I have mild to moderate binaural sensorineural hearing loss and I’m choosing my hearing aids for the first time. I went to an audiologist who had me try Phonak Lumity 90 first, then Infinio Sphere 90, and then back to the Lumity 90 (about 3 weeks with each). I’m trying the Lumity 90 again to better compare it with the Infinio Sphere, since the costs here in Italy are really high (€6k vs €9k for a pair) and I don’t have any way of getting reimbursement.
My experience with the Infinio Sphere 90 has been mixed: when the device switched to the Sphere programs, I felt lost, but when it was on the non-Sphere programs, I actually heard better than with the Lumity (which I’ve noticed more now that I’m trying the Lumity again). With the Infinio, I also had issues with a receiver that was a closed dome shape, compared to the one I used in the other ear (and with the Lumity), which has a smaller dome with several openings. The closed dome receiver kept slipping out of my ear canal, even though I inserted it correctly.
I must also say that I was the first user that I tried the Infinio Sphere at that audiologist since that model is available in Italy only since the beginning of October, so the audiologist might be inexperienced.
Now I’m trying to decide which model to buy, and I was thinking of getting the Infinio (not the Sphere, since I did not like the Sphere programs and it costs too much) level 70, which would only cost a little more than the Lumity 90 (about €1k), but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to go for the newer model but downgrade the level.
With Phonak models, usually the difference between the 70 and 90 models is whether the speech in loud noise program is available automatically. Usually it is available automatically on the 90, but only as a manual program on the 70. I used to have the Virto 70 and I had a manual program that I had to switch to for speech in loud noise.
However, with the Infinio, the speech in loud noise program does not seem to be available at all, if you look at this link:
You can see on here that the speech in loud noise, speech enhancer and speech sensor are programs only available in the 90.
So, depending on whether you need/want the speech in loud noise, or further enhancement in speech - women’s, childrens, soft voices etc, will determine whether you will be OK with just the 70. I would try and check whether speech in loud noise is available as a manual program at all with the 70 as I think that is quite important. Maybe someone here will know. If not I would check with the audiologist or with Phonak.
Only the 90 level (L90 / I90) have “speech in loud noise” as a automatic programm in Autosense. It is possible to deactivate this automatic program and create a manual programm for speech in loud noise.
Infinio 70 have “speech in loud noise” only as an manual programm, which could be setup by the fitter.
Only the 90 have Speech Enhancer and SpeechSensor available.
Speech Enhancer is an adaptive algorithm designed to
enhance the peaks of a speech signal in quiet/calm situations.
Up to 10 dB additional gain will be applied in the following
circumstances:
• Speech between 30-50 dB input level is detected; and
• SNR is at least +10dB
SpeechSensor is an algorithm that detects the direction from which the main speech signal is coming from. The real life benefit means you can understand speech 15% better when speech is from the side/rear in addition to 11% reduced listening effort.
Yes, for the Infinio 70 (as well as for L70, P70 M70) the speech in loud noise could be setup by the fitter as a separate manual program which does not activate automatically.
The fitter have to setup an additional program (e.g. P1) and choose for that the speech in loud noise
Here in the picture you see that for the 70 level are the following additional programs possible
Speech in loud noise , Acustic Phone, Speech in 360° , Mask Program , Custom Program. These are also aqvailable for the 90 level.
I do like Speech Enhancer, though. For me, it’s one of the killer features of Phonak hearing aids since my wife is soft-spoken. It only kicks in, though, in speech environments with low to moderate noise. Phonak trial hearing aids can be configured to operate at any model level. So, you might want to ask your HCP to trial you with Infinios at the 90 and then at the 70 level so you can compare the difference and see if it’s worth the price differential.
