Since the FDA cleared over-the-counter hearing aids for sale in the United States in 2022, direct-to-consumer devices have expanded rapidly overseas, bypassing the clinic model entirely while remaining under formal medical device regulation.
Australia has been slower to see this shift reach the mainstream — but it's arriving. One device drawing attention locally is AuriVox, priced at $147.
On inspection, AuriVox uses Knowles receivers — the same component supplier used by Connect Hearing and Audika — paired with genuine digital processing chips rather than simple amplification. The device is TGA-registered as a medical device, meeting the same regulatory standard applied to clinic-sold hearing aids in Australia, including formal inspection and registration requirements.
Records show the company was founded by David Taylor, whose father struggled with hearing loss in his seventies and could not afford private clinic costs. Taylor, who had prior experience in the hearing aid manufacturing sector, structured the company to sell directly to consumers after TGA registration, removing the clinic layer — and its associated markup — from the transaction entirely.
The company offers a 60-day return window and a two-year replacement guarantee, and is rechargeable rather than reliant on disposable batteries.
Demand has grown quickly since coverage of the pricing gap began circulating — a pattern consistent with what researchers have observed in other direct-to-consumer medical device categories once consumers become aware of the manufacturing cost behind clinic pricing.
