Hello,
Is there a significant difference between Lumity by Phonak and the Vivante line by Unitron, aside from the casing, etc.? One notable advantage of Vivante is the 312 with a disposable battery, but how does it compare in terms of quality and performance?
Best wishes,
Phonak and Unitron are the same product with a different name, one of the pros mentioned that the 312 Lumley would be available sooner than later.
They are not the same product. The sound processing is slightly different. But they are very similar. They share the same accessories, same button function, same receivers, and some of the same features.
I have a minor preference for the Vivante, personally. Not enough that I would spend more money on it if there was much difference, but all else being equal.
Thank you. Why do you prefer the Vivante?
If the Unitron and the Phonak devices are the same, why are they still separately marketed under different names?
It’s just something about how they sound when I wear them. Given the time, I try to demo as many new hearing aids as they come out as I can so that I can become more familiar with thir features. However, I only have very mild hearing loss and for most the most part the annoyances of hearing aids outweight the benefits. The vivantes are just. . . less annoying to me, despite identical settings in testbox to the lumities, so right now they tend to be the ones that I use in the situations where I do benefit.
But I would not expect my experience to be at all similar to someone with a more functional hearing loss. My loss is mild and oddly configured and mixed.
They are NOT the same company. They are both under parent company, Sonova. The easiest analogy I can think of is GM with Chevrolet and GMC. They are sister (or brother if you prefer) companies. They have different demographics in mind which dictates some business practices.
Unitron is generally geared to a younger demographic with the ability to move up levels over a course of time.
Phonak seems to be aimed at mature audience. They also have the Roger line (which Unitron devices can use).
Yes, but aside from that, performance-wise?
I use Phonak Audeo Paradise and Unitron Blu (both are almost the same technology) I use 2 pairs because the rechargeable hearing aid cannot last the whole day because I use bluetooth a lot. By the way, I have come to love rechargeable hearing aids.
My comparison of the two
Same technology, Phonak has a better smartphone app with more details. And the application is updated more often with new features
At Unitron, the application has remained the same since 2021, there have been upgrades, but mostly bug fixes.
Phonak is more polished, because it uses its own tuning formula. I noticed it sounded better than Unitron’s NAL-NL2. But it can be improved with more cofiguring in the unitron.
If I’m not mistaken, Phonak supports ActiveVent and unitron doesn’t, I don’t know for sure. If that is important to you, then it is better to take phonak.
My advice for choosing
If there is a big difference in price, the Phonak is usually more expensive than the unitron. Even if the smartphone application is not important to you. Unitron is a very good hearing aid. the difference in sound is easily adjusted. it’s not that bad.
I forgot to write
Unitron gives the only possibility to upgrade the technology to a higher level. There are technology levels 3 5 7 and 9
you can buy a hearing aid now with technology level 3 and try it on 5, 7 or 9. If you want to have it permanently, you have to buy that upgrade. Auidolog sends something to unitron, and in return gets a code to permanently unlock that tech level you bought.
Phonak does not have this option
If you have your own programming device, noalink wireless you can raise the trial technology level yourself. But it will only last for 6 weeks. You can’t do it permanently. for permanent it is necessary to purchase a code from Unitron.
thanks for this information, however I see in vivante 5, there are features like soft speech lift and speech enhancement, but this feature not available in phonak lumity 50, can you please give your thoughts.
Here he mentioned about it, a little that technology levels can differ in options. And phonak mostly has it under their names with which they advertise these technologies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydv7wgIlOv4&t=79s
To be honest, I don’t really know how useful these features will be. I would prefer to hear it analyzed by an audiologist who understands it better.