Phonak Bolero Marvel: Which technology level to buy?

Hi
I would probably buy the pen and so im wonderinf y i would buy a bolero m30 vs m50 m60 m70 or m90

Also the sky seems more sturdy… My number one criteria is durability. Im not easy with my stuff. :slight_smile:
So basically sky marvel or bolero marvel
Witch one from basic to premium considering i will buy the pen for close up hearing in loud noise :slight_smile: do not want or like rechargeables. Thanks

It depends. They are all the same hardware, but different features enabled or disabled.

The 90 has very advanced speech processing, the 30 is sold as “basic”. The 90 has 20 “handles” to shape the frequency response, the 30 has just 6.

If you look at my audiogram (click my name), you see that my hearing is “smooth/flat” in bass and also in high treble. But it has a wicked S-kink in the middle. With the 30 that I got it is not possible to get a very-good correction for my left ear. For the right ear I will want the 50 or 70 to have 12 or 16 handles for the audiologist to fit me better.

This is the kind of question your HA Provider should help you with. Mine was dubious about the 30 for me and I admit it is marginal. But having looked at the features and MY hearing preferences, I think the 90 would be “too much” for me (too much automatic processing, and I am a audio control freak).

If I remember right you have good hearing except for a 40 dB drop in a few frequencies. Loud noise messes up your recognition.

Thinking about that you need very little gain to correct the 40 dB loss. I am not sure what you need gain wise in loud situations.

The Sky aids are designed for children but work fine for adults I have read. Zebras has used them, seems there are some differences based on that other than cool colors.
The Sky and Bolero aids are both BTE aids. They will be a bit larger than the Audeo RIC aid. I have worn Phonak BTE and RIC aids. All are well made in my opinion. All are available in battery versions.

Your question about aid levels. From what you have said about your hearing, you probably do not need the bells and whistles of the 70 or 90 level aids.

I am the furthest thing from an expert. Maybe one of the pros will jump in on this thread.

Not for gain. The claims for the top-price 90 promise very much better speech vs noise results. I am dubious; separating speech from noise is not easy, even for a computer (maybe especially for a computer). But there must be some benefit for some people.

Here’s the puff sheet, 8MB PDF file. Here’s the page which tells 30 from 90:


Many of these “features” are NOT clearly defined even on Phonak’s Pro site. Not that some of them can be explained clearly without deep experience; but I also think uncertainty leads to up-buying which is where the profit is. There may be a 2:1 difference in retail price, so this is not trivial.

Bolero Marvel is available in “Trial”. My Aud did not do that :thinking: but you could insist on trialling a 90 against say a 50. If I understand, it quits working in 30 or 90 days unless the provider buys the authorization code and puts it in the aid (or orders a non-trial aid). However for a first-time user, the whole boosted-hearing thing is strange and I am not sure you can really judge the several levels for many months. The 90 might stand-out to an experienced user who wants something “more”.

The difference between the Bolero and Sky is the Sky doesn’t have the tinnitus feature. The Sky Roger program is directional as well, where’s the Bolero isn’t.

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@Zebras is tge sky more resistant to accidents then bolero. I see u have a 90. What made u choose that. Also u use compilot… A pen would be same except for streaming am i right?

The Sky and Bolero have the same IP rating.

I personally like the colours of the Sky a lot more.

I use a ComPilot as it has more features and allows more streaming programs then the Roger Pen does.

The ComPilot will announce who is calling you in your HAs. The Pen won’t, it’ll just be a ring ringer tone in your HAs.

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i was reading older threads on roger. my problem is hearing speach in noise. i dont have much hearing loss. most is 20 db one grequency is 40. i read that a m30 m50 m70 with a roger would be better then a m90. that is exactly what i was looking for. i will probably buy the bolero m or v 30 or sky v or m 30 and just stick with a roger receiver and a pen.

i did read and read and read and read and read. i read that sky although does hav an ip68 like the bolero it also is made in a plastic that is more resistant. they even say that if we change the battery door, its ok it still remains an ip68 . so im guessing the material itself is more stronger or something. i have an appointement friday at 10 am with an audioprothesiste.

i have another question. what kind of accessories and garantees can i expect as being standard with the purchase of sky or bolero with roger receiver and pen. where i got the trial for roger wont be the same place as here in quebec only an audioprothesiste can fit with hearing aids. no one else. but an fm system can be fit by anyone. so at the place where i got the fm system he told me all tubings and domes and included forever as much as i need. is that normal. is that something i should be looking for.

ps my audiologist has officailly made a recommandation for hearing aids considering the awsome life changes

You have mentioned Bolero/Sky V and M aids. The Phonak B aids are between the V and M aids.
V is Venture. Oldest generation
B is Belong .
M is Marvel. Newest generation.
The V and B aids use almost the same devices for Roger, TV connector etc.
The M aids use different devices for Roger, TV connector etc.