[Similar to a post in another thread but I wanted it to be searchable by thread title here.]
I have been trialing the Oticon Xceed and Phonak Naida Paradise UP. I had Oticon Agil Pro P.
The Xceeds were terrible. The had an electronic sound at the end of every consonant. They were bad in noise and terrible for music. My first Audi, @ Kaiser, adjusted them once, by apparently just turning them down , so that reduced the “power” advantage.
Btw, I tried another Oticon power aid years ago, Chili(?) and it was also bad.
I then got another, better Audi. The Naida Paradise are a huge step up from both my Agil Pros and the Xceeds. I can hear better in restaurants than I have for several years. There is less wind noise. Music and TV are better. Bluetooth calls and music from the phone work well.
Hearing in quiet and in the car does not seem that much better. Also, like the Xceeds, they have a sound at the end of consonants. But here it is mainly an exaggerated “sh” sound. So everyone sounds slightly drunk or like Jimmy Shtewart. ( It is not a sibilant sound.)
The app is pretty good. It has four modes and while a bit slow, does work well to switch programs and adjust them with either more “clarity” in speech or more bass in music. It will revert to the main program when you otherwise adjust it, so that is annoying.
Kaiser just got Resound in and I am considering their UP but it seems Phonak puts more attention and resources to UP than Resound or Oticon.