Anyone have advice about choosing between the Oticon Intent 1 vs. Intent 2 for my moderately severe hearing loss? I’m trialing the Intent 2 right now, a huge upgrade over my Starkey Halo 2 2400’s from 2016. But I’m wondering whether I’m leaving a lot on the table by not going with the Intent 1’s.
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Of $$ you mean ; ) but no if your happy with the 2 then I wouldn’t think there’s going to be any “wow” moments by moving up, but I guess you’ll need to try them to know 100% yourself.
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I was given Oticon Xceed 2 first and then my next appointment, I was given Xceed 1.
I didn’t notice any difference between 1 and 2.
Xceed is old but they were free for me due to where I live. I bought a second pair but sold them on as Xceed was not suitable for me. I still have my free pair.
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I presumed that you have reviewed the product matrix to understand the differences between the 4 Oticon Intent tier levels? If not, below is that information.
The most obvious one that jumps out is that the Intent 3 and 4 don’t have the 4D Sensor in them. Other than that, the most obvious and I think tangential difference between the Intent 1 and 2 is the 2 dB difference in maximum neural noise suppression. So it depends on whether you feel that you get enough help with the noise reduction in complex environments to help you understand speech better or not. If you’re satisfied with this already on the Intent 2, then going to the Intent 1 will not give you much improvement. On the other hand, if your HCP already set your max Neural Noise Suppression to 10 dB on the Intent 2 and you still don’t feel like you’re getting enough speech understanding yet, then the Intent 1 may help improve that.
Another way to look at it is that if you don’t find yourself in very noisy places often enough where you need to understand speech, then the Intent 2 may suffice for your case. Also, if you pay for the Intent 1 premium but then your HCP only sets the max Neural Noise Suppression value on your Intent 1 to 10 dB instead of the possible 12 dB, then it’s almost as if your Intent 1 is dumbed down to the Intent 2 level. It’s really not that straightforward since there are other parameters beside the Neural Noise Suppression that are dumbed down a little bit in the Intent 2. But I think the max Neural Noise Suppression is the key one.
Keep in mind that the Real 1 only has 10 dB max Neural Noise Reduction. So the Intent 2 already matches the Real 1 in this respect.
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It’s a very fine distinction imho. The 2 has the sensor tech, but loses out on the refinement of 10bB vs 12dB snr. There’s other stuff like being able to set the sensitivity to noise changes above ‘medium’, however, in the majority of situations the 2 is equal.
Bang for buck, unless you’re experiencing high complexity speech in noise situations very often, the 2 (in my book) represents better value for money. However, if you’re a bar-person, check-out operator or cinema teller, you’d benefit from the 1. Unfortunately it’s premium device and the cost doesn’t reflect the everyday needs of the users.
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I was hoping you’d respond 
Thank you so much for writing exactly what I was looking for.
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I’ve been offered the Intent 1 for $4800 and the Intent 2 for $4100. I’m going to give the 2 a try, figuring I can always bump up if I don’t like the 2.
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This is probably the most helpful answer post I’ve ever read for any product! Thank you for taking the time to post it!
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I’ve just finished a trial of the Oticon Intent Flex, moving between the performance levels to decide which one to purchase — and thought I’d share my real-world impressions for anyone in the same boat.
The Flex system let my audiologist switch me between the tiers, so I tried them in this order: 2 → 4 → 3.
- Level 2 (higher tier) – sounded smooth, natural and effortless. Very easy on the brain and felt like I wasn’t “wearing” hearing aids.
- Level 4 (entry/budget tier) – noticeably more dull and mechanical, even though I expected it to simply be “less advanced” on paper. The jump from 2 down to 4 was much more obvious than the spec sheet would suggest.
- Level 3 (mid-tier) – a bit of an improvement over 4, but still not as open or natural as level 2.
Even though level 3 looks very close to 2 on paper, my ears told a different story. In day-to-day listening, the sound quality step-down from 2 → 3 → 4 was surprisingly big, especially moving into background noise.
In the end I purchased level 2, because the listening comfort and naturalness made it worth the extra investment for me personally.
Overall I’m still very pro-Oticon — the Intent platform is excellent, and the Flex concept is brilliant — but I would strongly advise trialling the different levels in real life rather than just going by the specs.
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Yes, this is basically what I try to advise my clients: however, justifying the extra spend is difficult for some.
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The key differentiator between 2 & 3 is the expanded input headroom of the 2 vs. 3.
Oticon calls it “Clear Dynamics” and it’s only on tech levels 1 & 2.
From Oticon:
Clear Dynamics is a feature in Oticon hearing aids that enhances sound quality by expanding the input dynamic range, allowing for better clarity and less distortion in loud environments. It processes sounds up to 113 dB SPL, ensuring that both loud and soft sounds are heard clearly without compromising quality.
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The advice I have received in the past is: It depends on your lifestyle. If most (or all) your time is spent in quiet environments, the lower tech is enough. The premium features shine when you are in challeging environments. Try the 2 and test them in the enviroments that are part of your life. If you struggle, time to try the 1.