Can anyone here explain the difference between these two Phonak Audeo Life features? They appear on the feature list here, but sound like they’re doing the SAME thing.
I ask cuz I’m supposed to pick up my new (2-week delayed!) Phonak Audeo Life aids next week, and I want one of these two features set up as a program I can manually cycle through to (default, Comfort in Echo, Speech in Loud Noise, and one of these two phone-related ones).
I am not an expert on this, but let me share my ignorance. Acoustic Phone uses the mics of ONE of the HAs (assuming you have a pair) and sets up the settings for hearing the receiver of the phone up close and feeding it in your HA.
Duophone takes phone audio and feeds it from one ear to the other. If you have telecoil, I believe that could use either ear to grab the audio via electromagnetic signal emanating from your handset, and gives that to you in both ears. Or your Acoustic phone will be piped to the other ear.
Acoustic phone is a manual setting. I have to either go through the long presses on the HAs or use the app on my iphone to change to that program and then change back. If your HAs have telecoil, that needs to also be programmed for use by your HCP. Activation for a call isn’t anything I know about at this point.
My acoustic phone setting works OK. I have it for when I’m handed someone’s phone and told, “Here, talk to xxxx!” I have on a couple occasions given up and said, “I just can’t hear you on this phone, can you call me on mine?” as my iphone streams SO much better into my ears than the acoustic works. But it (acoustic phone program) is better than a sharp stick in the eye.
WH
OK … so does that mean that Duo Phone is ONLY for folks with telecoil in the aid? I’d sure LOVE to have my new Phonak Life aids automatically send the sound to BOTH ears (if I have Bluetooth off or am handed a phone). But like you, I actually have to reserve one of my precious programs for Acoustic Phone alone - it is THAT important to me.
Without being able to stream a call (if my BT is flaky or drops out) I simply have to have Acoustic Phone as a backup to hear the sound in BOTH ears.
I’ll pose this question to my audi when I see her next week, cuz either way, I’ll want to have a non-Bluetooth option to help me hear stereophonically on the phone! 
Thanks so much for being a sounding board here!
DuoPhone is not available for telecoil option in Marvel and Paradise. Can only get it in one ear.
DuoPhone just works by placing telephone to ear and you’ll hear it in both ears but you do need to switch to the right program.
OK GOT IT! Thanks so much for that, cuz I have Marvels on right now and am due to pick up a new pair of Paradise-based Life aids next week. So I’ll just stick with the Acoustic Phone program.