G’day all,
Had a chat with my audiologist today, and she mentioned that Starkey have released a new hearing aid called the Edge AI. She’s rather insistent that it’s one of, if not the, best options out there at the moment. I’m curious how much of an improvement it is over the Genesis AI, which, to be perfectly honest, I found pretty dreadful.
Earlier this year, the same audiologist lent me a pair of the Genesis AI to try out for a couple of months (mostly because she kept encouraging me to give them a proper go). I had several fitting sessions during that time, but now she’s saying Starkey have “sorted” most of the issues.
For context, I found a lot of the so-called premium features didn’t work as they were meant to. The “Edge mode,” for instance, hardly improved speech comprehension, no matter the situation. And don’t get me started on the Voice Assistant—it felt like a pointless addition. The noise reduction was far too aggressive, randomly deciding which sounds to suppress or amplify, with no rhyme or reason to it.
In the end, I gave up on the trial after noticing loads of users online complaining about similar problems—unreliable noise reduction, poor Android compatibility, and a few other gripes.
Honestly, my “dumb,” AI-free Phonaks sound leagues better in comparison.
So, has Starkey actually fixed these issues with the Edge AI, or is this just my audiologist getting swept up in the hype?
Was the Genesis AI simply a dud, and is that why Starkey have rushed out a replacement in less than a year? Or is this just the same tech dressed up with some clever marketing?