Great review though anyone considering Phonak Audeo Sphere might be better off testing/buying say six months plius from now since its new technology and there’s noted battery drain issues. Though lots of media attention I think roll out will be bumpy with users seeing hearing improvements in certain areas and set backs in others. With 2025 just around the corner we should be way beyond 16, 18, 22 hours of rechargeable battery life. AI noise reduction could be big step forward but if only 3 hour of usage a big step backwards. For what ever reason it seems HA manufacturers keep taking baby steps improving aids, where you would think every decade there should be “Huge” changes. Like night and day.
My cShells have 3.1-4.5mm vents and it has the M Receiver / AV. I’m not entirely sure if they are AOV, but if I had to guess, I’d say yes they are?
The cShells are awesome because there’s no itch (as @wkroeger mentioned), they’re durable, and I get better audio experience with them. The rough surface and because of how deep the mold are where it continues past the first bend, allow the receivers to stay in my ears and have better grip.
For the new Sphere RICs, I will have to get new titanium cShells that are compatible as the new ones have 8 pins as opposed to the traditional 3 pins.
can you take a photo of that 8 pin socket.
You can also refer to the latest Phonak video that walks you through how to remove the receivers from the Sphere RICs. You’ll notice you won’t need a special tool to remove them - a small tug does the job.
I just tried to see if the titanium cShells (lumity life) can fit in the new Sphere case, and at least mine do. I’m sure the experience may be a little different for others with larger molds.
Will follow this with interest, as I’m not sure of Dr Cliff’s level of loss, wheras yours is similar to mine, so a comprehensive review will be good
Dr C flashes up his audiogram from USMC days in his video about cookie bite hearing loss (he has a cookie bite in his right ear I think).
Likely he’s right handed, and from shooting?
If I recall, it emerged from a boot camp medical. He aced the recruitment examination and apparently didn’t even know.
(Rather stupidly I did mention my hearing loss during a conversation with a recruiting officer and me trying to say ‘it’s not that bad actually’ didn’t cut it. My navy career sank right there and then…)
I will mention it in jest. if someone has larger molds, then they will have to have 2 chargers. one for the left hearing aid and the other for the right hearing aid.
As for the charger that is not in the form of a box, I don’t think there is one on offer.
That’s not a bad idea, at least for home charging. The chargers tend to be available pretty cheaply on ebay, though of course these are still too new for that.
But couldn’t you just leave the lid open so the molds hang over the outside?
Or to keep one earmold close to the bottom and the other one a little bit higher?
would love to see photos of them on ear 
if you can share at some point?
And thank you for the excellent details in your review!
I just got my 90’s in, and about to open the box… yes!
Of course! I was told they look relatively similar when comparing both HAs on my ears, which is good news. The velvet black is my preferred colour choice as it matches closely to my hair and blends a little better. I will have to wait until later in the fall as that colour is apparently not a popular one, and Phonak’s prioritizing the other 4 colours (e.g., silver, etc).
When the sphere’s are on my ear, they feel more ‘ergonomic’ in the sense that i can locate the buttons a little easier.
Wow, golden cShells! Beatiful! They were galvanized due to allergy? I find this difficult to imagine, as titanium is one of the most biocompatible materials.
@wkroeger, why do you have a titanium cShells? Do they provide better retention or sound quality than e.g. acrylic?
I was in to see my audi yesterday, and she showed me the Phonak Sphere Infinio, which I laid side-by-side next to my rechargeable Lumity Life aids (well, my dear 312 Precious Pinks are in the SHOP, so I’m back to wearing the rechargeables). I was bugeyed to see the new Infinios are about 20% larger than my rechargeable Life aids, which, in turn, are about 15% larger than my little 312 Lifes!
You can kind of get a sense of the LARGER Infinio at Phonak’s site here, but seeing is believing. It’s a BIG BRUISIN’ BEAN! Honestly, I think this large of an aid has finally crossed the line for what I can comfortably wear. I already have comfort issues with the Lumity Life 312s + sunglasses + hairband + sunhat which I wore together almost every day for 2 weeks in Greece. I got an earache with so many things pressing on the bean, which then seemed to pull on the speaker in my ear, making that ear canal sore, too. The earache was so bad it throbbed all night even with my aids out. It completely resolved about a week after I stopped hanging so many things around my ears.
My audi explained that the larger chipset is what’s adding to the real estate of these Infinios, and of course that extra speech processing power is what makes the battery drain in 3 hours if set to the dedicated speech clarity program (like my "Speech in Loud Noise program on my Lumity Life aids).
Um. 3. Hours. I suppose I could wear my 312s on a long international flight, then, after disembarking, step to the side to swap in the Infinios (assuming I owned a pair) and be able to hear Customs in all the noise and fracas of a busy airport?
I’ve been pining away for 3 decades on the speech-in-loud-noise Holy Grail, but there seems to be too much of a tradeoff here for me to consider THIS particular offering. I think Phonak is on to something, and perhaps there will be incredible miniaturization gains in hearing aids like there’ve been in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
My audi said that somehow, the Phonak rep was able to rig up a “demo” for a roomful of audis, so they could “hear” the difference in the Infinio. They put headsets on, and I guess simulated the experience, so the attendees could grasp the improvement in speech clarity.
If these Infinios are as good as professed, perhaps sales of Roger mics will go DOWN. And tangentially, perhaps that’s why Phonak threw the doors open for the Roger V3 to work with as many pairs of hearing aids a person has! Too bad I missed that generation with my V2 … and got snookered into having to buy TWO (redundant) Roger V2s so I could have each one dedicated to each of my TWO (redundant) pairs of Lumity Life aids.
Still, good news for us who continue to rail about the Holy Grail! Now I’m daydreaming about how Phonak could get around the limits of low battery life with rechargeables. Is there any kind of wireless rechargeable battery pack out there?
Roger devices have more space, and could have this AI chip and bigger batteries.