I purchased a pair of Rexton BiCores from Costco 3 weeks ago, which are identical to the Signia Pure Charge&Go AX but simply rebadged for sale at the Costco Warehouse hearing centers. I went back for my first follow up appointment yesterday.
I was intrigued enough by the Hear Advisor lab tests of the Sony CRE-E10 OTC hearing aids to give them a try. I loved their natural sound quality but did not like the fact that I still had to occasionally ask people to repeat what they said. Speech clarity is my great white whale, so I returned the Sony’s and decided to give the similarly priced Rextons a try. My reasoning is that both are made by Signia and share the same technology except that Rexton has a more advanced version of the Signia platform and so should be even better. What I’m looking for is the same sound quality but with improved quality of speech as a result of the fine tuning capability of a regular hearing aid which cannot be achieved with an OTC hearing aid.
At this point, I’m really pleased with my decision but it was not love at first sight with the Rextons. They were programmed much too loud - at my own request. Sound was not as natural and clarity of speech was not improved. At my follow up appointment, the Costco audiologist (not a HIS) spent 45 minutes with me, asking questions and listening to me describe my hearing experience. She changed the closed domes and replaced them with tulip domes because there was just too much bass. She adjusted the program to reduce the volume to 90% of the prescription but with an automatic phase in over the next 6 months until it reaches full gain. She also gave me some high frequency boost and fine tuned and fine tuned the “My Voice” processor. She may have made other adjustments that I’m not aware of.
I noticed an immediate improvement. I now have the natural sound that I was looking for and had experienced with the Sony’s. Sound is comfortable and I am hearing speech more clearly. I am only into my second day with the new adjustments, so I’ll see how it goes and will post updates.
I must add that this has been a revelation for me. I had previously thought of Rexton as a nothing brand and didn’t know much about Signia, but that says more about me than it does about the brand. I suspect that I’m not alone my perception of the brand value because I rarely see posts about either brand here.
Things I like about Rexton BiCore/Signia Pure Charge&Go AX:
- The AX platform separates the “sound in focus” (speech) from sounds in your surroundings, so that it can process them separately, and then recombines them in a way which creates a clear contrast between the two so that speech is easier to understand;
- My Voice (Rexton)/Own Voice Processor (OVP) (Signia) processes the sound of my own voice so that it sounds more natural;
- Speech with background noise has so far not been a problem to understand, which has been a pleasant and unexpected surprise;
- The charging system is great, lasting up to 36 hours on the T-coil version which I have. The charger doubles as a carrying case and has the capability of charging the hearing aids fully 2 more times after an initial charge without being plugged in again. Great when I go away for the weekend.
- AI Assistant - Using my phone, I can adjust volume, bass/treble balance, and directionality. The AI also provides trouble shooting assistance with the ability to make adjustments to the program permanent.
What I don’t like:
The hearing aids are so small that I find the rocker switch difficult to use. As a result, I make adjustments on my phone instead.
Note: I don’t do streaming of phone calls, music, etc, so I have no comment on that aspect of this technology.
I’ll come back with updates as I’ve worn these hearing aids for a longer period of time.