As the unpaid shill for Phonak on this thread I feel compelled to upload the following:
Maybe the amount of background noise during the day might affect battery life?
I spend most of my day in relatively quiet surroundings: does this mean my aids are doing less work and possibly giving me more battery life?
I’m a heavy Bluetooth streamer at about 6 hours per day and have a permanent connection to my phone, it just seems very weird to me me that there is such a discrepancy in reported battery life between users.
I completely sympathise with all of the points about rechargeables made above: If I only got 12 hours a day then I wouldn’t consider my aids fit for purpose but at 16+, although not perfect, I think that the battery life is pretty reasonable.
I understand the argument about greater amplification requiring more power but I just don’t see a significant difference with my own aids.
My right HA has significantly higher output than the left yet their respective battery drains are practically identical.
I’ve changed receivers from P to M and noticed no difference whatsoever.
If MPO had such a strong correlation with battery usage then I’d expect at least 10% difference between my aids at the end of the day but I don’t, they drain at the same rate.
I completely agree about the waterproofing that is actually enhanced water resistance. There is quite a size difference between regular and Life models plus the induction chargers that Life aids use can be a bit flaky too, so are Life aids even worth it in the first place? What is the actual benefit?
That’ll help with battery life as well.
But have you swooped Bluetooth to your left? Then that’ll be the reason.
I knew you’d catch me on that one!
Yes I have but on those rare days when I engage with the outside world and don’t stream I still don’t notice a difference between them.
I’m not denying the logic, it makes perfect sense: I just don’t personally experience a big enough difference that I feel it could translate into a 4 hour difference in battery life which is 30%.
Just using the Omnia as an example, here is the current drain for the quiescent and operating state of LP and MP Omnia receivers (the right two columns and the left two columns, respectively). For each type of receiver, the quiescent vs. operating current drawn is given first for an ear simulator, then for a 2 cc coupler. One can see that the biggest current drain is just from running the receiver and it doesn’t vary much as one goes up in power. However, the footnote declares a number of factors that can influence current draw/battery runtime.
Current Drain (Quiescent / Operating) Ear Simulator then 2 cc Coupler for each receiver
LP MP
(Model 61-DRW, 62-DRW) 0.81 / 1.03 0.81 / 1.04 0.81 / 0.91 0.81 / 1.04 mA
All specifications are subject to change without notice. Patents pending.
- Telecoil is only for the RUx62-DRW models.
** Measured according to IEC 60118-0:2015, with 711 Ear Simulator coupler.
*** Expected operating time of the rechargeable battery depends on active features,
the use of wireless accessories, hearing loss, battery age and sound environment.
1 Like
That’s really interesting Jim.
I’m a DIYer and I rarely change anything in the program settings apart from increasing Whistleblock in my right ear and shortening the program transition time.
Maybe being a ‘default’ settings user helps too. I also hardly ever manually change volume or program.
That used to apply to older Ni-Cad batteries. That actually reduces the life of newer No-MN and Li-Ion batteries. That is why newer rechargeable devices are shipped with a partial charge. My Prius never discharges belie 20%.
Also known as false advertising.
1 Like
Avoid SWORD radio platform, it has some power consumption issues… Turn off the bluetooth on your devices and see the rise in battery life and lower power consumption…
Yep. Bingo. That is the world I’m trying to get a handle on for now. And luckily, I have the Marvel battery aids for backup.
I’m trying out one more thing today: closing ANY app I’ve opened on the cell phone the minute I’m done using it. During the day, I use the message app, online search, ROON music, camera app, about a half dozen. There may be a huge correlation between those apps being open in the background and my rechargeable battery drain. Especially as my cellphone is Android 12,
Like light dawns on marblehead moment. If this is the source of my battery drainage, I’ll get through the day a lot easier, even swapping out my rechargeables.
Wow. I only stream BT with phone calls (maybe an hour’s worth or two every day) and a movie every night for 2 hours. I was thinking my POWER use could drain the batteries if volume is jacked up.
