Review of Phone Clip +

Hearing Aids
#1

This may be a bit long winded but hopefully helpful for anyone that is thinking of purchasing one. Also it would be great if Resound read these forums to see what users actually think about their products!

I've been using the Phone Clip+ for about 12 weeks now with my Resound Futures that I had purchased from Costco and can provide some feedback. In general, I like the unit and find it somewhat handy. I don't get a lot of cellphone calls so that isn't actually my main usage. I use it with my ipod touch and Android device to stream podcasts. As well it works as a remote allowing me to change programs or raise or reduce the volume. ( I had already lost my previous Resound remote) I have downloaded the app from the Android Play Store and have it installed on my cellphone (Google Nexus). When I had the device originally setup, I asked the Audie to not mute the sound to my HA's when the device is streaming.

Size, shape and weight.
The device structurally is well made and seems solid. I personally find the size to be slightly too large and rectangular. Weight also is slightly more than I would like. Button placement is logical but the button on the front a person would use to take a call has a barely noticeable click so I have needed to confirm that I have actually actuated the button on occasion by checking my cellphone. It definitely requires a better “feedback” mechanism to confirm actuation. As well the pressure required to confirm a proper press requires that I hold the back of the clip in order to exert enough force. This needs to be corrected. The indicator lights do not have an off switch. I don’t like looking like a Christmas tree while in the office, so I have covered the LED with some tape. In general, Resound needs to take some cues from Apple and think modern industrial design for human use rather than letting the engineers engineering something that is somewhat functional, somewhat efficient and produced as cheaply as possible.

I wear the device using the supplied neck loop under my shirt. This is functional. Aesthetically I think from a design point of view there should be a better approach to the neck loop and rope. It looks lousy and sometimes is uncomfortable. Since I don’t use the clip, I should have the option of removing it as it makes the device more clumsy when wearing it under my shirt.
When walking and talking on the cell I can hear the caller clearly and the caller can hear but with difficulty due to the rustling under my shirt. In a windy situation she has complained about hearing the wind. The cellphone stream works best in an office settin or a quiet area where there is limited outside noise or rustling. I can’t compare this to the first version (phone clip) but I am told it is better. I have clipped this to my shirt as illustrated in the manual and the same thing happen,. still too noisy when walking. Many people on the other end of the call say it is hard to hear. Considering Jabra is sister company one would think the technology is easily available to deal with the noise issue.

Battery Life- hasn’t been a problem for me although I find my HA battery life seems to be less by about 1 day. As well the left or right HA may loose the connection if the battery in that particular aid is losing power. To be more accurate when the HA batteries loose their charge when I wear them without the phone clip +, I would get an audible signal letting me know that they are failing, however when using the phone clip + I find that I have to change the batteries before I hear the signal to provide a battery with more strength. This occurs roughly 1 day prior to when the signal for completed battery life goes off via my HA’s. The HA’s don’t seem to be using the juice at exactly the same rate, so one aid will not accept the stream at times while the other will. As for the phone clip + itself, if I am streaming music or taking calls I get less than a days use. It can use better power management. As well, if either my phone or the phone clip + does not have enough power I have found that I cannot hear a call through my HA’s but the caller can hear me talking at the other end. There is no indicator from the Phone Clip + that it is out of power (although it just occurred to me that the LED may indicate lack of power. I would have an audible cue similar to the low battery melody played when the HA’s batteries are depleted.

Music- forget about it. Tinny like an old transistor radio. I use headphones and use the phone clip+ to turn down the volume of the HA’s- works well. Podcasts work well streamed because it is voice however the podcasts are hard to hear when listening if you have your hearing aids set to allow sound at the same time as the stream. I just lower the volume if necessary via the volume control on the phone clip +. For music, I use an equalizer on my device when listening to music through headphones with the HA’s volume turned down through my phone clip+.

Connection- easy to connect to the HA’s and to other devices. It does take too long to make the connection when streaming or connecting to the cellphone, as there is a delay. This is also the case when disconnecting. You can connect to 2 devices at the same time but I find sometimes that I lose connections and must reconnect by rebooting my phone, going to settings etc…a bit aggravating but I am a patient person.

Hearing Aid App
It’s good when it connects, easy and highly functional. But I have been frustrated connecting to it. Lots of times I do not get the connection. As well it takes to long to connect. I would like to see a ten band equalizer built into it that would satisfy to issues for me. It would allow me to modify and therefore customize any incoming stream or sound to my HA’s. This is useful in some specialized environments as well as listening to podcasts or music- it gives me control of my hearing. But to be honest I have stopped using it because it is very frustrating trying to get a connection.

