I’d heard about BestBuy carrying OTC hearing aids and stopped by and asked about them. The store I was at did not have any. Said another store in the area carried a couple of models. I get the feeling these will be mostly sold online. Combination of limited 1 year warranty, having to pay for supplies and unclear how one gets any technical support make me think OTCs are going to be a dud.
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They are supposedly meant for mild to moderate losses but I expect most people who get their first aids are beyond that level.
My local Walmart vision center has some OTC aids with a sign to ask them for details. Out of curiosity I asked them and they had no idea.
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No I don’t think so, it’s always best to do your own research on the particular brand/model your thinking of getting, one year warranty is standard across a lot of electronic products,so I wouldn’t put much into that as a reason to discount them.
Yes this is one of the “strong” points of OTC, remember this is early days, over the next few years as they become more mainstream I’m sure you’ll see the OTC market expand.
Well I’d think that “supplies” would be available as any other type of HA or earbuds sold, order online direct from the supplier or manufacturer.
Technical support could be through an app (common with the existing situation with HAs now) or through the manufacturer website.
(I’ve answered OTC as a whole, this isn’t just for BestBuy as such)
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