But today I’m testing my theory about closing apps on my cell phone. It could be that they are “reaching out” to me being open - even while running in the background. Fingers crossed this will explain things, cuz I’d been sloppy lately about closing those apps after use.
1 Like
I’ve been wearing my Lumity hearing aids for four months and I honestly don’t run out of battery power. When I look at the health section of the myPhonak app, it shows that on average I wear the hearing aids 16 hours a day and I do about 3-4 hours of streaming a day. The only thing I do to to give me a boost is that I typically throw the hearing aids into the charger when I shower in the morning. I usually try to do a workout a some point during the morning and then shower and get dressed afterwards. Using this method, I have never had an issue getting through the day.
That being said, I have noticed that some types of streaming drain the batteries faster than others. Not sure why but maybe someone here can comment. Streaming from my TV using the Phonak TV Connector seems to be very light on battery drain. Traditional (Classic) bluetooth connections where the hearing aids are used as both a headset and microphone seem to be the worst (i.e. Teams meetings on my laptop, talking on my iPhone, etc). This may explain why some people are having higher battery drain than others.
I also have a theory that some apps don’t drop the bluetooth connection properly and and this persistent connection drains the battery. I have gotten into the habit of turning off bluetooth on devices when they are not in use. The only thing I keep permanently connected is my iPhone. Everything else (laptop, Peloton bike, TV Connector) gets turned off when I am not streaming. Perhaps this is why I get decent battery life. Not sure.
Hoping battery life on Lumity improves with future updates to bluetooth but I get through the day ok right now.
Jordan
2 Likes
TV Connector doesn’t use Bluetooth.
It works on Phonak own wireless system called AirStream Technology.
4 Likes
That is what I’m testing today. Turning off ALL apps running in the background so they don’t drain my batteries. I do the same as you tho: pop the aids into the charger when in the shower so they get a 30-min charge which adds maybe 3 hrs of battery life.
Unfortunately, I think our issues with battery life are multi-factorial: my cell phone’s version of Android, the apps I have open (or running in the background), the time spent streaming via BT, and even the reliability and functioning level of our charging base.
I’ve had my aids on for just 2 hours so far, and they are down to 90%.
I was quite surprised at my usage too, but I listen to the radio on my aids which I think makes up for the bulk of it.
I was wondering something different, the Lumity series, including the Life (waterproof) were released on Sept 19, 2022…4 months ago. The Paradise Life series was released on August 31, 2021, 16 months ago. The Life series (waterproof) only have one charger available, inductive only. How does one have an Old pair of Lumity Life H/A’s, and a New pair? The difference in age can only be a max of 3 or 4 months… Just wondering?
@BeLo: Please be aware that you have not accumulated sufficient SpudGunner®️Schillster Credits to use the title “Certified SpudSchiller™️”.(CSS)
I’m looking at this quote from @1Bluejay’s post:
I do the same as you tho: pop the aids into the charger when in the shower so they get a 30-min charge which adds maybe 3 hrs of battery life.
I’m wondering: could this repeated approach of the HAs SOC “ceiling” be putting a big strain on the batteries and degrading them more quickly ?
1 Like
Sorry for the confusion! OLD = from Sept of 2022; NEW = from Oct 2022. They are in 2 diff colors so I can tell them apart. Both Phonak Lumity Life rechargeable aids that use induction charger.
Footnote: so far my experiment of closing the open apps running in the background on my phone seems to make a difference in battery life. I’m out for a 3 hr walk, so as a precaution, am bringing my ol’ reliable Phonak Marvel battery aids.
Yeah I know. I’m a walking Hearing Aid Museum. Still keep my old aids back to 2009.
1 Like
The next step could be: just to turn Bluetooth off on your phone for a day.
Turn it only on if needed for a phone call.
That’s what Phonak recommends for Android 12 users.
Ah, and yes, the automatic program “speech on loud noise” consumes also lots of power. Since the two HA start to heavily communicate with each other.
2 Likes
Apparently it’s not charging the hearing aids properly.
Can you replace the adapters with which the chargers are connected? Maybe the adapter is causing problems.