Starkey introduces Evolv AI

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Starkey Unveils Evolv AI – the Hearing Industry’s Most Innovative Line of Hearing Aids

Starkey’s second generation of the smartest hearing aid offers effortless hearing, effortless connection and effortless selection

08/31/2021 | 12:41pm EDT

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Aug. 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Starkey is leading the hearing industry into a new era with bold technology that will transform a patient’s relationship with their hearing aids. Evolv AI, Starkey’s newest full line of hearing aids, is setting the stage for an entirely new hearing ecosystem that not only emphasizes hearing’s impact on overall health and wellness but creates an effortless user experience.

“In 2018, we reinvented the hearing aid with Livio AI,” said Starkey Chief Technology Officer Achin Bhowmik, Ph.D. “Today, the smartest hearing aid just got smarter. For example, every single hour, an Evolv AI hearing device will make 55 million adjustments - automatically. And we aren’t done yet. The next 18 months from Starkey will redefine hearing healthcare for the decade ahead.”

Evolv AI is built on Starkey Sound™, a ground-breaking technology created by years of refining Starkey’s research and science-based algorithms to power high-fidelity audio, which is modeled after the human auditory system. Like the brain, Starkey Sound is designed to automatically suppress background noise and designed to increase speech audibility and intelligibility with machine learning technology.

As the world leader in custom manufacturing, Starkey is also proud to introduce the industry’s smallest 2.4 GHz CIC, as part of the Evolv AI line of hearing aids.

“Craftsmanship is something of a lost art,” said Chief Audiology Officer Sara Burdak, Au.D. “At Starkey, Chairman Bill Austin pioneered the concept that designing and manufacturing hearing aids requires excellence. Our researchers, engineers and manufacturing teams have continued that long-standing tradition of handcrafted excellence by dedicating themselves to create smaller, more powerful and longer-lasting devices every single day.”

Additional features of the Evolv AI product family include:

  • 40% reduction in noise energy compared to our previous technology
  • Additional refinement of Edge Mode
  • Fall Alert and Voice Reminders at all technology tiers
  • Thrive usability enhancements
  • TeleHear™ first and follow-up fit additions

The combination of these features creates an effortless hearing experience for users. Evolv AI’s always-on and always automatic approach delivers realistic and genuine sound quality in every environment, without the need to do anything extra.

“The connection between better hearing and improved overall health outcomes is indisputable,” said Starkey Chief Health Officer Archelle Georgiou, M.D. “However, we know that if the technology inside a device isn’t easy to use, patients won’t reap the benefits. Evolv AI certainly leads the way in sound quality, but its ease of use is truly game changing.”

“We know better hearing is best served through you, the hearing professional,” said Starkey President and CEO Brandon Sawalich. “At Starkey, Hear Better, Live Better is much more than a tagline. It’s our commitment to you to help your patients live better through better hearing. We can’t wait for you to see how Evolv AI does that, in a way that is effortless out in the real world.”

Starkey is also pleased to announce dates for the hearing industry’s largest, most impactful event, Starkey Expo 2022. The hearing industry’s blockbuster biennial event will be held May 11– 15, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada, where even more ground-breaking innovation will be unveiled. Stay tuned!

For more information about Starkey, click here.

About Starkey

Starkey is a privately held, global hearing technology company headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Owned by Bill Austin since 1967, Starkey is known for its innovative design, development and distribution of comprehensive digital hearing systems. Led today by President and CEO Brandon Sawalich, Starkey has more than 5,000 employees, operates 28 facilities and does business in more than 100 markets worldwide. Learn more at starkey.com.

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Doesn’t say anything about bidirectional MFi HA functionality nor anything about Bluetooth LE Audio. Maybe we have to wait until May, 2022 for further details on that. So maybe I’ll be waiting on my next iPhone 'til September, 2022…

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I tried checking Bluetooth.com, but didn’t see this product listed and thus couldn’t find out if it has Bluetooth 5.2. I’m curious if it would be upgradable to Bluetooth LE Audio (new generation). The Resound ONE appears to be the only one listed to have the chip to support it when it comes out.

But honestly, it would be odd if it didn’t.

The Starkey website has no mention if these are LE Audio Ready.

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It creates an entirely new hearing ecosystem. Who comes up with this stuff

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[Apple’s Syntactical Syllabic Phoneme Grafter Plug-In spits these phrases out, non-stop.]

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I am considering these devices and they check all the boxes, I was also wanting to know about 5.2 LE audio, I had my supplier ask Starkey, and to our surprise, He was told they are 5.0BT and we know 5.0 will not support LE Audio… so this is disappointing for me at this time because my HA’s are needing out of warranty repair, and just wanted to upgrade .

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Anyone have are know anything about the new Starkey Evolv AI aids?

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I have looked at the data sheets, and even CICs seem more powerful than RICs and therefore suitable for serious losses like mine: how is this possible? Has anyone with severe loss tried them?

