Phonak has let us know that the sphere will not be available for some of our 3rd party insurance programs (e.g. WSIB).
Also, pricing on the Sphere 90 versus the 70 is so close that I wonder why anyone would get the 70 and whether it’s not actually being made at all and somehow only exists as a marketting illusion. 
Interesting. I didn’t get a firm price from my audiologist but they tend to have standardized pricing per level and she thought it would be about $4200/pair for 70 and $6k/pair for 90. From looking at the feature sheet it looks like the only difference is a soft speech program (something like Speech Enhance?) which seems like it would be pretty easy to come up with a work around for 70 level. I guess it’s possible that the 90 noise reduction capability is better but they don’t mention it.
Huh interesting. I also feel like the 70 will be very close to the 90. Speech enhancer boosts soft speech in quite environments and there isn’t really a work around. It’s nice to have, but I’m not sure it’s 2k nice to have? The sphere program at the 90 level offers a wider range to reduce noise, sort of similarly to how oticon throttles their nose reduction by level.
At ZipHearing, the difference between the 90 and 70 is $600
Dr. Cliff just posted his detailed review on Audéo Sphere. They have upgraded to Bluetooth 5.3 but LE will come later with a firmware update. He also says that the AI noise reduction program is a battery hog. That being said, it looks like the AI noise reduction in a real world environment is game changing. Autosense 6.0 also has some cool extra features too.
Speaking of batteries, an interesting solution is found in sound processors for cochlear implants. I wear disposable 2x 675s daily, but when they run out in the middle of the day, I simply switch to a larger standard or smaller compact rechargeable battery.
I’m just theorizing, but perhaps this may be a solution for excessive battery usage with AI.
Cochlear Nucleus 6 - CP910 (2013) with (from top):
Phonak Paradise P90-RT (shown for comparison).
This is connection between sound processor and battery.
Could work for a big BTE. Less for a RIC, especially if one is trying to maintain water resistance.
For Speech Enhancer replacement I was just imagining bumping up 35 dB speech level, but I’m guessing separate program brings a lot more sophistication.
LOL at Phonak’s previous generation Lumity being the worst performer in the noise. 
The video also claims that Starkey evolv AI 2400 is better than Oticon Real 1 in the noise. I own both Starkey evolv AI 2400 and Oticon Real 1 and in my subjective opinion, Real 1 is better in the noise than Starkey evolv AI 2400 because it is easy to separate individual voices with Real 1 than with evolv AI. Maybe Starkey’s programming needs some tweaking. 
The newest Nucleus 8 (released in late 2022) has an IP68 rating with a rechargeable battery. With basket with 2x disposables is probably IP54. Protection can be extended with the Aqua+ accessory.
I was very impressed with Speech Enhancer when I tried the Phonak Lumitys. It made my soft-spoken wife easy to understand even when she was across the room. It was one of the things that inclined me to go with the Lumity over the ReSound Omnias. I agree I wouldn’t have paid an extra $2K just for that option in the Lumitys (but there was no price differential then). The relatively short rechargeable battery life of the Lumitys and the expense of accessories like the Roger On made me back off since I am generally in a quiet, not very demanding sound environment. But since the Spheres sound like a game changer, I may be willing to live with constrained battery life and just keep the charger handy when my insurance for HAs rolls over in early 2026 (Sigh!).
At the rate hearing aid technology is advancing (and AI in general), the Spheres will likely be outdated by 2026…
Watched Cliffs video, and clearly it a brave move by Phonak to release a compromised HA. Bulky with low battery life and the DeepSonic performing better in any situation according to Cliff, but it reduces the usable time to 8 hours.
I am leaning towards the Intents, which may not be as good in loud noise, but were really good across my 30 day trial, for 90% of the situations I wore them in. 20 hours battery life and more compact, if a bit wider than prior aids I have used, they seem more practical.
Unfortunately there was scant detail on the Spheres in normal ERA programmes which makes it difficult to decide…
Let see what reviews from real world users says…
I’m confident the Spheres will still be quite functional hearing aids in 2026. There will likely be a new and improved model by then, but I’m guessing changes will be subtle.
Just about every hearing aid that I have purchased seems to be a compromise of features. That being said, the holy grail in the hearing aid industry is cracking the code on hearing properly in very noisy environments like busy restaurants, parties, large family dinners, sports events, etc). That is what is so intriguing to me about the new Sphere’s and their AI chip. If it really works well, I will beg, borrow and steal the money to buy them even with their battery limitations and knowing there will be a better version in a few years. As someone who still works in the business world and has a very active lifestyle, being finally able to hear normally in noisy environments is a huge quality of life thing for me. Let’s all be honest here…who doesn’t get a bit anxious knowing you are going to party and it will be embarrassing when you have to keep asking people to repeat themselves.
I’m going to remain skeptical until I start my trial in the next few weeks and have a chance to put the new platform through my own version of a hearing aid torture test. I’m already used to topping up my Lumity hearing aids during the day so nothing new for me with the Sphere’s. The only issue I can see with the AI battery drain is going to a wedding, etc. My son is getting married in a few weeks and the wedding will go from about 6 pm until well after midnight. I honestly don’t see the AI program making it through an evening like that. Dr. Cliff seems to say that the AI program will burn a full day’s battery in 7 hours.
JordanK
I guess there in lies the question…
Calm situations… most modern hearing aids are great.
At the beach (moderate noise) talking to friends the Intents work very well… (my existing Paradises dont) how well will the ERA chip in the Spheres cope?
Meetings (noise) the Intents work well… ERA chip…?
In restaurants (fairly loud noise) the Intents work well… how well will the ERA chip cope?
In pubs, and parties (really loud noise) the Intents work fairly well…I am sure the DeepSonic will be better.
Sometimes I have 18-20 hours days, I have never had to recharge.
Looking forward to a review on the standard ERA based aids or the Spheres in ERA programmes… (ie calm, speech in noise, music, calls, echo rooms etc)
Exactly, I think I will go with the Intent 2 because I don’t need all the features from the 1 (but not tested yet). That’s because the Intent have a good way of running. I just want sometimes more noise reduction but then I can just lower the volume.
Will I test Phonak? Sure, but I am unsure about the battery life, this Sphere option would be on a separate programm and not be used in the automatic, to save battery life. If they are that good how it sounds then I would probably life with the situtation to do a recharge step during the day, but they have to be realy good.
Yup, that’s what I think as well. Perhaps better battery life and l likely the other manufacturers will catch up. I’d like to try the Spheres, very exciting reviews. However I have just purchased the Intents, will have to wait until 2026 too.
The next generation platform after infinio will be out around summer 2026…
WH
