Battery price depends on where you are in the world.
I have P13T and S and P receiver. Average usage 6-8h a day, 2-4h of streaming (BT media, BT calls and TV - that last one uses less battery). For P receiver battery lasts a week, for S around week and a half. So with full day proper usage, I’d expect third of this lifetime.
So now it’s 5 batteries each 3 weeks, which is 86 pieces
a year. Here on amazon.de 60x powerone 13 cost between 13 and 15 eur. So, my current usage costs me around 20 eur per year, and estimated full day usage would cost me 60 eur per year.
Price difference between 13T and RT version here is around 200 eur per aid + 100 for charger. For 500 eur I can get almost 10 years of batteries for both aids.
For rechargeables, rough estimates are 1h of BT connection (media or calls) eats 10% of battery. 3h of TV streaming will eat around the same 10% of battery.
My experience was aligned with those estimates. I trialed RT.
However, it’s expected that battery will lose its capacity after 2-3 years, so if now it barely holds you (eg you have 30% or less left by the end of the day), in 3 years it might not get you through the day.
And definitely abandon all hopes that it will suffice for whole day at 5 year mark, let alone 10 year mark.
Manufacturers don’t exchange parts, they exchange whole shell - cost of production is significantly lower than man hours for dismantling/repairing later. I was told around 200 eur tops, for non rechargeables if I ‘have to pay repair myself’ eg I bring all broken pieces and they give me new shell and transfer my licences.
I was pondering about if additional insurance makes sense and concluded that not (here it costs roughly half the price of aid to insure for 4 years and have the ability for one total replacement in case of lost or damaged). Aid is around 3000 eur a piece. Unless you get a discount, which you probably won’t.
Also, if you stream a lot for example calls for work or music for 8-10h and then you also need them for commute and such, phonak rechargeables won’t hold you through the day.
I like the convenience of not having to charge something every day, so I went to P13T route. Plus I didn’t notice anything significant for my loss from those motion sensors.
Assuming same price and no hearing improvement with motion sensors, if you have dexterity issues, and no problem with daily charging, and don’t BT stream more than 4h and TV stream more than 4h a day, go rechargeable if you like the idea.
Otherwise, go size 13 battery.
Of course, if those assumptions aren’t held, your decision probably depends on it.
I’d gladly pay 500 more if aid bring improvement in hearing that I do notice, so for me priority is - better hearing ability, cost, no daily recharging. Since P-RT didn’t deliver first one, I gladly didn’t spend that money for rechargeables I didn’t desire anyway.