Certus Hearing Reviews
Certus One vs Boots, Specsavers and the NHS
A £149 self-fitted device and a £2,850 fitted pair are not the same product. Here is what the difference buys, from each provider's own published prices.
Prices checked 31 July 2026.
Is Certus One as good as a professionally fitted hearing aid?
No, and it is not priced as if it were. It does not replace a professional fitting.
If your local NHS audiology wait is short, take it. Free, fitted and repaired free beats £149.99 self-fitted on every measure except speed.
The options, priced
| Option | Price | Fitting | Aftercare | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS (England) | Free | Audiologist fitted to your audiogram | Free repairs and batteries, ongoing | You wait. 45.5% of audiology assessment waits were over six weeks at the end of December 2025, against a 1% standard. |
| Boots Hearingcare | From £495 a pair | Audiologist fitted, free hearing test | 4 years included, 90-day money back | Rechargeable and Bluetooth pairs start at £1,295; premium reaches about £3,045. |
| Specsavers | From £500 a pair | Audiologist fitted, free hearing test, 900+ branches | 4 years included, 100-day money back | Rechargeable starts around £1,000; premium reaches about £3,000. |
| Amplifon | From £945 a pair | Audiologist fitted, widest brand choice | 4 years, 30-day trial | Shortest trial window of the major chains. |
| Certus OneOur product | £149.99 a pair | Self-fitted, preset. No audiogram, no appointment. | 90-day home trial, 2-year warranty, email support | No professional fitting, no in-person aftercare, and much smaller gains in loud rooms. |
Sources: Specsavers price range, Boots Hearingcare prices. Checked 31 July 2026. Verify current prices with each provider before deciding.
18 million
Over 18 million UK adults, 1 in 3, are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. Almost 80% of people over 70 have some hearing loss.
Source: RNID. Checked 2026-07-31.
8m vs 3m
Around 8 million UK adults could benefit from hearing aids. About 3 million use them.
Source: RNID, Hearing Care Reimagined (September 2025). Checked 2026-07-31.
45.5%
45.5% of NHS audiology assessment waits in England were over six weeks at the end of December 2025, against a constitutional standard of 1%.
Source: UK Parliament written answer, 2 March 2026. Checked 2026-07-31.
£2,850
UK buyers going private pay about £2,850 for a pair on average, from a Which? survey of 3,609 people who had bought hearing aids.
Source: Which? (2025 survey, priced April 2026). Checked 2026-07-31.
Where the cheap option genuinely loses
Noise. A professionally fitted pair uses directional microphones and adaptive processing that a preset in-canal device at this price does not match. In a restaurant, a pub, or a room with more than three people talking, the difference is audible, and our own reviewers say so.
The audiogram. A professional fitting shapes amplification to the exact frequencies you have lost. Certus One applies a preset profile. ClearVoice SpeechLift lifts speech frequencies and softens background noise, which suits the common pattern of age-related loss, but it is not your curve.
Someone to go back to. In-person aftercare has real value: retuning, wax removal, replacement domes, an annual check. Certus gives you email support and a 90-day window.
Where it genuinely wins
Time. There is no referral, no appointment and no waiting list.
Money at risk. £149.99 with a 90-day trial is a small bet if what you want to find out is whether amplification helps you at all.
Starting at all. People wait an average of ten years between noticing a hearing problem and acting on it (RNID, Hearing Matters). A cheap device that gets worn beats an expensive one that never gets bought.
What we would tell you to do
- Get a hearing test anyway. Most high-street chains offer one free with no obligation, and knowing your audiogram is useful whatever you buy afterwards.
- If your loss is more than moderate, do not buy this. Over-the-counter devices are capped on output by design (US Food and Drug Administration). Go the fitted route.
- Check what you are entitled to first. NHS hearing aids are free and properly fitted. The cost is the wait, and it varies enormously by trust.
- If you mainly want conversation at home, on the phone and one-to-one, that is the case our 1287 reviews describe working well.
Frequently asked questions
- How much cheaper is Certus One than a fitted pair in United Kingdom?
- Certus One is £149.99 a pair. NHS (England): Free. Boots Hearingcare: From £495 a pair. Specsavers: From £500 a pair. Amplifon: From £945 a pair. The trade is the audiogram, the professional fitting and in-person aftercare.
- Is a cheap over-the-counter device as good as an expensive fitted one?
- Not in noisy environments, and not fitted to your hearing. In quiet rooms, one-to-one conversation and on the phone, the gap is smaller than the price difference suggests. A 2026 meta-analysis of 15 studies and 774 participants found self-fitting over-the-counter devices performed comparably to audiologist-fitted devices on patient-reported measures, although the authors rate the certainty of that evidence as low.
- Should I use the NHS instead?
- If your local NHS audiology wait is short, take it. Free, fitted and repaired free beats £149.99 self-fitted on every measure except speed.
- Do I need a hearing test before buying an over-the-counter device?
- You are not required to have one, but it is worth doing. A hearing test tells you whether your loss is inside the mild-to-moderate range these devices are built for, and if it is not, no over-the-counter device at any price will help.