Jabra Enhance Pro 20 - Any Issues with Android phones?

Hearing Aids
#11

I have the Pro 10’s that I use with my Samsung S21 FE. The hands-free technically works as long as the phone’s microphone is close by as it does not use the HA’s microphone. The only problem that I have had with the bluetooth is if I have walked out of range from the phone and sometimes only one HA will re-connect.

Samsung is to announce the new S24 models on Jan 17. Based on what I have read, only the models with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset will support Bluetooth LE 5.4, which is needed to fully support Auracast and possibly true hands-free calling on the Pro 20. Have found nothing in relation to the cheaper Exynos chipset and Auracast or 5.4, which is a shame as the S24 Ultra is rumored to cost about $1,300.

#12

Not exactly - I have EP 10s. The app was upgraded to handle the EP20s but still was highly annoying with the EP10s. The problem with Android was/is unpredictability - works most of the time, but 20-30% of the taps fail. What I particularly hate is that I often want to mute the TV streamer, and too often it mutes only one HA. That’s not a problem if you don’t want to mute the aids very often.

My bet is that the problem is in the app and relative lack of responsiveness of the Samsung screen. Pixel may be better. My wife’s iphone SE 2nd version almost always worked fine when I used it for testing, so my choice was between an iphone that I knew worked well enough and an unknown Pixel, so I went over to the dark side. And it IS the dark side - the Samsung is better in every respect I use the phone for except for controlling my HAs.

I don’t know what constitutes ‘hands-free’ with HAs. Most of the time, people hear me well enough when I use the EP 10s mics, with the phone beside me, but I still have to use the phone itself to answer a call or to hang up. I believe Phonaks allow answering and ending a call by tapping a switch on the HA, which is a lot closer the hands-free, IMO,

#13

Well, I have never claimed to be a bluetooth expert but my s23 shows it as having bt 5.4 and has a switch to turn on le audio but I still have disconnect problems whatever all that means.

#14

For what it’s worth, I talked directly to Jabra to ask them about the differences between using an iPhone and Android with the EP 20s. Their customer service rep, who told me he was an iPhone user, he said that the Android Samsung s23 with the EP 20s was actually a little more advanced than the iPhone due to their implementation of Auracast.
Jabra hasn’t yet seen the Samsung s24 so they haven’t tested that model yet, but they expect it to be as good as the s23 or better for HAs. The s24 Ultra will have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.
Argh…confusing to this guy. Will try the Jabra EP 20 and if it does disconnect randomly and causes call issues, will return it to Costco and go with Plan B (to be determined).

#15

Also, it seems that the EP 20 has a wind noise mode. Anyone try using this while bike riding? I usually take my old HAs out due to the wind noise.

#16

With EP 10s on my bike, the outdoor program has been great shutting down wind noise while letting me hear sounds around me, and the wind noise suppression is not maxed out in the app. In fact, I often forget to switch to the outdoor program, and I can still hear cars coming up behind me better than I could with my Philips 9010s from 2019. Note, however, that I cruised at 13-14 mph last Summer. If you ride faster, wind noise is presumably louder.

The EP 20s should be at least as good.

#17

Philbob57, thx for the info on the HA and wind noise. I find it difficult to ride in a group without the HA and understand what the others are saying, so this is promising.

#18

Looks like both the Pixel 7 (BT 5.2) and Pixel 8 (BT 5.3) could support Auracast. It seems that starting with BT 5.2 hardware, it is possible, although not always enabled by the manufacturer.

On my pixel 8 I can’t find anything like ‘search/find for/a broadcast’. I wonder if this is a limitation of the Starkey Evolv (BT 5.2)?

#19

Thanks - This is super helpful since I’m on a Pixel 7, soon to be Pixel 8, or Pixel 8 Pro.

#20

My understanding is you need to be connected to a LE Audio device before any of that functionality is exposed. You tap on the LE Audio connection and ‘find Auracast broadcasts’ is on the next screen.

#21

Starkey Evolv not supporting Auracast !
The Starkey Evolve support Mifi (Made for iPhone)

#22

I purchased the new Jabra Pro 20 Hearing aids from Costco. I also purchase a new Samsung S23+ as they are listed as “compatible”. Phone calls work, as do some but not all streaming apps. I use the hands-free mode and Google Maps while driving but the Jabra Pro20 hearing aids are not working with the S23+. They do work, although not perfectly, with my old Samsung S20FE. My old Kirkland hearing aids work perfectly with both phones. The one major difference is the Bluetooth connection used by the Pro 20s on the S23+ which is “LE”. If I turn off LE, the Bluetooth disconnects the hearing aids, and there is no option to select a different Bluetooth driver. I contacted Jabra technical support and I was informed that this is a “driver issue involving both Jabra and Samsung”. A trouble report was submitted, and I’m hoping a solution is found soon!

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#23

DBear, that is disappointing. I have just ordered the new Samsung S24, and once I receive that, I will be getting the Jabra Pro 20, so I am heading down that path. Am hoping as well for a solution found soon. I know that I had issues with my 2019 Samsung phone and hearing aids for a couple of months before they addressed it. Am crossing fingers.

