Siemens vs Signia: Are They the Same Hearing Aid Brand?

Updated September 2026

Key Takeaway

Siemens and Signia are the same hearing aid line under a different name. Siemens sold its hearing division in 2014, the buyers launched Signia in 2016, and the engineering team and German factories carried straight across. If you wear Siemens devices today, your replacement is a current Signia model.

Open the battery door on a pair of Siemens hearing aids and you are looking at the direct ancestor of every one of the Signia hearing aids we sell today. People searching Siemens vs Signia are usually holding one of two things: a set of aids that has stopped keeping up, or a box in a drawer they are wondering about. The short version is that nothing was replaced. The name on the case changed, the company behind it changed twice, and a decade of engineering happened underneath.

What Happened to Siemens Hearing Aids

Nothing was discontinued. Siemens sold the business, and the brand went with the part it kept. In January 2014 Siemens agreed to sell its audiology division to the investment firm EQT and the Strüngmann family, and the terms of that sale gave the buyers a limited window to keep using the Siemens name. When the window closed, the business needed a brand of its own, and Signia was it.

Two things follow from that sequence, and both matter if you are wearing older devices:

• The last hearing aids built under the Siemens name are now roughly a decade old, which puts them past the point where most manufacturers hold parts.

• Signia is not a successor brand that bought a name. It is the same company, the same engineers and the same factories, operating under new ownership.

 

What Carried Over, and What Did Not

Engineering carried over. The corporate wrapper did not. That is the useful way to read the handover, because it tells you which of your assumptions about your old Siemens devices still hold.

What stayed the same:

• The research and development team in Germany, which had been developing Siemens hearing aids for decades before the sale.

• German manufacturing, which is still where the devices are built.

• The product roadmap that was already in flight when the sale closed, including the platform work that became the IX generation.

What changed:

• The brand name and the corporate parent, twice in five years, ending with WS Audiology in 2019.

• The platform naming, which moved on from the Siemens-era conventions and now runs on performance-level labels such as 7IX, 5IX and 3IX.

• The power source. Siemens-era devices were largely disposable-battery aids, and the current line is rechargeable. Lithium-ion is now the standard rechargeable chemistry in hearing aids, having replaced silver-zinc and NiMH across the category.

• Direct wireless streaming. Your Siemens aids almost certainly needed an intermediary device around your neck. Current models stream from a phone without one.

The Current Signia Lineup at Direct Hearing

Every current model is a Signia, and the family you came from has a direct descendant in it. What we carry now sorts by the shape of the device rather than by platform name, because form factor is what most people are choosing between.

• Pure Charge&Go MaX 7, MaX 5 and MaX 3. Rechargeable receiver-in-canal, and the newest line we carry, with the longest runtime Signia publishes for anything in our Signia range.

• Pure Charge&Go 7IX. Rechargeable receiver-in-canal at the top IX performance level, with 48 processing channels against 32 on the 3IX.

• Pure Charge&Go BCT 7IX. The same shape with a telecoil and Bluetooth Classic, so it handles loop systems in a theater or a church as well as phone streaming.

• Styletto 7IX. Slim rechargeable receiver-in-canal for anyone who wants the device to read as an earbud rather than an aid.

• Silk Charge&Go 5IX. Completely-in-canal and rechargeable, the most discreet fit we carry, with no custom earmold and no wait for one to be made.

• Active Pro IX. Earbud styling and rechargeable, for people who would rather wear something that looks like consumer audio.

What the MaX Line Adds

Signia launched Pure Charge&Go MaX this year, and it has been live with us since August 2026 in three performance levels. Signia publishes its runtime three ways rather than one, and the split is worth reading twice: up to 30 hours with no streaming, up to 22 hours over Bluetooth Classic including five hours of streaming, and up to 28 hours over LE Audio including the same five hours. Which radio your phone uses changes your day by six hours, and almost no battery claim anywhere tells you that.

The three MaX tiers are the same device at different processing levels, and Signia publishes where they part company:

• MaX 7 runs an extended bandwidth to 12 kHz, which the 5 and the 3 do not.

• Frequency range narrows as you step down, from 100 to 10000 Hz on the MaX 7, to 100 to 8800 Hz on the MaX 5, to 100 to 8500 Hz on the MaX 3, measured on the S receiver.

• Runtime does not change between tiers. All three publish the same up-to-30-hour figure.

MaX comes with four receiver strengths, S, M, P and HP, which between them cover from mild loss down to the profound end, so the family stretches further than the old Siemens receiver options did.

Not sure which shape suits you? Our guide to hearing aid styles covers what each one is good and bad at, and where each one struggles.

Why the Same Signia Device Costs Less Online

The device is identical and the delivery model is not, and that gap is the whole reason for the price difference. A clinic price is one number covering two things that were never really one purchase: the hardware, and the professional time to program and maintain it. Bundled together, the professional time has to carry the clinic. Rent on a street-level office, a waiting room, front desk staff, equipment that sits idle between appointments, and a schedule that can only hold so many people in a week. All of it is priced into the device.

Remote fitting unbundles that. Here is the sequence, and none of it involves a building:

• You send us an audiogram, or take our hearing test, and a licensed hearing care provider programs your devices to that profile in the manufacturer's own fitting software before anything ships.

• Your hearing aids arrive already set to your hearing, not to a default, so the first time you put them in they are working on your loss.

• The first fitting happens by phone or video, with the same provider, in the same software.

• Every adjustment after that happens the same way, with no session caps and no time limit on how long you can keep coming back.

