I’ve had a Starkey Livio 2400 AI only 3 years and it’s already perhaps died. It may be possible or practical to send it to Starkey for diagnosis and perhaps repair.
This experience makes me wonder – are HAs now made like appliances or flatscreen TVs – designed to wear out or die after 3-4 years’ usage??
Mine was not abused etc., just normal wear and tear.
Thank you!!
No I wouldn’t go as far as saying they make them to fail after a certain amount of time, modern models have the best water proof rating available at this time, moisture is one of the biggest killers of any HA, find out what’s wrong with your Starkey and then decide if you’ll stick with them, if replacing go to Costco first for your next set.
They are better sealed now which prevents humidity damage. But they do have more features and rechargeable batteries. The more features require the internals to work harder and the batteries have limited life. HAs are now high tech devices like iPhones and even if they last very long, the new features will create a need to replace them sooner (not a need because they go bad but a personal desire to get the new features).
I am not aware of the new HAs lasting less than the older ones (except for battery life) but it is too soon to tell
A degrading robustness is not my impression. I had Starkeys for many, many years and, yes, they required a few repairs, but the company serviced them very well. Now with Phonaks for three years without any problems. I like that they are modular, with the detachable speakers (“receivers”) sitting in my ear.
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Not so much fraglity, but rechargeable batteries are certainly a life determining factor. Yes they can be replaced, but only for the length of time the manufacturer regards them as ‘current’ product.
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I thought Starkey had a 5 year warranty period?
I’ve been wearing hearing aids for 57 years and I don’t think any of my aids ever lasted 5 years. I’ve always exercised regularly, and as others have noted I think that moisture helped do them in. My current Jabra 10s are the first pair I’ve owned that are water resistant, and I’m curious to see how long they’ll last.
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No, they have a standard two year warranty and anything extra your provider has wrangled.
New RICs are more robust than old RICs. They aren’t more robust than old BTEs. New BTEs are more robust than new RICs. Nothing is more robust than old analogue BTEs. 
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I’m curious , have you tried the hearing aids dehumifiers ? I don’t know how effective they are
I haven’t had that many hearing aids. My first were Rexton Trax 42s, which was probably close to 10 years ago. I still have them as backup aids and recently had to use them. Plunked new batteries in them, and they worked fine. In fact I asked the Costco audiologist if she could still update them to my most recent hearing aid test. She did, and they’re really pretty good.
When I replaced them with KS9s it wasn’t because they failed. It was because I hated the medallion thingy that was the intermediary device that allowed the aids to work with the tv connector or the phone.
I’d still be wearing the KS9s, which I loved, except I did something extraordinarily careless and stupid with them. They worked fine and were probably 5 or 6 years old.
If the Lumitys I now have don’t last an equally long time it will be a disappointment and surprise, but then they’re the 312 battery model. Rechargeable batteries? Not so much. My last laptop lasted less than 4 years, and it was the battery and recharging system that failed. After the replacement battery in my first cell phone lasted half as long as the original, I gave up and bought a new one.
My flat screen tv shows no signs of fragility, but then I don’t use it a lot. It has been moved thither and yon and has sat unconnected and unloved now and then gathering dust, so it’s not as if it’s been treasured and babied.
I used to keep my aids overnight in a jar with desiccants. This was before there were electronic drying cases. I don’t know if they helped or not. They were a pain because they had to be baked in the oven every couple of weeks to recharge them.
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