Compatible 3rd party LE Audio and Auracast devices - a technical deep dive

I just finishhed with Samsung support, again.
At first the “answer” was a link to marketing about connecting to many Samsung buds.
After repeated questioning it was admited that the Samsung S23/24 ONLY transmit to Samsung products.
It is a private transmission.

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You have the S23 and it is connected to your aids and your wifes phone and subsequently to the speaker?
What kond of phone does she have? Is this some kind of sharing a wifi connection or something?

My wife’s phone is an older Note20 5g. She has refused to upgrade to a newer phone because loves the ‘color’ that is no longer available. And what the hack it still functions great.

I may have asked you before. Are you hands free with the Intents and Samsung S23? My Jabra 20s can do hands free with my S23, but they don’t work well and the sound is terrible. I am returning them and considering the Philips 9050s or Rexton Reach when they get the update.

That is my understanding. It is the broadcast device that does the Auracast I hooked up a Moer Labs Auracast dongle to my PC and could get it to connect through the Jabra app on my phone. The sound is thin and harsh and often goes to one ear. I also tried a device from FlooGoo that actually has an app to work with it. They are an Australian company. Their Auracast dongle didn’t work with my Jabras but are working with Signia to get it working with the Nexia.

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Not fully at this time the only thing not working is being able to answer calls from my aids. It should be fixed with the oneui 6.1.1 due this month and the firmware update to my aids this month.

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I did find that I can do an Auracast from my S23. You found that only Samsung devices with Auracast can pick up that broadcast? If your old Motorola phone was hands free what hearing aids were you using? Phonaks have hands free with classic bluetooth. Did you have Phonaks?

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You can talk with the phone in your pocket, but you can’t answer the call by hitting a button on the aids?

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Moor Labs makes an Auracast dongle and will be coming out with an Auracast transmitter that can work with a TV audio out. The dongle usually works with my Jabra 20s and my S23, but sometimes only goes to one ear. I think that is the phone/Jabra interface. MoerDuo™ Bluetooth Auracast Audio Transceiver – MOOR Technology Co., Ltd.

MOOR Tech states that there may be compatibility problems with devices from other brands, but they guarantee compatibility with devices they make.

It’s a new standard. Accept that you’re beta-testing; that’s the tech life. After all, you chose to be a pioneer.

Believe me, I know how frustrating pioneering tech can be. I can understand venting frustration in no uncertain terms. I don’t understand expecting BT LE Audio and Auracast to be ready for prime time.

With a little luck, though, if you stay on top of developments, you’re likely to be among the first people to get the benefits of the new tech because you’ve been a beta tester.

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I had Kirkland 9s ( made by phonak) connected to a Motorola G 5g stylus.
Hands free and streaming for 5 years.

I just tried a Homespot tv transmitter and headphone from amazon. It can Auracast to the included headphone and a Creative Zen Pro Wireless headphone using the S23 as the auracast assistant. But the S23 cannot assist the Jabras to pick up the broadcast, even though they are labeled “connected” in the phone settings.

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Jabra tech once again scratched their heads and punted it back to the HA fitter saying " it must be something the fitter can adjust on their program"

TMOOR Tech states that there may be compatibility problems with devices from other brands, but they guarantee compatibility with devices they make.

It’s a new standard. Accept that you’re beta-testing; that’s the tech life. After all, you chose to be a pioneer.

Believe me, I know how frustrating pioneering tech can be. I can understand venting frustration in no uncertain terms. I don’t understand expecting BT LE Audio and Auracast to be ready for prime time.

With a little luck, though, if you stay on top of developments, you’re likely to be among the first people to get the benefits of the new tech because you’ve been a beta tester.

Good points. I guess my expectations were too high. However, the problems occur when I turn off LE and use ASHA with the Jabras and S23. The sound quality is still thin and harsh, even when listening to podcasts, and the sound often goes just to one ear. I am going to try the Philips 9050 at Costco, but may spring for the Phonak Spheres as they would still allow me to use Classic Bluetooth while LE and Auracast are refined.

Well, the problem may be Jabra’s/ReSound’s Android app, and I’m prejudiced because the app never worked for me. :slightly_smiling_face:

I certainly would appreciate vendors being upfront about the limitations of the features they trumpet. I’d like to read, ‘Auracast is new technology, and interconnection between devices is iffy.’ I expect the manufacturers bear at least some responsibility for expectations that are to high…

I expect Jabra has made sure it keeps the actual promises they make, but they make so few real promises. Returning them is about the only thing a consumer can do to protect themself and send a message the manufacturer might listen to.