#24

I hate that with android in general (be it ASHA, or LE Audio as per this thread) hearing aids are quirky in connection and picking up sounds from apps specially calls. Like Whatsapp calls works for me but Telegram, Zoom, Google Meet nothing works.

#25

YES. Issues encountered: Purchased CPOSTCO Jabra Enhanced Pro 20 13T (1/5/2024). Installed Enhance Pro (App 1.33.1) on my Galaxy S23 Android Version 1.33.1 Enhanced Pro.
The hearing aids sometimes disconnect multiple times over a short time period (30-60 min). I have found that when this commences, if I “restart” the phone, usually the app does not serially disconnect the rest of the day. BTW, replacing the batteries (the app suggested that they might be low), or turning the hearing aids off, then on does no stop the problem).
This, apparently, has been a common problem with the app and Galaxy phone for some time. One would have thought - especially since COSTCO promotes the product, that a correction patch/App version update would have been offered.
Charlie

#26

Update: received my Galaxy S24, and last night had my appointment at Costco and an updated hearing test. While I have been thinking that the Jabra Pro 20 would be my choice, the Hearing Specialist instead recommended a Philips 9040. I will start a new thread to compare that option with the Jabra Pro 20.
Brands are non-issues with me. I was thinking of the Jabra Pro 20 as it was just introduced, at a price $100 more than the Philips, so I was thinking that was the latest/greatest option available.

#27

I have a PIxel 7pro. The streaming by default is only from phone to aids. If you switch on the LE experimental setting, which is found in the bluetooth settings for the hearing aid the sound from the phone is more stable and it will use the hearing aids as Mic - BUT the sound from the mic is HORRIBLE. I tested with my wife’s Pixel 8 Pro and got the same result.

Did some looking around and according to Jabra’s site the only android phones that supports, LE, handsfree, and Auracast with their devices are the Samsung S23 line.
Jabra Enhance Pro Compatibility | Jabra Support

Can someone with an S23 phone confirm that the handsfree works and the sound isn’t bad?
If you don’t have someone to test with, you can use one of these numbers to do playback testing:
The Test Call

Jabra EP 20, Galaxy S23+, full hands free vs. hearing only
#28

You might want to bookmark this discussion.

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#29

Hello- I am new to hearing aids and new to this site. I got my Jabra EP hearing aids about 1 month ago from Costco, and I have to say that in general I am very impressed (I probably would have been very impressed with ANY hearing aids at that point).

But I do have what I consider to be a serious issue with the Jabra Enhance Pro app. I have a Pixel 7 Pro phone, and I have noticed a couple of things about the app-

  1. Connecting the hearing aids via bluetooth to the app is cumbersome; to start the process, I have to put the HA’s in the charger, press on the app, then take the HA’s out of the charger, press and then do that same process a second time in order to establish the connection. It works, but seems weirdly complicated.

  2. The manual describes a way of answering phone calls by tapping on my right ear, and ending the phone call by tapping on my left ear. Pretty sure that is the process, but the short story is it simply does not work.

  3. And finally there is this: once the HAs are connected to the phone, ALL media on my phone will only play through the HAs. The HAs are fine for listening to a phone conversation or person-to-person speech, but they really suck pretty badly at music playback. There is no bass response whatsoever, and the connection itself seems crankily, for lack of a better word.

A specific example: I have a cheap little bluetooth amp & speakers in the garage, and when I am out there I like to play music from my phone, and this has always worked with no problem in the past (Note that on my phone, the bluetooth connection to the cheap little amp gives me choices as to how the connection will behave (Phone calls? (Y/N), Media audio? (Y/N), Contact sharing? (Y/N)).

Once the Jabra app is connected, I can no longer use the cheap little amp, because ALL media and ALL calls go to my HAs unconditionally and with no controls or choices available to do otherwise. Shutting off the HAs wont solve the problem, and shutting down the app won’t solve the problem, I actually have to tell my phone to forget the forget (remove) the bluetooth connection entirely, before my media will play.

My local Costco has been unable to find a solution to this, other than to tell me that if I had an Iphone this wouldn’t be a problem. They may be right but there is no way I will buy an Iphone, so that is no help. I sent an email to Jabra itself explaining my issue, they responded back that they do not support the Enhance Pro HAs and that I should contact Costco, and the Costco web page has no useful info, and no helpline that I saw.

At this point I have the app shut down and disconnected, I consider the app to resemble a virus or malware rather than a usable piece of software, and I am debating whether to return the HAs to Costco.

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#30

What phone are you using? There are differences between various vendors’ versions of Android that might have a negative impact. I had a Samsung S20 5G, and I don’t remember exactly how that worked, because I switched to Apple 7-8 months ago. I much prefer the Samsung iteration of Android for everything but HA control, but I like to use the app, which works on Apple but not on my old S20.

Have you used the (awful Android) app to boost bass and cut mids and highs when listening to music? I found that helpful.