Smartphone-Based Audiometric Test Results on Different Mobile Phones: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: Mobile hearing test applications allow users to assess their hearing thresholds directly on their personal phones. While numerous studies have evaluated the validity and reliability of these applications, the impact of different mobile phones on test results has not been thoroughly investigated. This study aims to investigate how mobile hearing test results vary based on the mobile phone used. Material and Methods: Air conduction hearing thresholds of 78 participants with normal hearing, aged 18-25 years (20.961.13) were determined with Hearing Test (e-audiologia.pl) and uHear applications in a quiet environment (<30 dBA), on both Android and iOS-based reference phones, as well as the participants' personal mobile phones. The results of the applications on the reference phone and the participants' phones and the results of both applications on the reference phone were compared. Results: The Hearing Test (e-audiologia.pl) thresholds were significantly lower than the uHear at all frequencies bilaterally (p<0.05). 4000-6000 Hz in the right ear and 1000, 4000, and 6000 Hz in the left ear thresholds in the Hearing Test (e-audiologia.pl) were significantly better on the reference phone (p<0.05). Also, in the uHear, hearing thresholds were significantly better on the reference phone at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz bilaterally and on the participants' phones at 4000 Hz in the left ear (p<0.05). Conclusion: Mobile hearing test applications may yield varying results across different mobile phones. Manufacturers and researchers should account for these device-related variations when designing and evaluating such tests.