I'm really frustrated and at a loss what I should do.! I would really appreciate some advice.?

[antobailie]

Good afternoon,

I’m a man in my 40s and have been using bte aids for the last 10 years. My first " good " pair of aids where the resound link which I’m currently wearing at the moment because of the issues I’m having with my Phonak audeo R90 aids. Since purchasing the phonak aids a year ago I have had nothing only issues with them. The main issues I’m having are to do with aids not working correctly with my Apple devices in particular phone calls and streaming I also really miss the option of live listen which the resound offer.

I’ve also found that when I go to the Audiologist for a checkup and get the hearing aids adjusted they work really well for a few weeks then I start having issues with hearing people and the loss of clarity means I’m forced to use my resound aids.

Some I’m basically at a crossroads and don’t know what to do. The Audiologist is telling me that the problem with connectivity to my iPhone is that Apple releases new ios version and updates it takes a while for phonak to update the aids. He has also said that my current hearing aids are the best on the market and most suited to my hearing loss which is quite severe. However they only stock Starkey and phonak so I’m assuming that’s why they are saying this about the phonak aids. Some of you might be thinking I should change my device to Android however I’m a real apple fan and have the watch,ipad etc and wouldn’t want to change if being honest.

I’m sorry for the long post I’m just at a stage that I don’t know what to do next!! I’m based in Northern Ireland and thankfully I’m in a position financially that would allow me to change the aids as I really want the best I can get for myself as I have 3 young kids and I want to be able to interact and hear them for as long and as clear as I can.

I would really appreciate some help and advice and in particular what my options are.??

Thank you

Joe

[Um_bongo]

Almost every other manufacturer apart from Phonak/Unitron works better with the Apple ecosystem and use MFi (Made for IPhone) technology.

Why not get a trial of another manufacturer to see if you like the sound quality and IOS connectivity?

Yes, iOS updates do happen, but so do firmware updates to the devices. Not all updates will result in worsened compatibility with all devices too.

[cvkemp]

If you find a Android phone that supports ASHA where the version of Android is at least 13, preferably 14 or 15 then you should have great experience with Android. But not all android phones are equally as good. I have the Oticon aids, More1, Real1. And INTENT1 aids and the Samsung galaxy S23 phone and my connectivity is almost perfect. The INTENT aids have le audio capability as does the Samsung S23.

[dankailo]

If all your electronic gadgets are Apple, then give Oticon a trial. So Oticon More & Xceed that work on MFI get connected perfectly.
Give Oticon a trail.

[AlexE]

It does not help you but I’ve found my (trial) Phonak Lumity and now Spheres have connected very well with a whole raft of Apple and non-Apple devices.

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Apple Watch Ultra (I did get some drop outs in one specific spot on my dog walk, no such problem with the Spheres).

MacBook Pro M1
MacBook Pro M2 (work laptop)

iPad mini 6

AppleTV 4k

Amazon Spot (although this shocked me when it read out a notification that the front door camera had spotted the mother in law).

I have just upgraded to the latest WatchOS 11.0.1 and I did notice some drop outs when driving through Oxford yesterday and streaming an audiobook. Restarted the watch and I didn’t get this again when driving home.

[Bimodal_user]

Try this in myPhonak app:

[antobailie]

Thank you all for the replies so far much appreciated.