Review on Rechargeable Hearing Aid Ziv-206 For Seniors Adults - 4 Channels Layered Noise Reduction, Adaptive Feedback Cancellation & Two Types Of Sound Tubes (Two Units) By Banglijian by Troy Meza

This is an over the counter amplification device, nothing more, nothing less. It is the equivalent of $10 reading glasses bought in a discount store or pharmacy. It does the job fine for just increasing the volume but it will not compensate or adjust for lost tones.I bought this product as a temporary device to have on hand when the ear mold connection to my latest and greatest hearing aid broke, and having a new one made would cost almost as much as an OC hearing amplifier, and take several weeks. The hearing aid before that still works, but the tiny plastic connection to the mold broke and was going to cost a several hundred dollar service charge to send back to the factory for repair. I am not sure what happened with the hearing aids before that, probably something needed adjusting but the model was discontinued. Each time I would be assured by the audiologist who seems to have majored from a slick sales course that the latest hearing aids were vastly superior to last year's model, which I NEVER found them to be. In 40 years I have had several hearing aids costing thousands of dollars, which failed due to a small plastic part or discontinued lines which could not be serviced, and I would be pressured by slick salesmen to buy a new one. As I am retired, over 80, do not have to go to work and communicate with the public, have a caption phone and only watch TV with subtitles, I really don't need a hearing aid at all, but just like to have something in case of need. My deafness is congenital with around a 90% loss in my left ear, and moderate loss in my right, but can never get a straight answer from the audiologists. I can hear speech, but cannot make out words. Everyone seems to be speaking in a foreign language. Music no longer sounds as I remember it, and orchestras sound as if half the players have downed instruments and walked out.After looking at dozens of models and weighing up specifications and reviews, I decided to play safe and not go for the more expensive ones which had Bluetooth, telecoils and were self programmable via a smart phone as I don't have a smart phone. Having read the customer reviews and specifications for the Banglijiang ZIV-206 I felt that if it did not work too well, I was not going to be too far out of pocket. As it could be worn in either ear, if I decided to get my hearing aid repaired I could wear it in the other ear to pump up the volume and add balance. The rechargeable feature was also attractive as batteries seem to be more expensive by the day.So far, it works well, and is very comfortable It was easy to get the hang of assembling the ear tube and domes, although the instructions could have been clearer. I spent some time trying to fit the slim tube into the ear loop until I reread the instructions and found that they were for the thick tube and the ear loop had to be removed when using the slim tube. Several of the instructions needed larger and clearing drawings. As I am now arthritic and have lost the feeling in my fingertips, fitting the ear tube into my ear is difficult, but that is not the fault of the manufacturer. The biggest criticism I have, and the reason for only awarding 4 stars, is that there is no way to balance the sound modes which is comfortable as long as the sound remains at the same level. When music interrupts, a character speaking suddenly shouts, or a woman with a high pitched voice starts to speak, the volume nearly blasts my eardrums. Listening to music is almost impossible as some instruments have much more piercing tones. All I can do is use a lower setting, but then I miss the quieter sounds. The instruction booklet sates that it has 4 channels. There are only 3, but they work just fine.Pros and cons:Pros: For a low cost device, this does the job but don't expect the superior performance of a custom tailored hearing aid.Comfortable to wearNice hard storage caseCan be worn in either earRechargeableAffordableLots of power for those with severe hearing loss.Cons: Hard to fit into ear canal for arthritic seniorsLacks way to cancel out loud high pitched soundWritten instructions could be clearer.