Phonak Marvel Bluetooth

android, and galaxy s9+

I just tried that procedure on iOS with no luck… sad.

Gary, I’m tired of being harassed by you. My post that you replied to was not directed at you. As far as I know, you aren’t the protector of Phonak and you aren’t my personal moderator. Leave me alone or I will report you to the moderator.

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I try to have a civil conversation with you Daryl, and as usual, here come your personal attacks. Please do report me to the moderator as it is quite obvious to everyone what you do on the forum.

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I’m sure I’ll regret getting involved. I always try to meniton that Marvels can’t be paired to multiple devices simultaneously when discussing the aids, but what bugs me is that you claim this is a product defect. They’re working as designed. A couple of examples. Say one purchases a car with a 5 speed manual transmission. Automatics are much more popular and somebody argues with the car company that the car is faulty because one has to shift it manually and it has this funny third pedal on the floor. Or maybe one buys a manual thermostat that one has to turn down at night manually. Programmable ones are quite common and the purchaser insists that the manufacturer fix the faulty one. It’s really tough to “fix” products that are working as designed.

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Gary, I didn’t start this. You’re the one that said, “I just can’t let misinformation slide by without a correction.” Yet it’s you who accuses me of attacking you. If you think I’m going to let an accusation of posting misinformation slide, you’re mistaken. I’ve offered this before and I’ll offer it again. Stop replying to my posts and I’ll stop replying to yours.

I’ve never used Apple. I’ve only used my Marvels with an Android Google Pixel 3 XL and Windows 10 computers. All I can tell you is that the procedure works with what I have. Android and Windows only use Bluetooth Classic.

I could be mistaken but I believe that the Marvels use Bluetooth LE when working with iOS and don’t require any kind of procedure as I believe Apple has Bluetooth LE built-in. Someone else will have to jump in and verify that.

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Thanks for giving some useful information about the Phonak Remote app. I don’t hear about the app before. I think it must help me.

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Do you have any sources suggesting that Marvels use Bluetooth LE with iOS? My guess is no as they don’t claim to be “Made for iPhone” Thanks.

It may be that BLE is used by the Phonak app to monitor and control the HAs (e.g., battery and volume), but the Marvels connect to iphones using bluetooth classic, the same as for android.

Most smartphones and laptops have supported both bluetooth classic and BLE for quite a few years. The reason most HAs do not connect to smartphones using BLE is because BLE lacks standardized profiles for HAs, so specific drivers must be written and the HAs must support the required interfaces. That’s what MFi is about and it’s the same for ASHA.

I’ve now done a good bit of reading and also talked to my very knowledgeable audiologist. Marvels connect with all devices, including iOS, using only Bluetooth Classic. I also read somewhere, and I wish I could find it again, that when streaming music, Bluetooth Classic has better fidelity than Bluetooth LE. But I would need to verify that with some reliable sources.

I can tell you that I recently started streaming my music from IDAGIO and I was quite amazed that with my Marvels I could readily tell the difference in audio quality from the MP3 quality of Google Play Music and the lossless CD streaming quality of IDAGIO. I have changed my streaming service to IDAGIO.

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If you have a laptop and a tv connector, you can do a direct comparison of both.

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My recent purchase of the TV Connector for my computer is the best accessory I have.

The TV Connector uses BLE.

Now THAT’s very interesting as the sound is very excellent! Also it is interesting because my Marvels apparently also can use BLE because that’s what I’m using to listen to my TV Connector.

Now I’m confused because I thought that my Marvels only used Bluetooth Classic. Can you explain what is going on?

The bluetooth chipsets (system on a chip) that are used for hearing aids typical support both. In the case of the Marvels, Phonak decided to use bluetooth classic for the external interface because bluetooth classic has standard profiles that are supported by smartphones and laptops. These profiles don’t support monitoring the HAs, such as battery level, volume and modes, so BLE is used.

BLE has some standard profiles, but currently none for HAs or for streaming, so a toolkit called GATT is used to construct proprietary profiles. This is what Apple is using for MFi and it’s what Android is using ASHA. It’s also what Phonak and Oticon use for their respective “TV adapters”. For this to work, the manufacturers have to agree on the interface. It’s easy if one manufacturer makes the HA and the device, such as the “TV adapter”, but it’s more complicated if there are multiple vendors involved, such as Apple or Google/Android.

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I enjoy the information that is shared here and am still learning the capabilities of my Marvels. Before I got these hearing aids my son had purchased a pair of Apple’s airpods for me. Their ability to seamlessly connect with all devices Apple set the standard in my mind for how devices should connect. Then I got the Marvel’s and appreciate that by design (limitation or flaw) in order to connect with a different device I need to “forget” whichever device I was previously paired to. For someone that is not “tech” proficient can you tell me the exact steps any of you follow to accomplish this. For example are you forgetting the previous device from within the Phonak ap or from the blue tooth settings on the phone? Can it be either or ? Also are the hearing aids automatically in pairing mode by turning them off then back on? It sounds to me like TraderGary has the process down so that it’s a minimal inconvenience. Ideally they would work like my Apple Airpods or like the TV connector but I also appreciate that their may be limitations with bluetooth to prevent this.

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I need to connect to multiple devices and I use the Phonak model hearing aids that work with the Phonak Compilot 2 bluetooth device. It pairs to 7-8 devices and connects to multiple devices at one time. For example, I’m connected to my office phone, cell phone, and tablet for music. I answer whichever phone rings and the music from the tablet pauses until the call is finished. For the Marvel, the Roger Pen will be available in the fall and it may solve the multiple device problem. It can connect to bluetooth devices including a phone. I think it will connect to two devices at one time, so not too far behind the Compilot 2. It should pair to 7-8 devices.

There is no way around this limitation. It’s not “seamless”. The only way to switch the Marvels from one device to another device is to disconnect them from the current device (either by turning off bluetooth on the device they are currently connected to or by “forgetting” the HA devices) and then pair them with the device you want to connect them to. That’s as good as it will get unless Phonak fixes them.

daryl is absolutely correct. It’s definitely not “seamless”. But it is doable by the method he and I have outlined. I like the Marvels enough to put up with this limitation. I’m an accomplished amateur classical pianist and my audiologist has developed a custom piano program for my Marvels that works for me. And very importantly the excellent streaming quality using Bluetooth Classic is enough for me to continue to stay with my Marvel M90-R’s. I love this technology and whenever something better comes along I’ll jump on it like a duck on a June Bug!

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