Let us know how it went please.
So far, so good. I again tried Jabra and then Philips 9050. There was no question that Philips was much better of voice recognition in noise. I had the audiologist (not hearing specialist) and my adult son testing in a noisy COSTCO warehouse. My son’s voice was about the same with both HAs, whereas the female audiologist was much clearer with Philips 9050. I suspect this was because her voice had a higher pitch (higher frequency), which is where my loss is greatest.
I ordered the Philips and next week I will be fitted, and two weeks later I have a follow-up appointment. The service could not be better.
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The 9050 are very similar to the 9040. There are 7 “programs” to choose four from including “automobile” “airplane” “noise” “speech in noise” “h-fi” “movie theater” and the general. I use the hi-fil most all the time. See my basic review of the Philips 9050 after I returned the 9040 to Costco . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O6GnmSS6uU
Thanks for the review!
Did you find that the “intent” feature does much of anything? You explained what it was supposed to do but didn’t say if it was particularly effective.
Also, how do you change the programs if the buttons are set for volume control? Do you need to use the phone app in that case?
Philips 9050 / Oticon Intent / Bernafon Encanta (they have all the same design and one button on each hearing aid)
button short press (lesser than 1 second) = volume change ,
→ button on the right HA = volume Up , button on left HA = volume Down
button long press ( about 2 seconds) = program change
→ button on the right HA = Program Up , button on the left HA = Program Down
button very long press (3 seconds) = switching OFF the hearing aid
if HA is Off , then the very long press is switching the device ON.
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Many of the Costco hearing specialists have worked at Costco for upwards of 20 years or more (Costco is apparently a generous employer w/ good benefits). That said, I have also known quite NEW specialists at Costco who I found to be excellent. They are very keen and really apply themselves, being very interested in the subject. One definitely needs to evaluate these professionals carefully, as one would do any such person.
Thanks. How to change programs was not clear from anything I’ve seen elsewhere. I’m sure the Costco hearing specialist will explain it to me but I wanted to know before I go in, which is scheduled for this Wednesday.
I find the “intent” feature on the 9050 (that supposedly adjusts the beam and signal to noise depending on head or body motion) to be subtle but maybe more. noticeable for people who have use earlier generations of hearing aids. If you have volume programmed for the buttons, a slightly longer press changes the programs. The manufacture says they are built to be “set and go” and don’t what user to have to use an app. That explains why the app is pretty rudimentary. I never use it.
When I asked my Costco hearing aid specialist (who is the lead guy in the department) if Costco or anyone trains them on new hearing aid models like the 9050, he said they have to learn on their own,
They had to cancel my appointment a couple of weeks ago because the fitter I was going to see was out sick.
I had an appointment on the 3rd, which turned out to be with the only actual audiologist at my Costco store.
He was very knowledgeable and passionate about audiology, and has a good “earside manner” as well. He recommended the 9050 very highly and I tried it and found it to work pretty well even without the fine tuning.
So I bought it. I’m going in on Thursday the 17th to get it fitted.
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