ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON — This week, Costco officially rolled out the latest Kirkland Signature branded hearing aids in stores across the United States. The new Kirkland Signature™ 10.0 (KS 10) is for the first time being offered in a rechargeable form factor, which has previously only been available in the name brand devices currently offered at Costco: Rexton, Phillips, ReSound and Phonak.
The new KS 10 is being produced by Sonova, the parent company of the popular Phonak hearing aid brand, which also produced the previous generation KS 9.0 hearing aids. By securing the contract with Costco for a second time Sonova almost certainly holds the largest level of market share at the retailer.
Costco is estimated to hold more than 11% market share of all hearing aids sold in the US
New Rechargeable Kirkland Signature 10.0 Hearing Aids
According to the company, the new “Kirkland Signature™ 10.0 with Tcoil Premium Digital Rechargeable Hearing Instruments help you in various listening environments. They combine universal connectivity and automatic performance so you can engage in all of life’s moments”.
Features of the new KS 10 are said to include:
Connectivity- Experience stereo-quality sound, just like wireless headphones
- Connect easily to any Bluetooth®-compatible devices**
- Stream direct media to your hearing instruments via the TV Connector**
- Remote services now available
- Tcoil compatible
- **The Bluetooth® word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Select TV models may require the purchase of an accessory.
- Access Bluetooth functions with a double tap of your hearing instrument or tap twice to answer the phone or start playing music**
- Adjust volume, programs and options from your smartphone with the Easy Line Remote™ app
- Move seamlessly from one environment to the next, no button pushing required
- Smart technology automatically adjusts settings to your environment
- Designed to optimize speech in difficult conditions
- Designed for durability and protection against dust and water (IP68)
- IP68 indicates that the hearing aid is water resistant and dust tight. It survived continuous immersion in 1 meter of water for 60 minutes and 8 hours in a dust chamber as per the IEC60529 standard.
Costco Reduces Hearing Aid Prices — Yet Again
Costco’s Kirkland Signature label has always been the value brand for many products found at Costco, both inside and outside the hearing aid department. Over the past several years, however, the prominence of the Kirkland brand in its hearing centers has continued to grow significantly–making it perhaps the most dispensed brand at the hearing centers today.
The pricing trend continues what has been observed over the past several years with the KS brand devices, with each successive generation of Kirkland Signature (KS) hearing aids, the price is lowered by $100/pair:
- KS 4.0: $1,999/pair (manufactured by Rexton)
- KS 5.0: $1,899/pair (manufactured by GN ReSound)
- KS 6.0: $1,799/pair (manufactured by GN ReSound)
- KS 7.0: $1,699/pair (manufactured by Rexton)
- KS 8.0: $1,599/pair (manufactured by Rexton)
- KS 9.0: $1,499/pair (manufactured by Sonova)
- KS 10.0: $1,399/pair (manufactured by Sonova)
The reductions in price, now at $1,399/pair for the KS 10, are consistent with growing calls to increase accessibility and affordability of hearing aids by consumer advocacy groups.
The $1,399 price includes the hearing aids and charger, along with a brush and cleaning cloth.
Editor’s Note: In November 2022, Phonak’s parent company Sonova ended its relationship with Costco. As a result, Costco removed the Kirkland 10 device from its shelves. Nearly a year later, and the company has yet to announce a new Kirkland device. Costco currently offers 3 hearing aids brands: Phillips, Rexton and Jabra.
Source: Costco
we were told at a Costco store that the Kirkland 10 hearing aid is not suitable for my wives 50% loss of hearing as the the Resound Preza, comparing it to a 4cyl auto to a v8cyl, is the Kirkland 10 limited to milder hearing loss buyers?
It would probably depend on the specific hearing loss profile. I have what is termed severe (75 dB) loss in lower frequencies, but only moderate loss (40 dB) in higher frequencies. When I last looked into hearing aids 8 years ago, I was told that I was still not a good candidate for them, due to may pattern of loss. This time, I was told that my higher end had dropped, and that I might find them useful now. I have been using them for three days and am having fun playing “name that noise”, since I have had basically no exposure to lower frequency sounds that weren’t really loud for about 50 years. My poor brain doesn’t know what to do with all of the extra sound!
I have been wearing hearing aids since 2000 and have always purchased them at Costco. I just picked up the KS 10.0’s. What a game changer. I absolutely LOVE these hearing aids. Thank you Costco!
Would not recommend. I replace my Resound appliances with these and while the sound quality of the hearing aids is good, the app that runs them on my iPhone XR is HORRIBLE. The Bluetooth connection fails daily and it will not reconnect. When is DID connect properly, each time you open the app (even if still running) you have to wait forever for the app to “connect” to make adjustments. The hearing aids will “connect” to my phone so I can take calls or listen to music, but they do not connect to the app, and will not connect after MANY attempts to reboot/restart, pair.
Also, the control buttons are difficult to use and without the app all you can do is turn them up, down or off so you cannot program them, or adjust noise, or tone, etc.
VERY frustrating. Have had them for about 2 weeks and they are going back to the store tomorrow and I’m trading up to the RESOUND. The cost savings is NOT worth the horrible user experience with the terrible app.