Sound Quality
It’s quite good when streaming a phone call- can’t complain at all. However, I would like to use other sound sources/streams and be able to optimize the sound from these sources which could happen potentially through the Hearing Aid app if an equalizer was built into it.

Summary-All in all, I’ve been waiting years for a device that would do all of the above. Is this the device we’ve all been waiting for? No but it is tolerable. The bad-really there is one thing that is really irritating and that is the button to connect to calls. I am not sure I am “clicking” it and if the click is effective until I hear something in my aids.
My wish list is that they integrate the Resound Unite mini mic into this system rather than forcing me to shell out another $200 and carry a second device with me that I could lose. The actual phone clip+ should be designed with everyday use in mind, in other word Resound should spend some money and hire Jony Ives or the designers at Frog Design to design it. Use the latest Jabra technology (one of Resounds companies) that is available on their sub $100 headsets. Decrease the connection time when connecting to devices. Increase the number of devices that can be connected at one time. And since most people like listening to music figure out a way to have great stereo music sound streamed from your device rather than tinny 1950 sound- hey this is 2013!

Costco Kirkland Signature 5.0
#2

Thanks for details. I was trying to decide if I should get one and the features that are good are the ones I don’t need.
The things I need are the one that need work. I need a quick connect for the cell phone as I use it a lot for business.
Hope they get your kind of feedback and get to work. Thanks again!

#3

VERY GOOD Post!!!
Exactly my experience!
I use this as my “work” aids and are tolerable.

I do also have a second set of Siemens aids with the Rexton phone adapter.
This works excellent and is flawless in the connection to the aids.
Sound quality is better.
I also have the TV adapter and use these at home and other events.

#4

RE: connection to cell phone & music
Phone is my biggest concern. I have been balancing my old Plantronics earpiece on top of my eyeglasses and have it turned up to maximum volume so I can hear a caller. I’m less concerned with having to ask them “what did you say” then having the annoyed by poor reception on their end due to a crummy earpiece. I’m assuming that the earpiece on the glasses is too focused on the ear canal to be heard by the microphone on my HA. (If anyone can respond to that I posted separately without replies)
Anyhow here are my questions before I dig in my pocket for the phone clip Thanks for your patience as this is all new to me!!!

When you say connection is slow is there a lag with every call or just when you initially turn the unit on? If a call comes in will it take longer to connect with the person than when I hit the button to answer my earpiece now?

Just how bad is the reception on the other end? Do a LOT of people complain or is it just not quite as clear as using the cell phone itself? (I went through 4 brands of Bluetooth phone earpieces over the past few years. Don’t know if the technology just got better but the one I’m using is the first I found that clients didn’t complain about the quality of the call)

When I don’t take calls I listen to music on my one earpiece. Until I recently got HAs I was happy to hear something even if I was missing a bunch of the instruments I couldn’t hear music. It wasn’t exactly like a BOSE :o but let me hear my CDs that i had put on my iPhone. Do you think the limited quality of the music you describe would be better than listening to CDs or the radio through the car system?

Thanks in advance!!!
Suz

#5

IMHO… this is just my case (your milage may vary).

  1. With the resound “Phone clip (2)” calls on my cell phone are pretty good…
    When you receive a phone call your phone rings and you get a “beep” in the aids. You push the middle button on the clip (the button does not have a “snap or click” so you guess it is pushed), and you are connected to the phone. If your “Aid batteries” are not fresh you may drop the sound in one aid or the other during the call. To hang up you push the button again.

I have not found a way to listen to music from my phone. Maybe this is just me???

  1. Siemens Aids with Rexton Mini-blue basically workes the same as above but…
    The controller has a snap or click that you can feel to answer a call. The quality of the sound is pretty good and I can play music from the phone to the aids (sounds decent). Never lost sounds to aids, if the battery is working in the aids they connect to the mini-blue, period. If you use the Rexton mini-blue for streaming (music or TV) it will drain the mini-blue battery whitin a hour (my experience, your milage may vary). And the mini-blue will have to be recharged.

The Siemens aids are an older set for me and I cannot get anyone “locally” to adjust the properly for me. These would be my everyday set if not for that.

I hope this helps.

