What colour is a size 312 hearing aid battery?

Brown. The colour coding is a universal standard rather than a brand choice, so a brown tab means size 312 whoever made the battery. The four are yellow for size 10, brown for 312, orange for 13 and blue for 675, and checking the colour on the packet is the fastest way to reorder correctly.

Why does my battery die faster than it should?

The commonest causes are streaming audio from a phone, which draws roughly twice the current of amplification alone, and removing the tab well before the cell goes into the device. Zinc-air cells begin discharging as soon as air reaches them and replacing the tab does not stop it. A device set to more amplification than it needs also draws more.

Can I use a different size in my hearing aid?

No. The battery compartment is sized for one cell and a different size will not seat correctly, if it fits at all. Sizes 312 and 13 share a diameter and differ only in height, which is the one pair that occasionally gets confused, but a 13 will not close into a 312 compartment. Check the colour on your current packet before reordering.

Should I switch to a rechargeable hearing aid instead?

That depends on dexterity more than on cost. Handling a cell the size of a shirt button every few days is the part people find difficult, and a rechargeable device removes it entirely by replacing it with dropping the aids into a charger each night. The trade-off is that a rechargeable device cannot be revived late in the evening with a spare cell from a drawer.

Size 312 battery life with typical daily use

Quick answer

A size 312 zinc-air cell drawing 1.2 milliamps, which is typical daily use, works out at roughly 133 to 150 hours of use, or about 8.3 to 9.4 days at sixteen hours of wear a day. This is arithmetic from a trade capacity range, not a manufacturer figure.

How long does a size 312 battery last with typical daily use?

Battery life is capacity divided by current draw. A size 312 cell holds roughly 160 to 180 milliamp hours, and at a draw of 1.2 milliamps that gives the figures below.

Treat these as arithmetic rather than as a specification. No standards body publishes a capacity for hearing aid cells, so the capacity range above is a trade convention. The draw depends on the device, on how much amplification is in use, and above all on how much audio is streamed.

Trade convention Taught everywhere in the clinic and the trade, and published as a standard by nobody. Useful, and not a standard.

About 133 to 150 hours, or 8.3 to 9.4 days at sixteen hours a day.

Size 312 at 1.2 mA
Capacity assumed	Current draw	Hours	Days at 16 h/day
160 mAh (low end)	1.2 mA	133	8.3
180 mAh (high end)	1.2 mA	150	9.4

Capacity figures are a trade convention and are not published as a standard by any body. Streaming audio from a phone is by far the largest single factor and can more than halve the figures above.

Common questions

What colour is a size 312 hearing aid battery?: Brown. The colour coding is a universal standard rather than a brand choice, so a brown tab means size 312 whoever made the battery. The four are yellow for size 10, brown for 312, orange for 13 and blue for 675, and checking the colour on the packet is the fastest way to reorder correctly.
How long does a size 312 battery last?: Typically 3 to 10 days, which is a trade rule of thumb rather than a published specification. The range is wide because it depends on how many hours a day the device is worn, how much amplification it is delivering, and whether audio is being streamed from a phone. Streaming is by far the largest single factor and can more than halve the figure.
Why does my battery die faster than it should?: The commonest causes are streaming audio from a phone, which draws roughly twice the current of amplification alone, and removing the tab well before the cell goes into the device. Zinc-air cells begin discharging as soon as air reaches them and replacing the tab does not stop it. A device set to more amplification than it needs also draws more.
Can I use a different size in my hearing aid?: No. The battery compartment is sized for one cell and a different size will not seat correctly, if it fits at all. Sizes 312 and 13 share a diameter and differ only in height, which is the one pair that occasionally gets confused, but a 13 will not close into a 312 compartment. Check the colour on your current packet before reordering.
Should I switch to a rechargeable hearing aid instead?: That depends on dexterity more than on cost. Handling a cell the size of a shirt button every few days is the part people find difficult, and a rechargeable device removes it entirely by replacing it with dropping the aids into a charger each night. The trade-off is that a rechargeable device cannot be revived late in the evening with a spare cell from a drawer.

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Last updated 2026-09-17.