This has been an issue for Phonak/Sonova (makers of Kirkland Signature 10.0t) and only effects the manual program options (such as a restaurant program). Try this as a fix: For iPhone users, turn off Sounds and Haptics; for Samsung (Android) users, turn off Notification Sounds (you do not want a sound created when you lock the phone, the hearing aids will kick you out of the manual program). No guarantees, but maybe that will help. Hopefully, Sonova will come up with a software fix soon!
my for ks10 said receiver are phonak/m2 v4.0
First off I want to say how amazing the staff have been at my local Costco hearing centre in Burlington, ON…truly wonderful service.
I had Phonak Brios from Costco in 2018 and had a good experience overall. When I came to replace them this January I was excited to get the KS 9s (also by Phonak) as I was intrigued by the technology advancements in a product (company) I was already familiar with. I was particularly interested to experience the connectivity to my iPhone (which basically never leaves my hand!)…but, what a huge disappointment it was! The Bluetooth connection to the phone was good, but the reality was that every notification from the phone was passed to the KS 9s and caused the “hearing” component to pause…so incredibly annoying! Because the KS 9s are not “MFI -Made For IPhone” you don’t have the same level of control over the notifications. In the end I had to turn off the Bluetooth connection every morning so that my actual hearing wasn’t constantly interrupted…which of course stopped a number of connection “pluses” like being able to answer phone calls with and through the hearing aids. Oh, and 2+ days of battery life was completely unacceptable to me having experienced about 7 days with the Phonak Brios.
In the end I gave up and tried Rextons (Just didn’t work for me and the hearing experience was terrible so I returned them too). Then I tried Philips…and these have been much better from a technical perspective with regards to integration with my iPhone. With the MFI functionality I’m able to stop the annoying notification interruptions but maintain the functionality of music streaming and phone calls. Unfortunately we’ve struggled to get the “hearing” functionality right (either too quiet or too much feedback). That said I may end up keeping them after another adjustment yesterday.
I’m also considering giving the ReSound Viva (I think) a spin and I’m curious to find out whether the MFI controls will work as well as the Philips…and if the hearing experience might be better.
Lastly I’m going to look into the KS 10s but I assume that they are not MFI and will have the same notification issues that the 9s have. Getting away from terrible battery drain to rechargeable won’t be enough of an improvement for me to consider them if they aren’t going to fully and properly integrate with iPhones.
Lastly…did I mention how amazing the Burlington Costco staff have been to put up with all of the above and keep working with me in a very positive and supportive way? Good luck to everyone with their hearing experiences.
just picked up a pair this week ! this is my first hearing aid although I did test for hearing aid in 2018 and tried both oticon and widex , but at that time my hearing was not bad enough for me to purchase an expensive hearing aid . Since my insurance paid $ 800 out of the $1400.00 I figured it was not a bad deal to protect my hearing since I do suffer from Tinnitus. Well the moment it was fitted at Costco I fell in love with these they are comfortable ! connect easily to my Iphone12 Max have no issues with drop offs or anything the sound quality is excellent . this is a keeper
how long does the charge hold for ??
I was told 16 hours by the tech at Costco.
How long is a charge good with these hearing aids. Thanks you.
I am picking mine up Saturday. Costco associate says the KS 10.0 will hold a charge for 24 hours.
I have been wearing them for 16 to 18 hours; with still close to 20% left
I’ve been reviewing Costco’s hearing aids and am interested in the Kirkland 10 rechargeable but I want to know how long the battery lasts and can they be replaced or would I have to by new hearing aids and at what cost ?
My right one will not last all day. I was told that it is the main controller of the two so it uses up the battery charge faster.
Now the right one is completely dead and won’t take a charge anymore.
I was told when I bought the that the battery charge lasts 20 hours. NO it doesn’t.
Unfortunately my hearing aid dispenser is a pain to work with.
My charge lasts fo 12 hrs. Rechargeable battery just plug in overnight turns off when fully charged
Hi,
Can anyone give a semi step-by-step process to get hearing aides from Costco?
Do they do the hearing test there?
Will they know if insurance covers the cost?
thanks
J
I got a free test at Costco. They didn’t push any products on me and even referred me back to my Dr to evaluate results
If you haven’t received an answer yet I hope this helps. If you are a member then you are on the way. Be sure there is a hearing department where you Costco shop and then It’s like almost any other shopping experience you would have elsewhere for hearing aids. What I can’t tell you is how in-depth the exam will be related to your issue. After your exam they will present you with various options for the equipment that meets your needs and costs. The one thing you have to bring is the confidence that your exam will be comprehensive and met your concerns
I really like my new Ks10 hearing aids. I seem to have to change the wax filter every second day. Is this normal?
Are KS10s CROS (Contralateral Routing of Signals) enabled?
No, Costco doesn’t do any sort of CROS hearing aids or hearing aids with tinnitus features. They refer out to audiology clinics for those types of devices.
Also, the KS10 has been pulled from Costco due to product issues and they stopped selling Phonak entirely.