Very informative. For example I have tried using my iPhone's hearing assist mode and not found it anywhere near as effective as my $300 pair of OTC BTE hearing aids which for my mild senior citizen hearing loss has opened up my world of hearing everything much better even in some noisy background situations. The iPhone acts like Julie's reference to simply amplifying the combined audio and noise background without any noise reduction technology of many true hearing aids. However, my iPhone tests did not take advantage of a remote pick-up microphone near the target audio source and that may be an option if explored further. Of course choosing a hearing aid model that has a "T-Coil" option in the hearing aids is one of the best ways to help eliminate background noise and receive only the magnetic loop broadcast of the audio source if you are in a "looped" environment such as your local church service may have. My next OTC aids will definitely have that option and may be worth the extra cost as more and more facilities install hearing assist loops.