There is an older (and fairly long) thread where someone trials the Paradise, Mores and AXs. Spoiler alert, the user ends up picking the Paradise, but if you’re looking for input on her (I think it’s a her, sorry if I’m wrong) experiences, you can read through it: Ready to upgrade from Oticon Opn 1. Should I select Oticon More or Phonak Paradise?
I’m also in the middle of getting my first pair of hearing aids, and am trialing a number of brands. I originally hadn’t considered Widex because until a few weeks ago, they weren’t compatible with Android streaming. But it sounds like from the other thread you posted on, the bluetooth is no better than other brands for non iPhones, unfortunately. I have already trialed the Oticons and currently have the Phonaks, and will be getting demo Signias next week.
Overall, sound itself with both are good. I have some issues with some flutter/warbling with both, and funny enough, it happens with near opposite frequencies between the two HAs. It sounds like with some feedback adjustments, that issue is fixable though.
With Oticon, given their open sound methodology, you simply hear more. As soon as I put them on, I get almost this white noise in my ear, almost as if there’s a waterfall in the distance. While initially it seemed a bit much, and I actually turned down the volume of the HAs, after a week or so, I stopped noticing as much, and after a few weeks, altogether. I get the impression the open paradigm would be a little more overwhelming if someone had a more severe loss and has gone a while without being accustomed to a lot of noise. There are times I do wish sounds were a bit more attenuated though, such as buzzing refrigerator noises at the store, hood fans while cooking, etc. The good thing, however, is even though there is more noise overall, I am still able to distinguish speech through it very well. If there are 2 sources of noise, I can hear one through the other, albeit not always perfectly, but it’s still distinguishable as to sourcing where the noise is coming from. As for the Bluetooth, as mentioned in other threads, it’s awful for Android. The MFi platform is simply better established.
The features of the Phonak aids are far superior. Stable BT, hands free calling, and as someone who streams a lot, the tap feature for pause/play (and voice assistant if you use it) is really quite convenient. I found myself missing it a lot more than I thought I would when I had the Oticons on. And the app itself is incredibly comprehensive. If you’re someone who likes to tinker and adjust things for yourself, the app allows for quite a bit of customization, though to do it effectively takes some time in learning and understanding what you’re really doing with adjusting each setting. These features do come with some pains though, such as tap sensitivity and the connection time every time you open the app. All in all, they are small annoyances, but they exist. In terms of sound, I personally find some of the higher frequency sounds to be a little off, and also oddly loud. The creaking of the old wooden floor, clicking of dogs’ nails on the ground, or when he’s licking his lips, footsteps on certain floors are unnaturally loud for me, to a point of distraction and annoyance. Some of this might be alleviated by adjustments by my audiologist (or myself once I learn all the different sound setting combinations better), but for me, still a noteworthy initial observation/experience. The biggest issue I had with these was that I could not separate out competing noises. While I think the aids do a great job suppressing background noises, I had difficulties if there were competing louder sounds. If several people were speaking at once (like a loud table nearby at a restaurant), and there are also sudden louder noises (i.e. a door slams, or some sort of alert or chime goes off), I just get a wall of noise in my ear with no real way to pick out one sound from another, rendering it near impossible to understand anything. The Oticons did a much better job, for me, in similar situations.
I’ll gladly report back once I’ve had some time with the Signias, but just my personal experiences so far. I’d reiterate that while it’s nice to gather feedback (which is what I have been also doing), it’s best to really try it all out for yourself as our experiences will be unique to our personal hearing losses. There will be those with opposite feelings about how the HAs perform for them.
). Had to get a new audi and everything. Moderately severe to profound hi-z loss, worst in left side. Wore the Oticon for almost five years.