For many years, analog hearing aids were the only kind you could get. Today, analog devices are still available and offer a number of benefits for users.

Analog hearing aids work in a similar way to a microphone hooked up to a speaker. The hearing aid picks up outside sound, amplifies it, and outputs the same sound at a louder volume. Unlike digital hearing aids, analog hearing aids amplify all sound equally. They aren’t able to separate foreground and background noise or isolate certain types of sound.

That said, many analog hearing aids are still programmable, and even offer multiple listening modes for different environments. Some people also think analog hearing aids sound “warmer” because the sound isn’t digitally processed.

Other advantages of analog hearing aids include:

Lower prices on average
Longer battery life at the same output volume
Easier to set up