The provider is licensed, the software is the manufacturer's, and the programming is the same programming. What has gone is the overhead that had nowhere else to sit. That is also why the authorized part matters so much: an unauthorized seller cuts the same overhead by cutting the professional out entirely, which is a different product wearing the same box.

Where Authorized Status Comes In

Being an authorized retailer is what keeps three specific things true:

• Every device is genuine and manufacturer-sealed, rather than a gray-market unit with an unknown history.

• The full manufacturer warranty ships with it and is valid, which is the thing unauthorized channels most often void.

• Your provider programs in the manufacturer's own fitting software, not a third-party approximation of it.

Cost is not the only thing that keeps people from replacing old devices, but it is the loudest one. People typically wait nine years after diagnosis before getting hearing aids at all, and the same hesitation shows up again at replacement time.

Should You Replace Your Siemens Hearing Aids?

If the devices still fit your hearing and still hold a charge through the day, there is no urgency. Three things usually decide it instead, and only one of them is about the hardware:

• Your hearing moved. Devices are programmed to the audiogram they were fit to. A decade of change is a decade your aids have not been told about, and no amount of volume compensates for a prescription that no longer matches.

• The hardware is at the end of its run. Most hearing aids work well for 5 to 7 years with normal use. Rechargeable batteries generally hold their capacity for 3 to 4 years before the decline is noticeable, and a device past both marks is spending more time in for repair than on your ear.

• The features are a generation behind. Direct phone streaming, hands-free calling and app-based adjustment did not exist in the Siemens era. If you are still putting a streamer around your neck to take a call, that is the gap.

Worth knowing before you decide: fewer than 30% of adults aged 70 and over who could benefit from hearing aids have ever used them. If you are already wearing Siemens devices, you cleared the hardest step years ago. Replacing them is a smaller decision than the first one was.

On performance, Signia points to independent work rather than its own testing. In a study run at Hörzentrum Oldenburg, 86% of participants heard speech more clearly in group conversations with the IX platform than with competitor devices.

How to Move From Siemens to a Current Signia

Moving over takes one audiogram and one phone call, and you never have to be in a room with anybody. The order matters, because the programming happens before the box ships rather than after it arrives.

• Start with your hearing. Send an audiogram from any licensed hearing professional, or take our free online hearing test, which runs about 5 to 10 minutes. It is a screening, not a clinical diagnosis, and it is enough for us to work from.

• Get it to us. You can upload your audiogram through the site, email it, or fax a copy. California customers need an audiogram from a licensed hearing professional, because our online test does not take its place there.

• Pick the model with a person, not a filter. Our hearing specialists match your loss, your lifestyle and your budget to a current model. This is where your old Siemens devices are useful, because what you liked and hated about them narrows the field fast.

• Your devices arrive programmed. A licensed hearing care provider sets them to your profile before they ship.

• Fit and fine-tune remotely. The first fitting is a phone or video session, and the adjustments after it are unlimited for the life of the device.

If you cannot identify your old model, the label inside the battery door usually carries it, and our team can identify one from a photo.

Moving From Siemens to Signia Without Guessing

Direct Hearing is an authorized online retailer for Phonak, Starkey, ReSound, Signia, Widex, Oticon and Sennheiser. Licensed hearing care providers fit every device remotely, your hearing aids arrive pre-programmed to your hearing profile, and remote adjustments are unlimited with no session caps. Every order includes a 60-day money-back guarantee with no restocking fees. Prescription models include a 4-year manufacturer warranty, with 3-year loss and damage coverage on most models and a $495 deductible per unit. Direct Hearing has over 1000 5 star reviews on Trustpilot. The same authorized devices cost thousands less than clinics.

Hearing care comes in three shapes, and replacing an old pair is a good moment to work out which one you want:

If you are wearing Siemens devices now, the useful first step is not choosing a model. It is finding out how far your hearing has moved since the audiogram those devices were programmed to. Talk to one of our hearing specialists at (855) 621-6864, or contact Direct Hearing online, and we will tell you whether a current Signia is the right replacement or whether something else fits better.

Common Questions About Siemens and Signia Hearing Aids

Can I still get parts or service for old Siemens hearing aids?

Generally no. The last Siemens-branded devices came off the line roughly a decade ago, and manufacturer support has moved to the current Signia line. We do not service Siemens-era devices. What we can do is look at what you have been wearing and tell you which current model matches that hearing profile, which is usually the faster route.

Will my old Siemens audiogram work for new hearing aids?

If it is a year or two old, yes, and we can program from it directly. Anything older than that is describing hearing you no longer have, and the risk is a device fit to the wrong prescription from day one. Our free online hearing test covers the gap if you cannot get to a provider soon.

How long do new Signia hearing aids last?

Most hearing aids work well for 5 to 7 years with normal use. Rechargeable batteries typically hold their capacity for 3 to 4 years before you notice a shorter day. Signia states that the lithium-ion battery in the Pure Charge&Go MaX retains up to 80% of its initial capacity after five years of use.

How do I identify which Siemens model I have?

Check the inside of the battery door first, which is where the model name is usually printed. The original packaging or paperwork will have it too. If neither turns up, send us a clear photo of the device and our team can identify it and point you to the current equivalent.

Is Signia the same quality as Siemens was?

It is the same engineering lineage with ten more years on it. The research team and the German factories carried across the sale intact, so the continuity is real rather than a marketing line. What has changed is everything built since: rechargeable power, direct streaming, and app control that the Siemens generation had no way to offer.