I hope the 9050s work great for you.

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Since last week’s Samsung One UI 6.1.1 (still called One UI 6.1) updates to the Galaxy S23 and S24, LE Audio is now finally working, and working well, with compatible hearing aids. It has been confirmed with both the Jabra Enhance Pro 20s and the Oticon Intent HAs.

Others can try the LE Audio option out themselves. I would be grateful to hear more feedback.

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It turns out that even though I first checked for a Jabra enhance firmware through the app it said I was up to date. NOT TRUE. A call to tech support confirmed that fact, so back to Costco to get the update which they did. Apparently, Jabra’s firmware update routine through the app does not work as advertised. OTA firmware updates in this day and age should be mandatory as is documenting the current version on the tech support pages which I could not find. Will this be fixed, or do I need to continually call tech support to check for new updates? So, after that update I updated my Samsung Galaxy 23 Ultra to One UI 6.1.1. I also removed and reinstalled the app and cleared the Bluetooth settings and cache. I am pleased to report that this yielded significant improvements; however, I am still having problems with other people hearing my voice through my phone microphone. I presume the hearing aids will still not transmit a voice channel. Is that still correct? I saw definite improvement including in the tap functionality, although phone conversations are still prone to not picking up and still can cut out. I would like to see some better documentation on the fixes from both Jabra and from Samsung and where best to report problems on the Bluetooth front. Most importantly Jabra needs to fix its firmware update problem and then have their Android team work more closely with Samsung Bluetooth engineers. Unless both companies get their Bluetooth engineers working together Jabra is going to continue losing galaxy users and Samsung is going to lose users to Apple. I have had to tell several friends and family members to either hold off any purchases of Jabra until this problem is fixed. I am hoping I do not have to wait until One UI 7.0 is released. I should note that I also have a Samsung tablet and watch that also use my Bluetooth as well as my car Bluetooth audio. and that before I started using the Jabra HAs, my Buds2 pro worked fine with all my other devices. This convinces me that the solutions need to come from the Jabra android engineering team or Jabra will keep losing HA sales. My spouse is due for a phone upgrade to a Galaxy S25 ultra next February at which time she will be replacing her 5-year-old Hearing Aids. They will not be Jabra if this problem is not fixed by then.

@Frank_G, with LE Audio enabled, I no longer need the phone in my hand to take a phone call. I tap my ear, the call connects and my voice is clearly transmitted to the caller via the microphones on the hearing aids. Again, this is with the One UI 6.1.1 update on my Galaxy S23 Ultra, as well as my partner’s S24U, and the Jabra EP 20s. Samsung has made a marked update to their Bluetooth connectivity. The Jabras as well as Oticon Intent were not the problem for this issue, it was Samsung.

I am excited to hear from you that there is a firmware update for the Jabras. I wish it came with release notes. But then again Samsung had a long list of release notes and putting the Bluetooth updates on it did not happen. I gave LE Audio a try hopeing the Android 15 Bluetooth fixes made it in and not having to wait till One UI 7. I was overjoyed. Hands free was the reason, besides liking the sound a lot, my partner and I both went the Galaxy and Jabra combination route.

I concur.

Thank you for your post. Let us know how it goes with the LE Audio protocol enabled.

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FYI: the current firmware for Jabra enhance pro 20 should be 9.35.1.0 my older version that wasn’t updating was 9.18.1.2
Thanks for the note on the integration of the microphones on the hearing aids. People who call me report they can just barely hear my voice even when my lips are at the edge of the phone microphone. Based on your report, it sounds like my phone microphone should not be transmitting, so that is good; unfortunately, this also means that my HA microphone is just barely transmitting when on a phone call. It sounds like I need another trip to Costco or a call to tech support. The best news is, you give me hope that the underlying problem has been resolved.

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So, have any of you yrued to receive an auracast “1 to many” tansmission with your Jabrasas yet?
Mine still will not receive/stop receiving if another bluetooth device is receiving.
The S23 can start a transmission, but the Jabras don’t want anything else “included”.

The only thing I have done is to use two Jabras to listen to the TV Streamer+ at the same time over Auracast.