Thank you so much for this post. So much helpful info.
I bought my first hearing aids 2 weeks ago - Starkey Halo 2 i2400.
I’ve had lots of problems, mostly with the bluetooth and the app. I also have a problem with the battery draining within a couple of days in the left aid, but that I would think Starkey can fix or replace the aid. Let me first state that my hearing loss is moderate.
I upgraded to IOS 10 shortly before getting the aids. Starkey seems to be faulting the “flakiness” of the app with IOS 10. Frankly, I don’t buy. In the end, I was told by Starkey to wait for an Apple update to see if that resolves the problems. I have 60 days to return them and am inclined to go along.
The flakiness includes the app freezing, unpairing and simply doing odd things. For example, and this is one of many, the app used one memory for one ear and a different one for the other yesterday, out of the blue. This seemed to happen all on its own. That was fixed by resetting everything. However, there have been too many times I have had to go through the reset process.
My main gripe though, is the streaming, particularly music streaming from the phone. Prior to the aids, I was a regular user of ear buds on my commute to work on the train. No problem and they cancelled out the noisy train sound very well. However, with the aids, the outside noise overwhelms the music. I use Sound Boost and have the mikes muted, but little help.
As for the phone, the streaming works so so. There’s static at times and it’s not overly clear. I prefer not to use the phone streaming.
My provider is not familiar with the Starkey, not a good thing. However, he does make every effort to help from calling Starkey to other providers that he knows. I generally call Starkey, but it’s becoming a real PITA to call them almost every day, leave messages that don’t get returned, etc.
The aids work fine in accomplishing the primary goal - my hearing is improved - I can hear conversation and TV much better. However, I would love to be able to use the app also free of hassle. My guess is that there is little I can do about the music streaming. By their design, and I’m guessing, all hearing aids are going to let in background noise. However, I don’t want to start taking out my aids and putting in earbuds, particularly on a half hour commute.
What do I do? Wait it out? Are there better aids that integrate with the iPhone? I am not afraid of technology and adapting, but this seems to be too much work…