Hearing age test

Test your high-frequency hearing in three steps

1. Put on headphones, set a comfortable volume, and press Start. The tone begins at 8 kHz and rises slowly.
2. Press I can’t hear it anymore, or the space bar, the moment the tone fades out completely.
3. Read your highest audible frequency and the typical age band for it. Run it two or three times; the best of your results is the most reliable.

Why high pitches go first

Your inner ear turns sound into nerve signals with thousands of tiny hair cells, and the cells that respond to the highest pitches sit at the entrance of the cochlea, where every sound passes. Over the years they wear out first. This gradual loss is called presbycusis, and it explains why teenagers can hear a 17 kHz tone that most adults cannot. Loud noise speeds it up, which is why concert-goers and people who work around machinery often lose high frequencies earlier. The test here measures only that top edge of your hearing. It says nothing about how well you hear speech in a noisy room or quiet sounds at lower pitches.

How the test works

The page plays a pure sine tone that rises on a logarithmic scale from 8,000 Hz to 20,000 Hz, so each octave takes the same amount of time and the higher range does not rush past. A large readout shows the frequency as it climbs. When you press stop, the page records the frequency at that moment and compares it with typical upper limits by age. Those bands are rough guides drawn from population averages: about 17.4 kHz and above is typical under 24, about 16 kHz under 30, about 15 kHz under 40, about 12 kHz under 50, and about 8 kHz above that. People vary a lot, so treat the band as a curiosity, not a measurement of your health. Your result stays on your device and is not sent anywhere.

The mosquito tone

The mosquito tone is a steady 17.4 kHz sine that most people under about 25 can hear and many older adults cannot. It became famous as a teen-only ringtone and from devices that played it outside shops. Press the mosquito tone button to play it on its own. If you can hear it through good headphones, your high-frequency hearing is in great shape. If you cannot, you are in good company: that is normal for most adults.

Getting an honest result

Headphones matter more than anything. Cheap earbuds and most built-in speakers roll off above 15 or 16 kHz, and Bluetooth codecs can cut very high pitches, so a wired or good pair of headphones gives the fairest reading. Keep the volume where the 8 kHz start is comfortable and do not raise it as the tone climbs; extreme volume at high pitches can harm your hearing and proves nothing. Test in a quiet room, and repeat the test, because your attention drifts. If you notice ringing, muffled hearing, or trouble following conversations, see an audiologist; this page cannot diagnose hearing loss.