We have the same hair and beard 
Even though my loss is much worse than yours, this is the test I am very interested in.
Especially when compared to the current situation.
Let me explain: at the cinema currently with the Lumity do you understand all the dialogues? Does the noise reduction of the Sphere AI, zero the sound scene?
I am interested, if the sphere option would be constantly on and if there is no noise in the background. Is the sound of speech better for understanding? How is it for you to understand children with and without that option?
Another update…
Today is the big battery test. I woke up and turned on my hearing aids at 7:00 am and I will report back what the battery says when I hit my bed tonight around 11:30 pm. My gut is telling me the battery lasts much longer if you don’t engage the Sphere program. Case in point: Left the audiologist yesterday at around 2:30 pm and the battery was at 95%. Probably did about 2 hours of streaming (meetings, watching videos on my iPhone). Battery was at 75% when I went to sleep at 11:30 pm (9 hours of use). So basically used 20% of the battery in 9 hours. Today’s test will give me a better number.
This morning I stood on at a busy intersection and turned on the Sphere program in the myPhonak app for the first time. It was a bit of a weird experience. I was by myself so there was no speech going on. That being said, when Sphere turned on, there was suddenly an abrupt drop in noisy traffic. It was quite profound but I still have to test Sphere in a noisy environment with people talking to me. Might try that later today. The only glitch I noticed is a tiny bit of static when the Sphere program first engages. It’s only milliseconds but it almost sounds like the sound of a static electricity shock in the winter when you rub your shoes on the carpet and touch something metal. Might be a software glitch…not sure. Not really that serious.
Jordan
6 Likes
Today my audiologist (who has tried the Sphere for two days in Larry situation) warned me against the fact that Phonak‘s battery technology is simply not ready to allow Sphere (which he praised nevertheless). He said that if you use Sphere for 3 hours in party situations, the battery goes down to 50%.
He said that all the audiologists form all over the world that we’re with him had the same feedback.
His feedback (which goes against his own btw rest as a “seller“) is simply to wait for the next generation, which is most likely due in 2 years.
The AI technology seems to be already amazing though.
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It was described in Dr Cliff’s review on YouTube (6-8h), but he didn’t specify whether the Sphere programme was at full power.
However, I think it will be rather rare that the full power of the Sphere programme will be needed.
I thought about waiting, but my Paradise 90-RT is almost 4 years old. About a year ago, just before the end of the warranty, when it was sent in for a technical inspection, Phonak wouldn’t change the battery, even when I offered to pay for it. So I need to buy Sphere now, probably after a Christmas.
EDIT:
I want to clarify that that was my audi’s statement, not Phonak’s directly.
He says something like, “I asked Phonak about the possibility of changing the battery to a new one, but they replied that they don’t do it, even for a fee.”
My Paradise had the SEM module replaced - I don’t even know what it is.
END of EDIT.
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On the HearAdvisor review, when I played the speech in noise sample, I also heard similar static at the beginning. How about listening to a radio or podcast through the car speakers while driving?
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So Sphere can be activated both automatically and manually?
Putting aside the “all over the world” comment - which would be surprising if true based on how limited the release is outside the US - this thought process just doesn’t make that much sense to me.
Would you rather have a hearing aid that works when you need it most and on the rare occasion you have a very long event over three hours you have to charge it for an hour before hand? Or infinite battery life on a product that doesn’t work when you need it most?
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Yes…both. The Sphere noise reduction program is built into the automatic (AutoSense 6.0) program and activates whenever the noise levels hit 70dB or higher (I think this is what my audiologist said). There is a 3 hour limit per day that can be toggled on/off in Target. My audiologist also added a separate program to allow me to manually activate the “Spheric speech in loud noise” program. I asked him to do this so that I could experiment with it in situations where the automatic program didn’t trigger the Sphere mode. Here is a screenshot from the app.
Jordan
8 Likes
I think Phonak Lumity and Infinio has accelerometers but not GPS (GPS would chew through a bunch of battery).
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Yes, it probably detect the last Bluetooth LE connection with a smartphone with GPS.
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I think Sphere has GPS. There is a new live find my hearing aids feature (see photo below). How would it know where your hearing aids are on the live map if there is no GPS? Plus it tracks each hearing aid separately.
Jordan
2 Likes
You could test this by going somewhere without your connected mobile. Leave them somewhere (safe) and come back and see where the app thinks your aids are. The aids don’t have a separate access to the net than your mobile, I think, so I predict you’ll find they are said to be near the last point your phone saw them.
WH
6 Likes
You were 100% correct. The hearing aids only have access via your phone. I did your suggested test. I left my hearing aids on the kitchen table and then went outside and down the street. When you open the app it shows the aids as “no longer connected” but it does show you the last known position on the map when the app last connected to your hearing aids. So still useful but the hearing aids are using the iPhone’s GPS location.
Jordan
8 Likes
Yeah, it’s explained here: myPhonak app adds 'Find my hearing aids' feature, expanded CROS controls, and Phonak Sky™ compatibility | Audiology Blog
It uses GPS on the phone to mark the last known location of the HAs.
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Ok, I believe that a second-generation device is often better (not only with hearing aid devices), but is the regular Infinity okay? In that case, would it be the same to get the Sphere model and not switch the AI function on too often? What else is the difference between getting an Infinity Sphere vs. a regular (Infinity) one?
I read somewhere (not a Phonak website) that it is thanks to the new Bluetooth
Another update…
I dropped my wife off at the grocery store and then headed over to the local Freshii to pickup some lunch. Walked into Freshii and…people talking, music thumping and cooking fans going at full tilt behind the counter. I walked up to order and I was struggling to hear what the cashier was saying to the person in front of me. I started to get edgy and then remembered I had a secret weapon called Sphere at my disposal. I took out my phone to change to the Sphere in noise program and before I could open the app, the hearing aids decided to automatically to turn on the Sphere noise reduction mode.
Quite an interesting experience. Noise dropped down significantly. I could now hear and understand the cashier quite clearly. I placed my order. She asked if I “wanted a copy of my receipt”. I understood what she said, and indicated “no”. First Observation: Speech is much clearer and the voice of the person you are looking at definitely pops out as the background noise drops down considerably. I sat down in a seat to wait for my order to be ready while the hearing aids remained in Spheric noise reduction mode. Second Observation: With nobody speaking…the background sounds/noise sounded kinda weird. The Spheric mode cuts out the background noise but what is left is really kinda odd sounding. Is this an issue? Not really. After all, I really just want to understand speech in an highly noisy environment like this. The cashier called out my name to pickup my order. I heard her clearly and grabbed my food. Within a few seconds of leaving the restaurant, the Spheric noise reduction immediately dropped off and background sounds went back to normal.
Interesting experience but the new AI chip did it’s work and was definitely an improvement.
Jordan
21 Likes
So you don’t have the Sphere program in Autosense?
Yes. The Sphere program is running in the Autosense mode and my audiologist setup a separate program so that I can turn it on manually too. When I stood on the road this morning, the noise wasn’t bad enough to trigger the Sphere noise reduction in the Autosense mode so I turned it on manually to see what it was like.
Jordan
5 Likes