I just upgraded (?) from a KS9 to a Philips Hearlink 9040 HA and I’m having trouble with it disconnecting from BT on my Android phone. The KS9 was bulletproof concerning BT-the phone and HA could be separated in different rooms, out in the pasture, etc. and I never had a problem with it disconnecting. This is certainly not the case with the Philips and the troubleshooting guide indicates the phone and HA must be very close together and even the orientation of the phone is important (this is impossible how I use my phone). I wonder if others with this HA experience this problem? Also, would the Jabra HA from Costco be better in this respect? Thanks in advance for any advice.
The KS9 as a Phonak rebrand aid has legacy Bluetooth support that would work with any regular (legacy) Bluetooth device, including your Android phone.
The Philips HearLink 9040 has Bluetooth Low Energy support for Android phone that has ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids) support built-in. Because ASHA support is still very new, Android phones may support ASHA in slightly different ways, resulting in connect/disconnect issues with the HearLink.
If you want a more reliable Bluetooth connection between the HearLink and your Android phone, a more reliable approach would be to use the Philips Audio Clip accessory, which is an intermediary streaming device that would interface between the HearLink and your Android phone via the legacy Bluetooth protocol, so it’s much more established than ASHA, and therefore more reliable (like how your KS9 is).
The tradeoff is that you’d have to buy the Audio Clip and put up with wearing an intermediary device (on your neck using a lanyard or clip on your shirt). But then you don’t need your Android phone near you anymore for phone calls because the mic pickup would be the one built into the Audio Clip.
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If you are able, test with the latest Samsung smartphone. It doesn’t mean that competing phones are not good, I recommend sansung because it has the best rating with ASHA.
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I have recently been having Bluetooth problems. One aid loses connection, then the other. This started happening after I downloaded the latest version of the app (1.2.0). Before that, everything worked fine.
It might be worth trying to reinstall the app, but didn’t work in my case.
From the posts I’ve seen, Philips/Oticon is having Bluetooth problems. I was able to easily pair my Philips 9040 with my Android phone using Hearlink 1.2, but found I could not pair my iPad. I contacted Philips support and they responded saying they are working on it and sent a pdf showing 2.3 app version. I just downloaded the newest Hearlink app 2.5 version to my iPad and found it to be much more complicated and ultimately didn’t work, despite my following all the instructions exactly several times. I hope they fix this soon and make it easier to use.
I’m confused here. The Oticon More and Real only have BT issue with their intermediary streaming device, the ConnectClip. And they’re figured out the fix for the Real, although not the More yet.
But there is no reported issue for neither the Philips nor Oticon aids with Apple’s iOS’s MFI interface. You’re supposed to connect the hearing aids directly to the iOS’s MFI interface first and foremost. Then you can use the iPhone/iPad app from Philips or Oticon for more specific controls. But the app is not needed if you only use the basic necessary controls already available via MFI, like volume change and program change.
Did you go to Settings → Accessibility → Hearing Devices → MFI HEARING DEVICES and do your pairing there first before using the app for other controls?
Thank you. I was able to pair this time with the app and your instructions.
I checked and found the app version I downloaded late yesterday that worked was version 1.2. The version that I downloaded earlier that failed to work was 2.5. Philips must have had many complaints to have taken the 2.5 version off the App Store.
The old version of the app shows version 2.5. Could you have downloaded Hearlink and not Hearlink2?
The versions I mentioned were the only ones I found in the Apple App Store. When I paired to my Android weeks ago, version 1,2 was the only Hearlink 2 available, but early yesterday only 2.5 was in the store. When 2.5 failed to pair, I deleted it. I tried again late in the day so I downloaded the app and it paired. I discovered today the last version that was downloaded which paired was 1.2. It was the only one available on the App Store. I’m not sure what is in the store as I write this
I just looked in the App Store and found Hearlink and Hearlink 2. It looks like you’re right that I made the mistake of getting a Hearlink earlier yesterday. Thank you. I’ll try to be more careful. But, why would Philips still have Hearlink in the store? For older HAs that don’t work on Hearlink 2. And why in the pdf that Philips support send me show a Hearlink 2.3 version? This is confusing to me.
I have a similar situation to you: an iPad and an android phone.
Everything worked seamlessly until I updated the Hearlink2 app on android. Now during phone calls the sound often drops from both aids to just one.
I’ve deleted the iPad app and removed the aids from the iPad settings just to make sure the iPad wasn’t causing any problems.
Do you stream phone calls? If so, are you having similar problems?
No. I don’t scream phone calls. So far, my needs have been met with the HAs by themselves. When I contacted support, they seemed to be aware of the app pairing problem. The not downloadable pdf 2.3 version they attached to their response made me think they would soon have a working fix to their pairing problems.
Sorry. I was not careful in my tying and allowed my iPad to type scream instead of stream as I should have written.
I just got a Philips 9040 with AC1A clip a week ago. What I am am experiencing now is total frustration. My KS9, and even the prior ones with clip were flawless. What I am now experiencing is disconnects on Bluetooth (pressing the Bluetooth icon on phone to reconnect while driving is not acceptable; low volume on phone calls; notifications to right ear only. I suspect volume problems can be resolved, however Bluetooth to my Samsung S22 5G MUST BE FLAWLESS. It must be totally handsfree except to press the button to answer the phone. While the 9040 has better general hearing functions than the KS9, it must also support the full needs of their clients.
I have the AC1A Audio clip, however it disconnects after first call and you have to reconnect for next call (press Bluetooth icon). Also, volume low, and notifications in right ear only.
Replying to myself - anyways, I looked up Apps, Hearlink 2, and permissions and “Phone” was NOT allowed. Set phone to allowed and it seems to have made a difference - however, Hearlink has used over 30% of my battery life and cell phone about to die. Now Bluetooth icon flickers, then stays green.
Regarding the low volume, if you had already maxed out the volume on your Samsung phone and it’s still too low for you, go back to your Costco HCP and show them the page below for the Philips HearSuite program, and ask them to increase the phone level to 3 dB or 9 dB more. This should help with the low volume issue.
I’m not a Philips 9040 user, I’m an Oticon user. But I’m aware that the Oticon More and Real have been having a lot of connectivity issue with the ConnectClip (which is the Oticon equivalent of the Philips Audio Clip). This has been going on for a while, and they finally figured out a fix for the Real and came out with a firmware update. They haven’t been able to figure out the fix for the More yet, however. Anyway, bring up the Audio Clip connection issue with your Costco HCP to see what they have to say. Maybe that firmware fix on the Real is applicable to usable to fix the 9040 connection issue as well. If your Costco HCP checks with Philips and finds there’s a new firmware for the 9040, maybe try to get that new firmware update to see if it helps.
I hear your pain as I’m in the very same situation. Getting ready to return the Philips and go back to the reliable KS9s
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Try going to your Settings, Then Hearlink 2, then Permissions. If “Phone” shows as not allowed, make it “Allowed”. This solved the problem for me (so far).