First time buying hearing aids. Is Bluetooth worth it?

Hearing Aids
#9

Seems like it’s pretty unanimous that they would be worth it. Thanks for all the feedback! I’m thinking it’s a good idea to get some then. I do use a lot of tech stuff currently, but have needed the volume cranked up to hear things. I’m still getting used to the idea of having something in my ears at all hours of the day, but I think I see the points you’ve made that it’ll be beneficial just to have it all go straight to my ear. I just hope it doesn’t make me accidentally tune out my wife!

I’ll take a closer look at Phonak and the Costco brands as well.

Thanks again for the input everybody!

#10

The biggest thing about being a new hearing aid user is that things may sound too loud at first, and if you have high frequency loss, things may sound tinny at first. Things like clanking dishes and running water may sound uncomfortable.

Sure, you can start lower and work your way up, but try to get up to target as soon as you can, without being too uncomfortable.

Your brain will adjust and after a while things will sound beautiful! Will it take a few weeks or several months? No one can say. It took me a long time because I put off hearing aids for many years.

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#11

You should also look at Oticon and other brands.

#12

I am in the minority, I wanted one specifically without bluetooth because I wanted mine to work and let me hear as close to a regular normal hearing ear as possible. ‘Normal’ hearing also includes hearing sounds like people chatting, fans, ice makers clinking in the kitchen, etc. so that to me is natural to hear those things. If your hearing loss is severe enough that you think you still wouldn’t understand movies, calls, etc with normal aids without the bluetooth then I say go for it, because everyone is different and only you know what you need. But I enjoy being able to talk to my family during a movie and not have the sound of the tv override them, or hearing if the dog is whining to go out (which she always does at the most suspenseful parts, of course!)

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#13

Where to you get the idea that a hearing aid which supports bluetooth somehow provides less than “regular normal hearing” compared to a hearing aid which doesn’t support bluetooth?

If you consider that the hearing aids which support bluetooth are generally the high end products from the respective manufacturers, you may be getting less than “regular normal hearing” by selecting a hearing aid which doesn’t support bluetooth.

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#14

Because people with normal hearing do not have their calls, shows, etc. streamed directly into their ears unless they use a bluetooth device. I feel like that in and of itself makes it less of a natural hearing experience because you cannot hear everything else around you as clearly because of the direct input of the media. (Like if you are trying to have a conversation with someone and they are also speaking to someone on their bluetooth headset, the phone call in their ear is more prevalent than you or other outside noises.) It was not meant as an insult and there is no need to be so defensive, friend, or insult anyone’s gear, it is just my personal opinion. I still have one perfectly functional ear and so I know what ‘regular normal hearing’ sounds like to me.

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#15

When my hearing wasn’t so bad I had no reason to have Bluetooth. All the Bluetooth devices were not needed. As my hearing got much worse I have found that Bluetooth is very handy to help with speech recognition.
So, maybe your hearing loss and need for speech recognition could be a guideline for needing Bluetooth.

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#16

Bluetooth is used for a number of things, and how it interacts with hearing aids is complex. If you want to get right into the detail of it then here is a good article to read.

The first use is to use a smartphone as a remote control for your hearing aids. That is a nice to have, but not totally essential. Some apps for hearing aids are better than others. Generally the most mature technology is the Apple MFi which used Bluetooth Low Energy to save battery power. It is also able to connect to both hearing aids at the same time.

The next use is to be able to use your cell phone with the incoming audio coming direct to your ears. That feature, at least with the iPhone MFi method is very helpful. Typically the hearing aid can be set up to recognize that you are streaming direct to your ear, and the HA microphones can be set to attenuate background noise which makes it easier to hear. Some hearing aids like the Phonak or KS9 cannot do this because they use the HA microphones to pick up your voice. So the person at the other end hears you and all the background noise. On the down side, the MFi method requires you to hold the iPhone close to your mouth so it picks up your voice clearly. It is not true hands free.

Last is the streaming from the TV or other devices using what most likely is classic Bluetooth. Most of those solutions involve using an intermediary device which ideally converts the higher power Classic Bluetooth to BLE or Bluetooth Low Energy. This makes it easier on your hearing aid batteries. But, have a look at my audiogram. If your loss is no worse than what I have in my right ear, you will probably have no problem hearing the TV at normal volumes.

Hope that helps some,

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#17

Another thing to look at might be your lifestyle and environment. Do you spend most of the time by yourself when you take calls or do you have to be able to hear clients in a noisy office or cubicle environment? When watching tv would you be watching with someone that likes to comment or have conversations during the show, or do you mostly watch alone? Is your house too noisy to normally hear calls or shows even with the sound amplification of a hearing aid?

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#18

My understanding is that one can control the relative amounts of streaming into the ear versus hearing the sounds around one. It’s a feature in the BT/HA control on the smart phone app. So, it seems to me that I could be listening to music at a low level while diddling around on the computer, say, but also have the ambient sounds available should my spouse decide to ask me (to do) something. I don’t know this from experience, but a Dr. Cliff video gave me this impression. Perhaps in 2½ weeks I’ll know for sure. One can only hope.

#19

I think the hitch with the KS9 is that if you are using the hearing aid microphones as your source of audio for a phone call you really can’t attenuate them without affecting the volume of your own voice going out to the other listener. With a typical MFi setup the streaming can be set up to attenuate the microphones without attenuating the audio out with your voice, because it is coming from the iPhone microphone.

