Seitdem schreibt sie über Hörverlust und testet Hörgeräte für große Technik-Publikationen.
