TL;DR: A hearing aid spec sheet mixes three different things. The chip is the physical processor, the platform is that chip plus the software generation built on it, and the technology level is how much of the platform the manufacturer switches on for your price. You buy the level; the chip and platform come along for the ride.

A hearing aid spec sheet is three documents wearing one trench coat. Chip names, platform names and technology levels sit in the same table as if they were the same kind of fact, so buyers compare a processor against a price tier without noticing. Pulled apart, every line on the page answers one of three questions: what is the silicon, what generation is the software, and how much of it did I pay to turn on?

The Three Layers a Hearing Aid Spec Sheet Mixes Together

Every prescription hearing aid, including all of our hearing aids, is built in three layers, and each layer answers a different buyer question.

• The chip is the physical processor inside the shell. It sets the ceiling: how much computation, how fast, how much battery it burns. You cannot upgrade it later any more than you can upgrade the engine in your car from the driver's seat.
• The platform is the chip plus the generation of software and features built on it, usually carrying the family name you see in marketing: the current Phonak Audéo EON generation, Oticon's Reveal family, Signia's Pure Charge&Go MaX line. A platform is roughly "this chip, this feature set, this era."
• The technology level is the number attached to the model you actually order, and it controls how much of the platform's capability the manufacturer enables: processing refinement, noise-handling strength, fitting precision. Same shell, same chip, different amount switched on.
• The money question lives at layer three. Within one platform, you are not choosing between different machines. You are choosing how much of one machine to unlock, which is why two models with identical hardware photos can sit hundreds of dollars apart.

The Chip: Silicon, and the One Design Question That Matters

Chip marketing is loud, but for a buyer it reduces to one question: does the device run one processor or two? A single-chip design handles everything, from amplification to Bluetooth to noise management, on one piece of silicon. A dual-chip design adds a second processor dedicated entirely to AI sound processing, so heavy noise work does not compete with the basics.

The current catalog shows both answers. Phonak's ERA chip runs the EON R line alone, and according to Phonak it performs 550 million operations per second with 74 percent more memory than its predecessor. The EON Sphere models pair that same ERA chip with HYPERSONIC, a second processor whose only job is separating speech from noise in real time. Signia went the other way with the MaX chip inside the Pure Charge&Go MaX 7: four deep neural networks, one each for speech, your own voice, the room and the noise, all running on a single piece of silicon.

Here is the trap the marketing sets. Oticon's Reveal platform advertises Dual AI, meaning two AI systems, a Speech AI and a Context AI, and plenty of shoppers read that as two chips. It is not. Dual AI describes software; dual chip describes hardware. Networks are not chips, AI systems are not chips, and a spec sheet will happily let you confuse the three. When a line turns on this difference, ask the manufacturer's own materials which it is, or ask us and we will look it up while you wait.

The Platform: The Generation You Are Buying Into

A platform name tells you when the device was engineered, which features exist at all, and how long the model will feel current. It does not tell you how good a specific model is, because every platform ships at several levels, and a platform's name stays on the box from its best model to its cheapest.

Platforms matter most for two practical reasons. First, connectivity standards live at the platform layer: Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast readiness, hands-free calling, app features. A newer platform generally means newer radios. Second, generations overlap in stores for years, and a prior generation's top level can outperform the current generation's entry level. Newer is a fact about release dates, not a verdict about your ears, so compare published specs rather than assuming the newest platform wins. The newest hearing aid platforms at Injoy span Phonak, Oticon, Signia and ReSound, and each arrived at multiple levels.

The Technology Level: The Only Layer With a Price Tag

Technology levels are where manufacturers turn one engineering effort into a product ladder. Building a chip and platform costs enormous fixed sums; enabling more or less of it in firmware costs almost nothing. So each platform ships as three or four models that share hardware and differ in what is switched on, and the level number is the only line on the spec sheet that moves your invoice.

What actually changes by level is consistent across the industry, and it is worth knowing by name:

• Noise-handling strength: how many decibels of suppression, or whether a dedicated AI feature runs at all
• Fitting precision: the number of channels or bands a licensed hearing care provider can adjust to your audiogram
• Automatic programs: how many listening situations the device recognizes and adapts to on its own
• Refinements like own-voice processing, motion sensors or extended bandwidth, often reserved for the top level

What does not change by level, on most lines: the shell, the battery hardware, the charger, Bluetooth streaming, and the warranty. A bottom-level device on a current platform is not a lesser machine. It is the same machine doing less simultaneous work.

One warning before you compare across brands: level numbers are private languages. Phonak counts up, so 90 beats 70 and 50. Oticon counts down, so Reveal 2 beats Reveal 3 and 4. Signia tops out at 7. A Phonak 70, an Oticon 3 and a Signia 5 all sit mid-ladder, and nothing about the digits tells you that. We keep a plain-language guide to hearing aid tech levels if you want the level question on its own.

The Current Lineup, Sorted Into Layers

Three brands, three numbering schemes, two chip philosophies, one lesson: read the layers, not the digits.

How to Read a Spec Sheet in Four Passes

Put the layers to work the next time a spec sheet lands in front of you:

1. Find the platform name first. It tells you the generation and the connectivity standard you are buying into.

2. Check the chip only for the one-or-two question. If loud rooms dominate your week, a dedicated AI processor or a top-level AI set is the line worth paying for.

3. Read the level by what it changes, channels, suppression strength and programs, not by the size of the number.

4. Ignore anything the sheet implies about your hearing. A spec sheet describes the device. Your audiogram describes the problem, and matching the two is a fitting question, not a reading exercise.

That last pass is the one that saves money in both directions. A quiet-living reader does not need the top level of anything, and a social one should not economize on exactly the feature built for their week. If you want a second pair of eyes, talk to one of our hearing care experts: they read these sheets for a living and know the whole catalog, not just the top of it. Our hearing aid glossary covers the rest of the vocabulary, and how hearing aids work covers what all this silicon is actually doing for your ears.

Hearing Aid Spec Sheet Questions, Decoded

What is the difference between a hearing aid chip and a platform?

The chip is the physical processor; the platform is that chip plus the generation of software and features built on it. One chip can power several platforms over its life, and a platform name is what carries into marketing. Think engine versus the whole car model year.

Is a dual-chip hearing aid always better than a single-chip one?

No. A second chip helps most in sustained loud noise, where dedicated AI processing earns its battery cost. Single-chip designs like Signia's MaX run serious AI too, and in quiet weeks the difference may never surface. Match the architecture to your calendar, not to the spec sheet.

Do hearing aid technology levels change the hardware?

Within one platform, usually not. Levels share the shell, chip, battery and connectivity, and differ in enabled processing: noise suppression strength, fitting channels or bands, automatic programs and top-level extras. That is why levels can sit far apart in price while photographing identically.

Why do hearing aid brands number their levels differently?

Each manufacturer numbers inside its own system: Phonak's best is its highest number, Oticon's best is its lowest, and Signia tops at 7. The numbers only rank models within one brand's line. Comparing a Phonak 90 to an Oticon 4 by digits alone tells you nothing.

Can a hearing aid be upgraded to a higher technology level later?

Not as a standard retail option: the level you buy is the level the manufacturer enables for that serial number. Treat the level choice as a decision for the life of the device, and use your trial window to confirm it fits your week before the return period closes.

What should I look for on a hearing aid spec sheet if I have severe hearing loss?

Look past the chip entirely and find the fitting range and receiver power options, which set whether the device can reach your loss at all. Then weigh fitting precision, since steeper losses benefit more from extra channels. Send us your audiogram and a licensed hearing care provider will shortlist what fits.