MaxHear
Built for finding out before a clinic visit and a five-figure decision
Starkey Reviews & Alternative: Features You May Never Use
Starkey is A+ and accredited with the Better Business Bureau — and 1.64 out of 5 from the 14 customers who reviewed it there directly, checked 19 August 2026. Its flagship Genesis AI is the only hearing aid on the market with built-in fall detection, texting a contact your location if it senses you've fallen. It's a genuinely unique feature. Industry reporting also says a lot of buyers who pay for it never turn it on.
Starkey's devices are prescription hearing aids, fitted and programmed by an audiologist, with follow-up visits built into the price. MaxHear is a sound amplifier app for iPhone and Android that answers whether amplification helps you at all, for free, using headphones you already own, before any clinic visit happens.
Free to try with no account, no email and no card. Headphones required.
"The TV was the giveaway. 😂 My wife kept telling me to turn it down. I thought she was just being dramatic. Turns out… nope. I was turning it up pretty loud. I didn't want to spend a fortune on hearing aids, so I tried MaxHear. Works well for what I need."
Steve M., 61 — Phoenix, AZ · MaxHear userWhat Starkey owners actually say — and what they paid
We read Starkey's most recent Better Business Bureau complaints in full, checked 19 August 2026. Two, in particular, describe the same pattern from two different owners: a real hardware fault, an expensive fix, and a long back-and-forth before resolution.
The complaints below aren't about the fall-detection feature at all — they're about the basic hardware, from owners who'd already spent thousands.
"the microphone needs cleaning (on the right ear), nope the details remain the same after doing that and they don't work better… Why am I constantly readjusting and customizing programs and taking my mom to the audiologist?"
BBB complaint — 14 January 2025, $4,000 after insurance"At random times during the day my hearing aids changed the volume on my hearing aids. This happened every day several times a day."
BBB complaint — 11 January 2024, over $13,000 for two pairs"The sound quality is not natural… short sounds like that just make a brief hiss like when you let some air out of a tire."
1RealJoe, customer review — February 2024That second BBB complaint did resolve well in the end — the same reviewer wrote of the staff member who fixed it: "is a miracle worker!! She got my hearing aids functioning!" Resolved doesn't mean instant, though; both complaints describe a drawn-out process before that point.
The finding worth knowing before you pay for Genesis AI: the standout feature is the one industry reporting says goes unused
Starkey's Genesis AI is marketed hard on its health sensors — step counting, standing time, exercise tracking, and fall detection that texts a designated contact your location. Audiologist Dr. Steve Taddei, reviewing the device, said he "was impressed with the comfort and performance of Genesis AI and would recommend it to anyone wanting a rechargeable hearing aid with fitness tracking and fall detection." But independent industry coverage of the wellness features is blunter: hearing aid health sensors are generally less accurate than dedicated fitness trackers, and a recurring observation is that many buyers who pay the premium for these features never turn them on. Lab testing bears out a separate, more basic gap: HearAdvisor scores the Genesis AI's speech-in-quiet at 1.8 out of 5 and speech-in-noise at 0.7 out of 5 at its initial settings, rising to 4.1 and 2.8 once an audiologist tunes it — the everyday amplification most buyers actually came for depends on that fitting appointment more than on the AI feature set.
What it costs, and what's included
Prescription pricing bundles the device with the audiologist's time.
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis AI 20, per pair | $2,598 | HearingTracker |
| Genesis AI 24, per pair | $2,798 | HearingTracker |
| Reported real-world spend (BBB complaints) | $4,000–$13,000+ | BBB complaint filings |
| Trial (varies by seller) | up to 60 days | HearingTracker |
| Includes | audiologist fitting & follow-up visits | standard Rx model |
| MaxHear | free to find out, then the plan is shown in the app | — |
Original Medicare covers neither hearing aids nor the exams used to fit them. The gap between the $2,598 list price and the $4,000–$13,000 real-world figures in BBB complaints reflects insurance, added visits, and in at least one case a second pair — worth asking your provider to itemize up front.
Starkey vs MaxHear
A clinic-fitted device with genuine unique features vs. a free way to answer the first question.
| What matters | MaxHear Sound amplifier app | Starkey Genesis AI Prescription hearing aid |
|---|---|---|
| First step | Open the app No appointment, no exam | Audiologist visit Fitting and programming required |
| Try before you own anything | Yes — free mode, permanently No account, no email, no card | Trial after purchase Up to 60 days, varies by seller |
| Fall detection & wellness tracking | Not offered MaxHear is amplification only | Yes, unique to Starkey Reportedly under-used by many buyers who pay for it |
| Speech clarity out of the box | Not lab-tested A general-purpose amplifier, not a clinical device | Weak untuned, strong after fitting HearAdvisor: 1.8/0.7 → 4.1/2.8 after tuning |
| Adjustable by you | Yes, live Four-band equalizer, changes as you listen | Via app, best after professional tuning BBB complaints describe ongoing readjustment visits |
| Cost | 3 days free to try, then the plan is shown in the app Nothing to buy to find out | $2,598–$13,000+ real-world Medicare pays nothing |
If you specifically want fall detection and are prepared to actually use it, Starkey offers something no one else does. If you first want to know whether amplification helps you at all, that's a cheaper, faster question, and it's the one MaxHear answers.
