Phonak unveils Lumity hearing aid platform

Maybe the physical differences will be significant, but I would expect a they would have had a splash on the new chip if they had a new HW platform. Everything discussed sounds like SW. I seriously doubt there is a new chip until we get facts otherwise.

WH

That makes sense. Perhaps you are right. So, if these are two different hearing aids?

  • “Audeo L-RL” means “Audeo Lumity-RechargableLife Autosense 5
  • “Audeo P-RL” means “Audeo Paradise-RechargableLife Autosense 4

Does this mean that within the timespan of (what? one month) the Paradise-RechargableLife has become old/outdated technology?

Paradise Life was out long enough ago that I was offered the opportunity to switch from P-90R to P-90RL back in January. It would have added on to my contract, so I waited. I am now a year closer to new HAs rather than 6 mos. They were announced in Sep 21. Days after I was fit with what I wear, but not on the contract until November.

WH

The Paradise/Prism line is already LE Bluetooth (ver 4,2) Phonak Bluetooth and Bluetooth Versions. The newest Bluetooth is version 5,2, which is in all the newer cellphones including mine. I agree that since Phonak has not mentioned anything about bluetooth in Lumity my take is also that Lumity is just using Prism with new firmware. Anyone have better knowledge or insight into this?

The Audeo Paradise Life P-RL was announced in August 2021. So this is a full year update on the Life HA. So it’s no different than Apple announcing new iPhones every year… it is tough luck to buy the previous year’s model in late August right before they announce the new ones, but that doesn’t mean that the technology became outdated in a month.

You might be right. But there could also be other changes beyond a chip. I don’t know what is considered “on package” with the PRISM chip, but in theory the amount of RAM, the speed of the RAM, the Bluetooth module, audio co-processors, gyroscopes and motion sensors, etc. could all potentially be changed while leaving the core CPU untouched. In reality, some of these things are probably baked into the PRISM, and others like the Bluetooth weren’t likely changed because the specs didn’t change. But my point is that the OS enhancements of AutoSense5.0 might rely on more hardware features than just the PRISM chip, and unfortunately we don’t have a lot of insight into those levels of details about the chip.

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Are there any rumours or leaks regarding the availability of this as the next costco/kirkland “KS11”?

Thanks for the link. I was looking at the Latest/2022 Life addition to its Paradise line and not the Earlier/2021 Life addition to its Paradise line.

So two separate hearing aid models for (Audéo Life Paradise and Audéo Life Lumity) and two separate announcements for (Audéo Life Paradise 2021 and Audéo Life Paradise 2022). Okay, I think I got it now.

If you look at the April 2022 announcement, it looks like they were playing some marketing linguistic tricks. They wanted to announce three new things, but the Audeo Paradise Life was already released, so they re-announced it for other markets that did not originally have the device.

Audéo Fit, Audéo Life and Phonak Slim further evidence how the Paradise platform can be tailored to anyone, while still delivering the unrivaled* sound quality of the Paradise platform. After initially launched in the US in 2021, Audéo Life will become available in other markets beginning April 29. Audéo Fit and Phonak Slim will be available this summer.

But don’t be deceived by their marketing spin, the Audeo Life was first released 1 year ago.

I should stay out of this, but I’ll try another approach. Although Phonak does use Audeo Life in it’s marketing, for understanding what’s going on, I think it’s more useful to think of “Life” more as a feature of a given model, kind of akin to battery size, rechargeable battery or having telecoil. So just as Phonak offers some models with 312, 13 or rechargeable batteries and with or without telecoil, they now also offer the “Life” option. Referring to an aid as an Audeo Life gives as little info as saying Audeo with 13 sized batteries and a telecoil. The model (Paradise or Lumity) is missing.

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I could be wrong but didn’t Starkey just update the previous chip os (Livio) and called it Evolv. Then advertised it as a new product?
Just thinking about Phonak not being the only company to go this way while waiting for LE.

There’s also the possible spin that when a company finds a catchy term, it just can’t resist reusing it in marketing as much as possible. Here there is a clear relationship between Audeo Life and Lumity Life but in a recent tech podcast Microsoft was taking flak for using the appellation “Viva” for two relatively unrelated product lines and the reuse just seemed to be associated with the catchiness of the name…

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Simple question here: if Phonak announced its new L-RL (i.e., Lumity-RechargeableLIFE) aids a week ago … are they available for purchase & fittings?

My audi is looking in to it, but does anyone here know if there’s a waiting list or if they’re available RIGHT NOW?

There’s at least some difference in electronics between Resound One and Resound Omnia as they have differnt Bluetooth versions per Bluetooth.Com (5.2 and 5.3 respectively)

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Seems like a useful summary to have on the forum. Why not start a new thread for your Recent Platforms accounting. Make it a rolling list - old items drop off the bottom, new items get added to the top for each OEM. And then when discussions such as the one in this thread arise as to differences in models, whether it’s a new platform, etc., you could just post in the thread having that discussion and reference your Recent Platforms thread. Perhaps the downside of making it a special thread is that then folks will continue to look forward to you updating it and it might become an ongoing chore that you get tired of.

Easy to verify if one puts “ReSound” (without the quotes) into the search box:

Launch Studio - Listing Search (bluetooth.com)

On BT 5.3 vs. 5.2, I guess we have to wait 'til the Apple event on September 7, 10 am PDT, to find out how much of a difference that makes… Another thought is that maybe with Android 13, which has BT LE Audio, it will allow handsfree calling for Android and ASHA will slowly go bye-bye. Right now reviews of ReSound One HA’s advise that you get handsfree calling with iOS but only one-way streaming with ASHA on Android. Perhaps BT 5.2 will be enough to enable handsfree calling with Android 13 (just wild speculation here).

Version 4.2 is still classic tho, this is because 4.2 cannot stream LE audio, interesting your link quotes connection to 200m, ha try telling anyone using HAs that, (of course most already know it’s more lke 20-30m line of sight)

The US normally get new Aids quite quickly. Other countries sometimes take an age.

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I wonder if they solved the problem with Luminity that when we talk to someone over a call. To make the background noise quieter for them. Some have told me that there is a loud noise. If not that, at least we can switch to use the microphone on the smartphone.

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Does this Lumity review add to our knowledge

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I’m sure hoping this is the case! I just heard from my audi today - she talked to Phonak and will see if I can get these in, set up and into my EARS by end of next week.

Fingers crossed! Cuz I’ve already returned my Paradise Life aids before the 60-day trial was over. Sunk. Drowned. DOA.