As we can see, the production of hearing aids and accessories has been slowing down in recent years. Oticon has only released Intent, Phonak has only released Infinio and has only updated one Roger microphone. Covid is long over. There are no other reasons for the slowdown. Do manufacturers no longer have ideas? It’s like one iPhone after another, without much innovation.
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Both Oticon and Phonak have moved the needle a long way by their Intent and Infinio Sphere models. They are pushing the boundaries of sound processing to extract speeech from noisy environments using sophisticated processing that is game changing.
Where Phonak’s journey from Marvel through Paradise to Lumity may have been very incremental, Sphere is radical.
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Quality is much better than quantity, what the hearing aid companies have finally figured that out.
With LE Audio and Auracast, they really don’t need to make any new accessories. You will find the Auracast stream on your phone and connect to your hearing aids.
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I agree with you, but these models only exist in one form. There are no in-the-ear hearing aids, no superpower ones, no children’s models with a tube. Only miniRITE. And only one per year.
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Maybe they will make accessories with their proprietary patented technologies. With LE Audio and Auracast everyone will be able to buy them. This will also create competition.
Sphere is being achieved using a dedicated 2nd processor that eats battery and can only be provided in a larger form factor.
For Now!
A next generation will hopefully build the Sphere capabilities into the main processor, downsized to a device that will actually fit in the ear canal as well as the other types we’ve become used to. The only thing I don’t see is all the required processing being delivered using zinc-air batteries, so I suspect those days may well be over in anything other than basic level HAs.
I wonder if sales are down a lot and hurting the big brands since the FDA made OTC available? I bet a lot of people are opting for cheap OTC. I’m not sure if this includes cheap imported HA’s on places like Amazon, but according to this, sales for OTC have been well over a half billion:
Over The Counter Hearing Aid Sales
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I have the Oticon INTENT1 aids and i haven’t ever been able to understand speech in all environments like I can with them. I have been wearing aids for 20 years and Oticon aids for 14 years and I have seen great improvements in every pair of aids that I have gotten over those years even as my hearing has gotten worse.
But there is just so much that hearing aids can do to help any of us to hear better. Hearing aids aren’t anything like eye glasses and don’t have the capability to help any of us like glasses can. And as someone with very poor eye sight and severe hearing loss i fully understand that concept.
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A very good question.
I have a feeling that they are putting too much emphasis on AI and clever gobbins such as health check list , heart health check , falls, walking steps etc etc.
Their design for requirement seems to be falling off the wayside in my opinion.
What they fail to do is seek out volunteers to try out an up and coming new models to get feedback from deaf potential customers.
Reading here and on the Hearing Aid Users FB threads , satisfaction for listening to Music seems to be a big issue for many. There are musician’s and music appreciators commenting on this failure… I for one can be counted as one person experiencing this neglect.
My current new Starkey Audibel Intrique AI has never delivered the joy of being able to listen to my favourite music from The Moody Blues, to Folk Music to Classical or even Nigel Kennedy Virtuoso Violinist in the way I remember .
Music is very important to me as it helps me to habituate and control my Tinnitus spikes.
Why do the Hearing aid manufacturers seem to rush the
’ latest models’ almost annually (Starkey have already bought out another model since Genesis one from 2023) when maybe they could slow down and find out / research into what do customers need to enjoy Music as well as conversation? Why’s the rush ?
AI is not necessarily important when wearing hearing aids for quality and comfort and clarity of sound.
I don’t want the health gadgets attached… just to be able to hear with confidence again and feel the joy of playing my guitar or listening to music once again is my greatest wish for a modern hearing aid.
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Oh yeah I forgot about OTC! It could really be the reason for the outflow of funds from big manufacturers!
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I think it is impossible because of damaged cochleas. Even if you will listen Steinway piano or Stradivari violin - your cochleas will cut and limit these sounds.
This.
They keep adding new features yet cant seem to master simple bt connectivity. Kinda like new phones that are mini computers jammed with tons of features yet i have troubles many times with just making a call
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Hearing aids are for Hearing speech better, Bluetooth is just a luxury bonus.
Bluetooth has been around for a number of years and it is like trying to out run a race car. Bluetooth is changing faster than anyone can possibly keep up with.
Every one wants small an hidden but also expects the power of something with a gigantic battery power. You can’t have it all.
The hearing aids with AI are very much mini computers. But is this what we need ? Personally, I don’t think so.
From my experience with my INTENT1 aids, definitely worth it.
Well one person seems to like it in the Phonak shoot out thread.
Anyhow, the hearing aid manufacture’s main emphasis is on improving hearing in noise. I think that’s where AI is making a difference.
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First thing that came to my mind was money.
I do know in the US our economy has moved in a direction that the middle class has much less money than a few years ago.
With the high price of hearing aids and people having less money it’s pretty obvious why hearing aid sales are down. Just can’t afford them.
Just thinking out loud.
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Yes the economy has hit us all hard. Most especially the ones of us on a fixed income.
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