#6

I’ve have now been using the phone clip+ for a number of months now and here are some comments:

  1. I sent the review to Resound as I thought they would be interested receiving feedback from an actual user. I never received a response- period. Not very good from a marketing and public relations point of view I would think!
  2. I use the phone clip while on the treadmill. After several months the clip broke off as it was rusted. Costco is great and the phone clip was replaced immediately. Now as to the rust problem, I would think that Resound should probably do something about this as people do sweat, especially in hot climates, so this is not only a problem only for runners. I use the phone clip on the lanyard against my chest.
  3. I have received generally negative comments from people receiving calls. Call quality needs to be improved
#7

It’s nice to listen to P Andorra and my recorded music on the IPhone, but the connection isn’t great for the person you call. With my old Bluetooth I could talk all day and it was as clear as my landline They tell me this sounds like a speaker phone. I don’t use it for long calls or important clients. Still am glad I got it

#8

I think some of the comments above might be about the original Phone Clip and not the current Phone Clip+.

I get fast connection to a call and can answer using the button or from the phone itself. I normally take the phone out anyway to see who the call is from before I answer, because I let some calls go to voicemail.

The microphone on the Phone Clip+ is on the front, whereas the microphone on the previous model, the Phone Clip, is on the top. So using the Phone Clip+ while under your shirt may pick up some static sounds as the microphone comes into contact with clothing. I wear mine on the outside if I know I will be on the phone, or if it is an “important” call. Sound quality for callers, when the Phone Clip+ is not under my shirt, is excellent, about like any Bluetooth headset. Sound quality on my end of the call is also excellent.

I also use mine for streaming and the streaming quality is very good. You can have the sound adjusted to take some of the tinniness out of it.

#9

One thing that I have found disturbing is that the “+” does NOT like any moister.
I was outside at an event with the clip on my shirt. It was misty raining and I didn’t even get wet. The next day the clip died and the audiologist said it was moister. I even had one replaced in warranty(you get one shot) for being wet. I live in the south and even the mold has mold on it! I am treating this newest one with kit gloves. If it dies, I quit.

#10

I have been caught in the rain several times and have had no problems with the “+”. Did he/she see moisture or was that just a guess? I live in the South as well and have had both hearing aids and the Phone Clip+ soaked with perspiration and have had no problems.

#11

I live in Hotlanta and my experience with the Phone Clip + has been the same as Don’s. I usually walk outdoors at least three times a week for about an hour in the afternoon, using PC + to listen to streamed music or to use my phone. Clipped to my shirt collar, my PC + has well endured temps in the 90s and light rain, but I do put it in my pocket during heavy rain. And on phone calls, people on the other end say they hear me quite well, and I rarely have to repeat myself.

Obviously, some PC + are duds, just like any other gadgets/products, including those with great reviews/comments. I’m just offering my own experience.

#12

Don, She said she “saw” moisture…
Maybe it was a dud, I don’t know. One thing I did forget to post is the “clip” does not tolerate somewhat weak batteries. If one side or the other drops during a call, replace the (aid) battery. The mini blue will work all the way until you get a low bat tone in the aids.

#13

No, she didn’t. Maybe you should re-read the post. Sometimes people speculate on what the cause is. So my question was whether the professional actually saw moisture or was he/she just responding to the idea that the person was in a light rain the day before, so it must be moisture.

#14

I usually do not respond to these types of responses. But since you replyed in this butt head stance…

“She said, she saw moisture in the phone clip +”. I typed it real slow for you this time.

#15

Its pretty obvious that Don did not realize that you posted both messages so you could have just pointed that out to him.

#16

Does anyone know of any sort of “landline Bluetooth adapter” that I could purchase that would allow me to use the phone clip + with my desk telephone at work?

#17

Sorry, I thought the original post was from someone else.

#18

I use the Plantronics Voyager 500A. I use just the base and it works fine. There is a cable you can buy that connects to the headset port of your phone. If the phone doesn’t have a headset port then you will either have to take the phone offhook manually, or buy a Plantronics lifter. They don’t make the 500a any more but I think you can still find it around, maybe ebay. There are other choices but the problem these days is that the wireless headsets are all going digital so there are fewer bluetooth headset bases now to choose from.

#19

For those of you that use the Phone Clip + routinely, may I ask what your recharging regimen is?

#20

Mine has only run down/shut off one time, a day of heavy use, and went off in the evening. I turn it off and charge it every night, along with my smartphone.