Why people check MaxHear before booking a Starkey fitting
Chosen from what actually recurs in Starkey's own reviews — not a generic list.
Answer the basic question first, for free
BBB complainants describe spending $4,000–$13,000+ before knowing whether the fit was right. MaxHear's free mode lets you test whether amplification helps at all before any purchase.
Nothing extra to pay for and skip
No fall-detection dashboard to configure and forget. MaxHear does one thing — live amplification — and nothing you're not using.
The sliders stay in your hands
One BBB complainant described constantly returning to the audiologist to recustomize programs. MaxHear's equalizer — bass, voice, clarity, treble — is adjusted by you, live, with a reset button.
Nothing to send in for service
No physical device that can develop a manufacturing fault. MaxHear runs on the phone in your pocket and any headphones — AirPods, Bluetooth, or wired.
Which one is actually right for you
Two positions, and a step in between.
You'll actually use fall detection and wellness tracking
It's a real, first-to-market safety feature, especially for someone living alone. A professional fitting also closes most of the tuned-vs-untuned performance gap the lab data shows.
Your hearing loss is severe, profound, or one-sided
Prescription devices with professional fitting remain the right tool for significant loss, needing correction most of the day, and conductive or mixed loss. Go promptly if loss came on suddenly or you have ear pain, discharge, dizziness or ringing.
You haven't established that you need any of this yet
Your struggle is situational, or you're not ready for a five-figure decision. Test amplification free first; if the answer is yes, you'll book that fitting knowing more than you do now.
A ten-minute check before you book a fitting
Do this before scheduling an appointment. It costs nothing and gives you a real answer.
Write down your three hardest moments
The restaurant table, the phone call, the TV at family dinners. Specific beats "I can't hear well."
Grab headphones you already own
Wired or Bluetooth, whatever you have — no new hardware needed to test the question.
Start in a quiet room, level low
The app opens quiet on purpose — you set the level, with one person talking to you.
Then test your actual worst room
The kitchen mid-cooking, or a café at lunch. That's the situation you're really solving for.
Judge it on one thing
Are you asking people to repeat themselves less? If yes, you've learned amplification helps — now a fitting appointment is an informed decision, not a guess.
FAQ: Starkey reviews and alternatives
Is Starkey a good hearing aid brand?
It's A+ and accredited with the Better Business Bureau, and its Genesis AI is a genuinely unique product with fall detection no competitor offers. Its own BBB customer reviews average just 1.64 out of 5 from 14 reviewers, mostly describing hardware faults and lengthy resolution processes rather than the AI features.
Does the Genesis AI's fall detection actually work?
Reviewing audiologists describe it favorably, but independent industry coverage notes hearing aid health sensors generally trail dedicated fitness trackers for accuracy, and that many buyers who pay for the wellness features reportedly never turn them on.
How much does Starkey Genesis AI cost?
$2,598 for the Genesis AI 20 and $2,798 for the Genesis AI 24, per HearingTracker — though BBB complainants report real-world spending of $4,000 to over $13,000 once insurance, visits and repairs are factored in.
Why is there such a gap between lab scores untuned and tuned?
HearAdvisor's testing shows the Genesis AI's speech-in-quiet score rising from 1.8 to 4.1 out of 5, and speech-in-noise from 0.7 to 2.8, once an audiologist tunes it. That's the professional fitting doing real work — it's also why the visits BBB complainants describe matter.
Can an app replace a hearing aid?
No, and MaxHear doesn't claim to. It's a sound amplifier app, not a medical device, and isn't authorized as a hearing aid. Its purpose is answering whether amplification helps you at all, for free, before any sales call or purchase.
Related reading
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Another prescription brand, another split ratingPhonak reviews & alternative
Also A-rated on the BBB, with its own separate story behind the number.
Compare other brands
Horizon (hear.com) and Phonak sit in the same prescription price band, each fitted through a clinic or referral network. We're building an honest page for each.
Stop asking people to repeat themselves
Install MaxHear, connect the headphones you already own, and hear the next conversation clearly.