#20

I was thinking about that, but I realized that on the HA’s you aren’t turning down the microphone, you’re just controlling the audio path. So you can turn down the microphone audio path to your ear, while tailoring the directionality and level of all the microphones for good pickup and amplify the audio path that’s going out to the other end of the call.

That MFi setup using the iPhone microphone would be really handy in some situations, and I understand it produces better sound for the other caller than using HA microphones, by and large. Still I like the convenience of the full handsfree with the HA mics.

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#21

Yes, you need Bluetooth! It is worth it.!

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#22

I think you totally miss the point. YOU control the hearing aids, YOU set what you want to hear and what you don’t. The more advanced hearing aids have BlueTooth, why limit what you can get when it is not going to save you that much money? My FULL function Resound Preza from Costco cost $1,700 … for the pair. How much did you save getting inferior aids?

I use the BlueTooth every day. Especially for phone calls. And not just cell phone calls, but business calls on my multi-line desk phone. I use it in the car, I use it at home. I would never advise anyone to get less. Even if they do not decide to use the features, they are there should they realize they should have done so up front and have to kick themselves for not doing so as buying another pair is an outrageous additional expense. Definitely BlueTooth!

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#23

Yes, Neil, I control what I want to hear with my aids, as do we all, and I decided that bluetooth was not something I wanted. The price for my single aid is close to what you’d have spent on one, looking at your pair price, (and let’s not shame people for also buying less expensive gear if that is what they can afford or if that is what’s covered.) I did not get the “VW Scirroco” model of HAs, nor did I get the “Porsche 911”, I got something in between. I did not want to ‘just go cheap to cut out bluetooth’ as many would imply, you said yourself that you use yours several times a day so it works for you where I would not use it so I did not need it. It is like telling me I need heated seats in a car because without it I bought a cheaper car and it is horrible to do that just to save a buck… no I didn’t get heated seats because I am always hot and would never use them. Some people would never buy a car without them. Different feature options are there because everyone has different lifestyles and wants and needs.

I was just giving the OP my two cents in that not everyone finds bluetooth necessary (whereas if he/she didn’t feel that they would need it but everyone else was all
Yaaaaas you needs tha bluetooth or you are buying craaaaaaaap
then he/she may feel peer pressure into buying something just because they were told they needed it or that all products without it are garbage (which is not true, there is such a large range of products for everyone to find one that fits their needs.) This is a forum where different humans have different opinions on things, as in real life, and that is ok. I respect that you feel bluetooth is a necessity for you. I also ask that you recognize that it is not a necessity for everyone, and that is not something to look down on them for or try to insult them for. There are people on here without smart phones (or cell phones at all, for that matter!) I personally know several people who do not even have email.

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#24

Not everyone can afford the better aids. Some just don’t have the choices of aids as others do.
Maybe my experience without Bluetooth with hearing aids was before Bluetooth, getting old.
I do know if my hearing were better I could care less about Bluetooth devices connected to hearing aids. Just would not want or need them.

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#25

I use bluetooth when I would have been using headphones. I can’t imagine how one could use headphones with hearing aids but even if you can, it’s simpler to just have the thing that’s in your ears already play the sounds for you. If I were watching TV with my family, then I would not be having bluetooth stream it to my hearing aids - anyway then my family wouldn’t be able to hear. But most of the time I am listening to something only I’m interested in, such as a podcast or a phone call, in which case bluetooth makes a lot of sense.

Also, it’s 2019. Technology is everywhere. I feel like Bluetooth is due to make way for the next thing soon enough but meanwhile it’s the way of the world. Worth being set up for that just in case, even if you don’t currently see the need.

I’m more worried about my phone battery draining than my hearing aids…

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#26

Since I bought my first cell phone, I have never held a phone to my head. I just can’t stand holding my arm up like that. As a matter of fact, even my old rotary landline had one of those shoulder thingys bolted to the handset. My first few cell phones had corded earpieces. Then came Bluetooth and I was finally free of the cord. I use to pay premium dollar for this fancy bluetooth earpiece that had a flip open mic. When you flipped it open it answered, flip it shut and it hangs up. Boy that was great! Years and years later I finally get hearing aids. One of my fist questions was, “can I take phone calls on these?” I don’t use the bluetooth for the tv, I guess my hearing just isn’t bad enough yet. But I can’t see doing phone calls any other way.

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#27

That’s what I’m saying, but must have worded it wrong as I appeared to have rubbed some nerves the wrong way. If it is there, and available, and it works so dang great … why not take advantage of it. The $1,800 I paid for 2 advanced hearing aids that came fully iPhone compatible was not expensive. Though at other than Costco it may cost twice as much, I don’t know, I stopped doing Hearx and private when Costco went so low cost on these. My iPhone, hearing aids, and my Subaru Crosstrek are all working with each other with no hassle and making life easier. True I am a techie, by hobby and trade. But getting all three in harmony was nothing, no hassle, all virtually automatic.

#28

I love having Bluetooth. I see people walking around with Apple ear buds, and talking on the phone, I can just answer my phone with my HAs. I also like it when I’m getting directions from my phone while driving, especially if other people are in the car, I can hear the directions, they don’t have to listen to it. Using the TV connector works great if I want to watch TV and don’t want to bother anyone in the house. Also you can stream video or music from your phone. I’d definitely recommend it.

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