AIMS Hearing performance among cochlear implant (CI) users is associated with the extent of experience with using the device. A number of different measures are available and utilised to quantify CI experience. The aim of this study was to compare three different measures of experience: the duration of time elapsed since activation (CI duration), the hours of device use per day (median datalogging hours), and the total cumulative device use (TDU), and study their relationship with central auditory processing and hearing outcomes. METHODOLOGY A retrospective analysis of 119 adult CI users (53 female) who underwent post-operative electrophysiological testing using cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs). CI experience was compared between users with present and absent CAEP responses. We also examined associations between CAEP latencies and amplitudes and the degree of CI experience. For a subset of users, post-operative speech perception test scores were available, and associations with CI experience were also investigated. RESULTS Significant associations were found between the presence of CAEP responses and both median datalogging hours and TDU. There was no association with CI duration. No significant correlations were observed between CI experience and the amplitudes or latencies of CAEP waveform components. A significant correlation was observed between both median datalogging hours and TDU with speech perception in quiet test scores. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that with respect to central auditory processing and hearing outcomes, median datalogging hours and TDU are superior measures of the degree of experience than CI duration.