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
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.
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
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
Totally agree. Thanks for detailed review. I might be able to try next month too, cannot wait. Please keep us updated and good luck!
Sorry for all the updates.
Just hitting 9.5 hours on a single charge since I got up this morning at 7:00 am. App is showing:
This includes about 10-15 minutes of Spheric noise reduction use at lunch.
Jordan
You’re unnecessarily apologizing. Great review! Seems it will be ideal HA for my 24h shifts in work.
Just about to go to sleep for the night at 11:24 pm. App is now showing:
This includes about 10-15 minutes of Spheric noise reduction use at lunch.
Amazing numbers compared to Lumity. I’m guessing their advertised 16 hours of run time includes 3 hours of Spheric noise reduction.
Jordan
How far away was the cashier? Was he in front of you or more to your side? I wonder about the radius range of the Sphere program. I usually sit at a table nearby in a similar situation.
If you’re interested in statistics and DIY, there is a DataLogging section in the Target software.
I would say I was 10 ft away from the cashier and I was facing her.
Jordan
Drove my wife to work this morning and there were no issues hearing her in the passenger seat. During this test my eyes were facing forward on the road and she was talking to me from my right side.
Here is a quick 48 hour recap:
I will post again if anything new shows up. Might have to wait for the weekend to test these hearing aids in a really bad restaurant environment.
Jordan
Is Speech Enhancer turned on? Just like noise reduction, IIRC, the amount of speech enhancement can be adjusted, so maybe things would sound better with a little tuning from your audi (have someone with a soft voice present while the audi tunes Speech Enhancer to your liking?).
That’s too bad if Speech Enhancer is not as good as the Lumity as Speech Enhancer was the killer feature of the Lumity for me. The battery life of the Lumity was just too short for me, but it sounds like the Sphere fixes that if you don’t use Sphere noise reduction a whole bunch.
Would an Infinity Sphere vs. a regular non-Sphere Infinity be te same if we switch the AI off?
Very good question. I will ask my audiologist to check this. It could be that this feature is on but set very low. My Lumity hearing aids are fantastic with voices in quiet environments (very crisp and clear) and I can’t imagine they removed this feature.
Jordan
The Sphere model is physically bigger because it has a very large battery. I haven’t seen the non Sphere version in person but I think they are smaller and similar in size to Lumity. That being said, the new version of Bluetooth in the Infinio models uses less battery so maybe that will help.
Jordan
I think Infinio Sphere with AI off would work longer due to battery size.
I don’t know about “standard” directionality features such as StereoZoom 2.0, Speech in 360° (probably replaced by AI program).
thats interesting, my car, music playing, my Sphere 90s are in Calm Situation Mode. I have to flip to music