Some people like to set it and forget it, others like to tinker with their aids. So the ability to do a lot in an app is not always better for everybody all around.
The simplicity of the Philips app may be viewed as a shortcoming for some, but it’s not necessarily true. It can also be seen as a strength because if a competent HCP can set up the Philips to work well for the patients in the first place, no further tinkering should be needed except for volume and program change. You don’t necessarily want to mess with an equalizer in a real time environment to get the most out of your hearing aids because it may make things worse, not better in the long run. If you find that you keep having to adjust the equalizer for a certain way all the times in an environment, it’s always better to go back to your HCP and ask them to adjust it to have the same effect permanently instead.
A better way to do it is to set up a specific built-in program for that environment (like speech-in-noise or music) and simple select that program, and let that program choose the specific specialization to apply to the gain curves to give it most likely at least the equivalent, if not more likely a more effective result than via a manual equalization made by the user. In my opinion, less can be more. The “less is more” moto can be apparent even more when users report back that they find their default program can handle most listening situations for them and they hardly ever have to any other available buiilt-in programs to get a better listening experience. I’ve heard this comment from some Philips users and I’ve experienced this first-hand myself as an Oticon user.
Of course, streaming sounds always sucks because the receivers of the aids can only amplify so much and is lacking on amplifying in the lows. So the ability to equalize streaming content is appropriate. And in this case, it’s available in the Philips app just like any other brand. But the ability to equalize in a real time environment is not necessarily a good thing because it can mess with and in some cases cancel out any intended benefit that a specialized built-in program (like speech in noise or music) may have been set up to do.
For the type of folks who like to tinker enough that they would prefer the Jabra app over the basic Philips app, so that they can tinker with the equalizer even in non-streaming environment, I would say that a better tinkering approach would be to go the DIY route, get a NoahLink Wireless interface, download the free Philips HearSuite app, and then they can tinker with EVERYTHING (except for REM) to their heart’s content, vastly more so than being able to tinker with just a simple equalizer on the app.
