Objectives: (1) To evaluate the recognition of words, phonemes and lexical tones in audiovisual (AV) and auditory-only (AO) modes in Mandarin-speaking adults with cochlear implants (CIs); (2) to understand the effect of presentation levels on AV speech perception; (3) to learn the effect of hearing experience on AV speech perception. Methods: Thirteen deaf adults (age = 29.1±13.5 years; 8 male, 5 female) who had used CIs for >6 months and 10 normal-hearing (NH) adults participated in this study. Seven of them were prelingually deaf, and 6 postlingually deaf. The Mandarin Monosyllablic Word Recognition Test was used to assess recognition of words, phonemes and lexical tones in AV and AO conditions at 3 presentation levels: speech detection threshold (SDT), speech recognition threshold (SRT) and 10 dB SL (re:SRT). Results: The prelingual group had better phoneme recognition in the AV mode than in the AO mode at SDT and SRT (both p = 0.016), and so did the NH group at SDT (p = 0.004).)