Phonak introduces Marvel platform and Audéo M hearing aids

If they pair with only one device at a time, then the connection won’t be interrupted by another device that you aren’t thinking of at the moment. Those kinds of interruptions raise support costs for the manufacturer and the audiologist.

x475aws - That’s not right; the software can be much smarter than that. My opinion of these manufacturers is pretty low when it comes to customer-facing software (I’ve been a software developer for 39 years now…); they’ve dropped the ball here and I hope they fix the problem in future firmware/software.

That’s interesting. My audiologist said, and did, the same thing. In my case it was the Livio AIs, but he charged me what he had quoted for them.

For some audiologists it isn’t all about the money – fortunately for both of us, I guess.

Thank you. I hadn’t discovered that setting, either. Interestingly, I just tried it with the TV Connector, and it works there, too! Great feature!

What is the Phonak BT helpline? I think I’ve mentioned here that I have been unable to connect to my PC. My audiologist suggested I call Phonak for help and that the number should be in the manual, but I haven’t been able to find one.

Is that a consumer help line?

Thanks for all the great information you’re providing here.

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CLARIFICATION RE: MARVELS and BLUETOOTH

I’ve spoken with dealer-side tech support, and it’s been confirmed that the Marvels CAN be paired to multiple devices (but obviously can only be connected to one at a time). There is a proviso, however; some (badly implemented) devices try very, very hard to connect once they are paired, and in that particular case, it might be necessary to unpair that particular device in order to stay connected to a different one.

The support folks also agree that the online documentation is pretty darned confusing, and that they themselves were initially confused by it.

I’ll actually be getting a pair of Marvels tomorrow and will experiment with them, but I’m quite sure that the information I received is correct.

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OK, that makes more sense. When connecting to phones, laptops, and tablets you can control what device connects by stop/start Bluetooth from those devices. Where you might have a problem would be where you don’t have access to a device’s Bluetooth controls, like a generic Bluetooth transmitter. In that case you would have to power off the device you don’t want to connect to.

So it’s good to know Phonak has not gone completely crazy, but still disappointing they came out with a new advancement in connectivity only to take a big step back in implementation, by connecting to only one device at a time. I think the Roger Pen can connect to two devices and that functionality will arrive Fall 2019. Then they will be almost up to where the Compilot 2 is today.

The information you received if wrong. Please try it once you receive your Marvels tomorrow and confirm!
Thanks

Yes, I’ll check it myself - trust, but verify!

I have to re-pair to swap between iphone, android phone and tablet.

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What happens if you turn Bluetooth off on the devices you don’t want to connect to, and turn on Bluetooth on the device you want to connect to, and select the hearing aids to connect?

Nope, doesn’t work for me. I have to forget the device and repair if I want to switch devices it is paired with.

[1-800-679-4871] Phonak customer service

Thank you. That makes things slightly easier. I can toggle on airplane mode from the swipe menu.

I still run into the problem that I have to forget the device and turn off and on the aids to pair to the other device. It is honestly a big disappointment.

Also, I’m never using the remote because I end up forgetting all three or at least the two R hearing aid choices and it is a pain to repair the device and the remote.

I just returned from my first two week appointment. Turns out I actually have the large closed dome in my right ear and the medium in my left ear (middle row left and center in the photo posted by rasmus_braun 7 days ago). I do find the right ear more noticeable but not bothersome so I think I may try the large dome in my left ear as well to see if I notice any difference. I’m very happy with the performance thus far but I like to experiment so I’ll report back after a while if I stay with large or go back to medium in left ear.
I mentioned to my audiologist the discussion that has been taking place regarding pairing/connecting bluetooth electronics. She also thought you could pair multiple electronics and then just turn off the bluetooth on the one you are leaving and turn it on for the next device and that should work, but I told her others have tried and the only way to connect is to have the currently connected device “forget” the connection and then pair the new item. She was surprised that is the case. She indicated the only way to get Phonak to make a firmware update to fix this item is if enough people complain, otherwise they won’t do it. This has been her experience with all the various HA manufacturers. Nothing will happen until they receive a lot of complaints. Not sure how we “officially” complain to Phonak?? Suggestions? For me this is not a major issue and thus far I am very pleased with the Marvel hearing aids. Phone calls and music streaming from my iPhone are outstanding. This is my first pair of hearing aids so I can’t really compare them to other brands, but I do have Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones and also LG HBS-750 Bluetooth headphones. The Marvels can’t quite match the Bose but are equal in quality to the LG headphones which I consider pretty good. My audiologist told me she can’t keep the Marvels in stock and one of her patients has already switched from the Resound Quattros to the Marvels primarily for the streaming sound quality for music and phone calls.

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I still need to re-pair. I don’t have to forget on the android devices, but I do on the iPhone (only when reconnecting to the iPhone, not to connect to something else).

I haven’t tried turning the device all the way off and back on again, but frankly that takes longer than re-pairing.

Thank you! (Trying now to get to 20 characters.)

I’ve just started experimenting with the Marvels along with iPhone and Apple Watch. There’s no question that both can be (and stay) paired at the same time. The issue has to do with switching between the two devices; what consistently works for me (ok, twice) is simply 1) power off/on the hearing aids and 2) connect to whichever device I want (i.e. iPhone or Watch). Both sound great with music, by the way; quite impressive so far.

More experiments tomorrow… (Neville; what devices are you using? Can you try what’s worked for me?)

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I have the iPhone 7Plus and the Series 4 Applewatch. I haven’t tried pairing to anything yet except my iPhone which works perfectly. So if I understand what you are saying, if I want to pair with the Applewatch, all I have to do is turn off bluetooth on the iPhone, power down my hearing aids, turn on my music on my watch which automatically opens the Bluetooth search function. then power my hearing aids up again?? Is that correct?

I believe that would work (just got them today, so more experimentation will be coming). For initial pairing, you can’t be connected to another device - so, turn off BT on phone, toggle HA’s off/on, then pair on Watch (which will connect automatically). To switch back to iPhone, toggle HA’s off/on, then connect on iPhone in BT settings. Let me know how it goes!

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