Oddly, my Phonak Lumity Life aids are permanently paired + connected to my Android Samsung Flip-4 phone. I have two identical sets of aids, and the minute I put in one pair or the other, I can instantly make or receive streamed phone calls without doing one thing. I don’t have to launch BT, then find that set of aids in the list, click it, turn AUDIO ON, etc., It just happens. I don’t have the MyPhonak app on my phone yet.
@1Bluejay Sorry, but my post were bit misleading. The Phonak aids have a classic bluetooth and also LE Bluetooth , if you check in the bluetooth settings you will find three entries for the aids
- one Audio Connection (for streaming to the master hearing aid) no App needed
- two LE-connections (Low Energy Bluetooth for changing settings in left/right aid via MyPhonak App)
The single Bluetooth connection via “Audio Connection” to the Phone is always on, after the aids were initially paired. The pairing process need to be done once and then it is finaly paired and aids are permanently paired. This is the classic bluetooth and is for audio streaming, this also include phone calls. You are right that one is able to instant make or receive streamed phone calls without doing a thing. You just to make sure that bluetooth in the phone is enabled. Thats it.
The MyPhonak App is NOT needed for streaming.
The thing with the MyPhonak app is that the App uses the two LE-bluetooth connections for editing settings in the hearing aids. With the older versions of the app the LE-connections to left/right were always droped after you leave the app, or the app were put in the back, or the phone going to sleep.
Prior the newest update of the MyPhonak app the LE connection always needed a view seconds to establish the connection to the hearing aids, and whenever you opened the app there were a notice “connecting” and you had to wait a bit before you could edit settings in the aids.
With the new update of MyPhonak App you have the option, to enable “always connected”, and with that option ON the App is always connected to the hearing aids, so you don’t need to wait for connect when you open the App.
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Go to Costco first and take your audiogram or let Costco test you and use their long trial period
OK - that is very helpful to know! I may some day have that MyPhonak app dowloaded to my phone. I’d put it on a year ago when I bought the Paradise (which I traded in under trial for the Lumity Life), and it was the odd LE-Phonak that fuddled me. So I removed it. Now that I know its purpose it makes sense. Thanks!
BT compatibility was a big deal for me, so Phonak was a clear winner. I am super satisfied in how BT in the Phonak aids works seamlessly across Apple, Android, TVs, laptops, my garmin watch, etc.
I consider them my most expensive earbuds, because I use them that way everyday, in addition to helping me hear.
I would prefer any other device with Bluetooth 5.3 to Phonak, for future compatibility with Auracast and BLE Audio. Phonak have old Bluetooth 4.2 with backward Bluetooth 2 compatibility.
Yes plus LE Audio will be backwards compatible with some devices and is true wireless stereo broadcast, this is a game changer for sure, I wouldn’t bother with anything that is 4.2 now. LE Audio is expected to be up to 50% of the market in the next few years, for HAs/hearables it’ll be far more then that.
Phonak tried to get around the limitations of 4.2 by using the “master/slave” set up, too power hungry, dual streaming will minimise power consumption plus latency as well.
I’ve even heard that 5.2 could be “updated” to accept LE Audio as well, so I guess even more devices could be used.
I wouldn’t assume that BT 5.2/5.3 in a device gives you an upgrade path to LE Audio.
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Would people be able to keep their older Bluetooth hearing aids as spares and still be able to connect via Bluetooth?
I’m also not a fan of updating my iPhone when the next one comes out. I’m in rural Wales at the moment and have massively enjoyed not been able to use my iPhone most of the time.
I’ll update hearing aids all the time but I’ll get my iPhone to last as long as possible.
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Despite how appealing the idea is, my experience is that trying to make a purchase “future proof” seldom works out. I do best if I concentrate on buying something that does a good job of meeting my current needs. If it happens to have some neat features that I don’t need, so much the better but I don’t think they’re worth sacrificing something you will actually use now for.
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I know what you’re saying. Some people get around that issue by buying a new car, or a new phone, every time a new model comes out. Others will keep their phone or car for years, and be happy with it.
Technology is advancing faster than ever right now. I think anyone would feel compelled to “future proof” a purchase of this magnitude if at all possible. Look at electric cars - I found out that buying one a few years ago was a really bad idea - it barely went 100 miles on a charge, and was next to worthless on trade-in. Now they’re talking about having solid state batteries that will last over 700 miles within a year or two. Sure, it’s a different scenario, but not entirely.
At least for cars - and now phones - there are trade-in programs. I haven’t seen anything like that for hearing aids, and I’m guessing it would be a tough sell. Are there any?
As far as meeting my current needs, though, both Signia and Phonak have been pretty weak. Maybe it’s just a matter of my brain getting used to them, as I always hear. But the sound from either is just not very good (tinny, at best), and it often seems like the background noise is what’s most amplified. I know it’ll take some adjustments. In the meantime, I guess I’m focusing on objective qualities such as Bluetooth.
I’m the very opposite with Phonak. I can’t even hear wind with Phonaks and background noise is extremely muted Altho I can still just about hear it.
I have all features like NoiseBlock etc turned off.
I have no idea which phonak’s you tried, I have the newer phonak audieo L70-R, I have never lost a phone connection, it is so clear, these HA’s have a built in speaker so I can take a call when in a separate room from my phone, clear as a bell, no connection issues at all, it also works very well with the TV .
Well it’s a good question, I can’t see why not, one would like to think so, my guess is later models yes, but the older stuff will be phased out and unsupported over time like everything else.
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It’s fine to choose any characteristic to choose a hearing aid as they can all be adjusted to sound pretty much the same. You want a pink one and only one manufacturer makes it, fine. Tinny sound quality is either a result of venting or adjustment. It’s not a quality of the aids. The next big thing in Bluetooth is LE Audio and Auracast. Even if an aid is certified BT 5.3, it’s no guarantee that it meet those other specs. A possibility yes, but no guarantee.
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It’s not just a matter of the BT version used by the HAs - the version used by your phone is also key. When I was tossing up between Phonak and Oticon when I upgraded my HAs 2.5 years ago, I went with Phonak and its Classic Bluetooth rather than Oticon and its Bluetooth LE because it meant that I didn’t also need to upgrade my phone to one that supported BT LE.
It’s not so much the BT version as much as it’s type. Phonak hearing aids use standard Bluetooth but almost all others use Bluetooth low energy. Low energy doesn’t play nice with android phones. You might want to search for order discussions about Bluetooth as there have been many.
Marvel M90 SP aids.
I just recently updated my Samsung phone to a later model one that uses Bluetooth 5.3 and the improvement over version 5 is so much better, with no problems with connectivity since upgrading, unlike before with dropouts that happened nearly every day.
I checked the phone specs and updated and have had no dropout in the 10 days I have had the new phone.
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Are you using domes or moulds?
Streaming can be tinny with domes, as the bass frequencies escape from your ear canal
Peter
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Very curious to hear more about your experience with the Orka 2, as I see nobody else has mentioned them here. On paper, I can see why you were interested in trying them.