Demant introduces Philips HearLink hearing aids

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#50

The OpenSound Navigator is the heart of the OPN, so it is now pretty official that the Phillips Hearlink is not really the OPN. It is most likely the Sonic Enchant product then. I don’t really know much about Bernafon but there’s a possibility that Bernafon and Sonic share the underlying technologies as well.

It’s entirely understandable that the OpenSound Optimizer (the feedback prevention technology) can be separated out and used independently from the OpenSound Navigator technology. So I’m not surprised that William Demant implements this technology on the Phillips Hearlink.

Similar with the Lithium Ion rechargeable technology, it can easily be adapted by any of these sister brands. Having the same rechargeable technology on the OPN S and now on the Phillips Hearlink doesn’t mean that the Hearlink is the same as the OPN S.

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#51

“I suspect it’s “purpose” is to provide a separate brand to sell through Costco.”

Redundant. They now have Costco covered via both Philips and Bernafon.

#52

That’s incorrect. They’ve dropped Bernafon.

#53

How many channel it has or channel free operation? Compare to opn s 64

#54

If Demant was not successful selling Bernafon through Costco then I don’t see why they will fare better with Philips.

Resound succeeds both in and out of Costco because the basic hearing experience of their de-featured and later released Costco product is the same as their flagship product. Demant is not offering the same basic hearing experience as the OPN through Costco, so I don’t see the appeal.

#55

HearLink does not seem to closely match a specific model name-brand hearing aid? So (imo), maybe you would be buying a pig in a poke :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

#56

It’s all speculation at this point, but maybe Demant plans to put some effort into marketing. Now that they’ve got a clearly differentiated product that’s not directly competing with their private audis, maybe they feel they have more freedom to market.

#57

Found more spec sheets Information for professionals about Philips HearLink hearing aids

#58

Do we have any info on who will be selling these besides Costco? Must be somebody as they have a full set of levels and I’m guessing Costco will only sell the most advanced level.

#59

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It’s formally in Costco canada and till now they don’t have the enough details for programming or software. They took out Bernafon and said this “could” be replacement of it

#60

My fitter said Philips is Bernafon with a couple changes. Looks like Costco might be selling Philips over the counter aids when the time comes.

#61

Does anyone know if the Oticon domes and wax traps will fit the Philips Mini-rite?

#62

I got my Philips hearing aids (MiniRITE 312’s) yesterday, and have confirmed that their domes and wax traps are DIFFERENT than my old Oticon Agil Pros.

I’ll post a review of my new Philips HAs after I’ve had them for a little while.

#63

The miniRite model uses different receivers then the old Agil model, your Philips miniRite receivers would be the same ones used by Oticon OPN and any other manufactured by Demant.

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#64

Can you ask demant to update their answer to this question based on their latest technology?

#65

The spec sheet for the Philips Hearlink 9030 MiniRITE aids almost perfectly matches the Bernafon Alpha 9 MiniRITE aids. The peak gain is lower, there is more harmonic distortion, there are less channels and the quality is less than the Oticon Opn S main line. That’s about as close of a comparison as you can get from a bird’s eye view. Personally, working with the Philips Hearlink 9030s, the streaming quality is identical to the Oticon Opn S platform I had worked with prior, but there is a slight discernable difference as a hearing aid wearer and dispenser myself in quality of sound. From an overall perspective (subjective) from inside Costco, the quality is top-notch but Oticon’s main line Opn S platform is still better (subjective).

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#66

But the Philips uses AI and the Bernafon does not. You could probably make a comparable match with Sonic Radiant as well, but again no AI.

The HearLink seems to have taken on a life of its own since Philips upgraded from the 9010 to the 9030. I don’t think it’s a knock off of anything else Demant makes in house.

My hunch is that with the emergence of OTC hearing Aids and sound amplifiers that Demant turned to a recognizable brand (Philips) in consumer electronics and amplifiers to compete with a brand name like Bose which has now entered the hearing enhancement market. Buyers only have to move up a little bit in price to go from a Bose SoundControl to the more sophisticated technology and fully supported Philips HearLink 9030. I’m guessing that Demant wants the quality to be the best it can be within the constraints of the budget market.

So, I wouldn’t look in house for comparisons but to see what the competition is that they’re trying to beat and what the trend line is that they’re trying to stay ahead of. The market is changing rapidly. In addition to Oticon, Starkey, Widex, and even Audibel are out there with AI. That’s the trend that I think Demant is trying to stay ahead of. Philips has made a big splash by being the first in the Costco line of budget hearing aids to offer AI. They’re trying to grab as big a share of that market as they can and attract buyers from the OTC market who are looking at Bose.

#67

I’ve mentioned this somewhere in this forum before, so at the risk of repeating myself, the original Philips HearLink released by Costco (the previous version of the new 9030, NOT the new 9030) was a dead ringer copy of the Sonic Enchant after I’ve been able to read the whitepapers of both. I think the Bernafon also seems very similar in core features with the original/old Philips HearLink.

But I don’t find the same similarities between the new Philips 9030 core and the new Sonic Radiant core technology (the newer version of the Enchant), at least in the area of AI, like @billgem said.

And in another 9030 thread, I think we also established that the core 9030 AI is different than the core More AI, although many of the auxiliary features like frequency lowering and feedback prevention are the same.

#68

Is there an external microphone that connects with the Hearlink 9030/40? (this in 2023)…

#69

Philips Audioclip.

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