Though purchasing online has made buying a hearing aid easier and less expensive than ever, there are still some important considerations to take into account compared to buying face-to-face.

Here are four tips to make sure you get the right hearing aid for you with a great shopping experience:

1) Have a hearing test. At EarMall, we strongly recommend providing a hearing test when you buy from us. A hearing exam shows your individual hearing needs and allows us to be certain the hearing aid has been specifically fine-tuned for you. 

We don't require a hearing test, but buyers who have custom programming tend to be more satisfied. And, we provide free programming for the life of the hearing aid. If you get your hearing tested later - or you need something adjusted - we can program your hearing aid at any time for no cost.

For more information about hearing tests. check out this video:

2) Know what features are most important to you. As with nearly any other consumer product, the hearing industry continues to evolve and become more technologically advanced. Our basic model, The Original iHear, has a simple design for people who don't care about a lot of frills.

But, if having the ability to stream music and phone calls directly to your hearing aids is important, you'd want to step up to our iHear RITE Rechargeable which has built-in Bluetooth and rechargeable hearing aids. If you don't care about Bluetooth, but still don't want to change batteries on a regular basis, the iHear Advantage Recharge might me a good option.

3) Know the pros and cons. The type of device you use can depend a lot on your degree of hearing loss as well as fitting. Though Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC) models can cover a wide range of hearing loss, Behind-the-Ear (BTE) models tend to be better for those with greater loss. But one of the limitations of CICs is that they don't currently have the ability to have Bluetooth built-in. Our iHear ICON is one of our most popular models, and is a very small CIC, but requires a separate remote worn around the neck to utilize Bluetooth. These are important considerations to be aware of when deciding what to buy.

4) Investigate the seller's background. A large number of new hearing websites have cropped up over the last few years. Some are selling low quality hearing devices, and it can be difficult to know who to trust.

At EarMall, we've been selling our iHear brand online to people around the world since 1998. We provide one and two year warranties, a 30 day money-back guarantee, and repair everything we sell. When you buy from us, you can feel comfortable knowing we'll do everything we can to help you make the right choice and be satisfied with your purchase.

To check out our full line of iHear products, click here now.