I have had Philips miniRITE 9030 for a year and a half. Today, after 6 hours, they still have 78% charge. That extrapolates to 27 hours. If that is not enough, I have a portable charger wthl battery self power that can give charge for three hours operation in 15 minutes. Still want batteries?
2 Likes
Do you not have to remove your HAs to charge them? When I “recharge” my HAs in about 30sec, I get 5 to 6 days worth, I never have to worry about charging every single night, plus no need to carry around a “recharge” brick, just seems easier.
4 Likes
But how often do you have to change batteries in the middle of a conversation, I personally had to way too many times and personally it was embarrassing.
I know this a genuine concern for some, but honestly in 25 years of using, it’s never happened to me, my later models give anywhere from 15min, but I found a simple open and close of the battery door would give me extra time anyway.
6 Likes
“carry around a brick”. I hear this phrase a lot. My portable recharger is hardly 'a brick". It weighs 3 ouncer and fits in the palm of my hand. It’s smaller than a pack of batteries, or maybe the same size. It doesn’t have to plug in to work. sheesh, this has been stated a dozen times in this thread alone and yet the phrase '[carrry around a brick" keeps coming up.
In any case, I’ve never run out of juice on my rechargeables after owning them for a year and a half. I think folks who’ve never used them have built in notions and fears that are a bit exaggerated. Understandably so. I did too going in. They evaporated after a week.
3 Likes
Yeah @tenkan the warning beeps alert you to change your battery, that usually means I have around 30 minutes with the 675 batteries… TBH, I usually leave them till they die, then say excuse me to whoever I’m conversing with, then slowly change the batteries in both aids… I don’t mind keeping people waiting 
and I don’t care who knows I have aids 
8 Likes
I would spend hours either on the phone with customers or face to face meetings and it was embarrassing to have the batteries go dead. I have never been able to hear the beeps to alert me that my batteries were dying, my audiologists told me it was because the beeps were on my dead spot of my hearing.
1 Like
Jeff It’s slang, it’s informal name for portable power (brick), of course it doesn’t actually mean the size and weight of an actual “brick”
4 Likes
Yes, but it carries a kind of dismissive connotation, especially for new users. I’ve only seen the phrase “carry around a brick” used by people who don’t like rechargeable aids.
Imagine if I were to refer to carrying around a pack of batteries as “carrying around a brick”. I’d hear back from folks!
all that said, I looked up ‘brick’s’ use as slang and found it tended to bounce between two extremes, in terms of meaning: here are two, following one after the other:
7 That’s not a mobile phone, it’s a brick.
8 You can always rely on Charlie, he’s a real brick.
I don’t think most folks here are referencing how reliable rechargers are when carried around as emergency back up for hearing aids. I think they’re gesturing towards, 'sheesh, who’d want to have to carry around am unreliable brick when instead they can carry a pack of batteries?. But in fact the two are essentially equivalent.
2 Likes
I’m relatively new to hearing aids, having gotten my first pair in 2018. To me, the batteries powering them were a revelation. Tiny (not a problem for me at present), dirt cheap, and they can run the aids for days. Where else can you find that?
The first time I encountered the choice of conventional vs. rechargeable was when ReSound upgraded me from Lynx 3D to Quattro, and I had to choose between rechargeable “312” size (though bigger than real 312’s) and conventional 13 size. I didn’t want the bigger 13 aids, and vacillated for a long time, but ultimately rechargeables just felt wrong to me. If run time entered my mind at all, it wasn’t a main concern, nor were power outages. Since hearing aids are a bodily prosthetic, it feels right that they’re self-contained and their power can be instantly renewed. Why would I sign up to add a dependency on a charger, particularly a proprietary charger that isn’t easily or inexpensively replaced? And why would I want my aids to include a component, namely lithium batteries, that predictably deteriorates with use?
6 Likes
The thing is Jeffery, we aren’t necessarily against rechargeable batteries, I have literally thousands of pounds worth of rechargeable tools (Mainly Dewalt & Festool) I now have around 20 rechargeable Dewalt batteries, between 4 & 6 Amp Hours, (I keep buying more) I recently started buying Dewalt Tools that run on the 54 volt system, the batteries are variable voltage, between 18 & 54 volts, Dewalt makes excellent tools, and excellent batteries… I have 2 rechargeable Bricks, and Bricks they are… They weigh about 1KG each, 26000mAh, it takes 2 x usb to charge them over a couple of days, I take one when I go fishing for a weekend, to charge up my iPhone… At present, as far as I am aware, and I will repeat this again, none of the major hearing aid manufacturers, make a rechargeable BTE UP (Ultra Power) Aid, and yours truly will be first in the cue, once they do, if it has a reasonable runtime (Say 24 hours) and we can easily swap out rechargeable batteries, similar to a Dewalt Tool…Cheers Kev 
3 Likes
You’ve said this before and I’ve answered it before. A pack of batteries can fit into most pockets without bulging out, and you can forget it’s there. And it leaves room for other stuff. A charger is going to bulge out, to the detriment of comfort and appearance, unless you wear cargo pants or a fishing vest.
6 Likes
or a garment with side pockets.
now we’re quibbling over minutiae. Who cares? We’re wearing hearing aids. No one notices if I wear a jacket with side pockets, take it off indoors, and inside one of those pockets there’s a rechargeable three ounce :“brick”. so called, that’s the same size and weight as a packet of batteries.
Good lord.
Truth be told, with my life, I never bring along a brick. I know my aids will have plenty of power to get me through the evening.
1 Like
@Baltazard Exactly. It’s the long-term that matters. Non-replaceable batteries put an artificial life span on your HA’s. I know you can get the batteries replaced just before the end of the warranty and get a few more years life out of them, but in the end the batteries will fail before any of the other components. It may then be time for new HA’s anyway so it doesn’t matter to those with insurance cover etc. But for some of us, we depend on buying 6 year old HA’s and self-programming them and getting a few years life out of them before repeating the process.
5 Likes
Rechargeable means disposable when it comes to resale.
Aids with disposable batteries have long lives.
At least what I have seen.
5 Likes
And that, therein, is the scam that is rechargeables on hearing aids. The hearing aid manufacturer’s way of forcing you into new hearing aids sooner. It’s not to be green. It’s for pure profits. Of course it is.
I am digging my feet into the ground and I will die before I ever use a single rechargeable hearing aid. Not to mention Phonak - ever again.
4 Likes
Geeze, guys, you can replace the rechargeable batteries in rechargeable aids, period. Yes, after warranty, it costs about the same amount as you/d spend on disposable batteries over a comparable time period. Rechargeable aids aren’t part of a conspiracy. Do you guys use a rechargeable phone? Same darn thing. Put a new battery in the device and you’[re good to to for another three years. All this talk of ‘scam’ is nonsense. work with it, or around it, and you’ll find happiness. Even if “they” are trying to cheat you, with a bit of understanding, you can make it all work to your own benefit.
2 Likes
I’m talking about a card with a wheel holding 6 or 8 batteries. That is not the same size and weight as a charger.
Not wanting your clothes to bulge has nothing to do with hiding hearing aids. A jacket isn’t the answer if you don’t wear one.
With traditional batteries I don’t have to make that decision, because they’re so easy to carry.
2 Likes
Until they age out of manufacturer support. Five years seems to be a typical figure.
2 Likes
Well I am just going to mute this post and enjoy my rechargeable hearing aids.
3 Likes