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I think predicting future compatibility is always tricky. I’ve seen one source that said full LE Audio compatiblity will require BT 5.3 It’s possible a firmware update may make BT 5.2 devices into 5.3 but I don’t know. Oticon has claimed future compatibility, but as you imply, only meets BT 5.1 specs.

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I am on a trial set now, the sounds are smooth and more comfortable than another name brand I have, so far I like them, my choice was to go rechargeable on this set, but I’m going back to batteries, the recharge just doesn’t fit my lifestyle, also I would suggest getting them with the manual volume/program button so you don’t have to be tethered to your iPhone or Iwatch all the time, my only issue is the wind noise is much more than my others , even when trying to suppress it in a custom setting, so I’m working on that, I wanna try the Phonak Marvel. but Phonak is still using 4.2 Bluetooth technology, when everyone else is racing towards 5.2 le audio.

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@jbmobile1.jb

Wouldn’t the Paradise be a better option to try (if available to you, that is), as it’s their newest line of technology? I’m currently in the process of buying my first pair of HAs and will demo several brands, so am paying attention to first impressions and general feedback on anyone also demo-ing new HAs.

While the Paradise isn’t on the 5.2BT platform, the classic pairing method already allows for good streaming ability as well as two way communication (you can be hands-free on the phone - albeit that has issues itself because the mic picks up a lot of background noise), which is one of the benefits of LE Audio from my understanding. It also can have more than 1 active connection, which I don’t think any other HA can do, at least without an accessory. I’m currently trialing the Oticon Mores, and the bluetooth reliability has been, quite frankly, a disaster (with Android), and that’s on a 5.2/LE Audio ready platform (I think). (I’ll also note that from another thread, someone that has the Mores paired with the iPhone seems to have a significantly better connectivity experience - makes sense since Oticon has been using the MFi platform for a while and the kinks are better ironed out by now) I had no issues at all with the Paradise I demo-ed previously. It’s unfortunate, because I have had a better experience with the Mores in more complex sound environments.

They might miss out on the multi-stream capability and location-based audio sharing that public venues will hopefully eventually adopt, but in terms of all-day HA use and connectivity stability, the Paradise, in my short and limited experience thus far, is already there.

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I was interested in trying the custom ITE version until I found out they only come in rechargeable battery version. I emailed Starkey rep to see if they can make them with the disposable battery and the answer was no. I am not ready for a rechargeable battery HA yet.

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The 4.2 BT platform will be a thing of the past imo, when I spoke with Phonak they told me they still use it because it still connects with older handhelds, on another note, I prefer customs, I spent an hour on the golf course searching for a bte because it came off with my glasses strap,and the whole on/off mask thing brings on even more issues with the bte getting hung up and dangling out of your ears, also reading the issues with their app is a deal breaker. I have considered the custom Marvel 9, but I can only get ha’s every 4 years and they are not completely covered by ins. Not really concerned with hands free mic, the two BT channels are a plus though, I really like the Evolv ai, the sounds are smooth, clear, and comfortable. Right now I believe I’m going to go back to the disposal battery style in the cic, with a volume control so I’m not always tethered to the iPhone, they also are a bit more discrete and set in further, so that will help suppress some wind issues. As far as app’s I think the resound is better and faster with less connection issues, … none of these are perfect right now, and even less for severe loss such as mine. Looking forward to advances, I believe the 5.2 BT le audio will be a big plus.

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That is correct, but you can get the cic with the same level, and it does have the battery, When I spoke with Starkey they confirmed that they have the same level as the ite I now have, and a couple more levels if I get worse, I am trading on Monday, they are a bit more discrete, sit in the ear a bit more, and take a 312 battery

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Update, The cic’s I received to replace the ite’s are without a doubt better in wind, the downside is they have an antenna that sticks out past the ear and the feedback is terrible, my audi, tried multiple methods to suppress it but it’s still there, ALSO these are NOT compatible with Iwatch, their app is also not compatible with Iwatch , and no, you can’t even use the accessibility pass through. So you’re still tethered to your iPhone for adjustments, volume and such. I think I’m going to give the Phonak Virto Marvel a try?

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Depending on degree of hearing loss, the smaller custom HA such as CIC’s are more prone to feedback.
I have a severe hearing loss and my audi recommend a ITE full/half shell with no vent to help with feedback. Starkey has been known to have a good feedback management but it only helps to a certain point. Also I find making the shell of the custom with a medium-long canal length helps with the feedback.

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@bluejay2025 Paradise don’t come in CIC / ITE at the mo.

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Thanks Tim, I didn’t know that, I currently am wearing the resound mih and I hear fine with them, probably the best app of all of them, no feedback and no wind noise with these, just wanted to try something with newer technology, … what I’m finding out, after some trials, is the resound just fits and sounds better, without the issues of the others

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I am wearing the Resound Linx 3D ITE custom and it is a good HA. I have had Starkey in the past and switched to Resound for the direct IPhone streaming. Basically the farther away the microphone is from the receiver output the less feedback, assuming a good fit. I would like to try Starkey again since I had good results in the past. With my degree of hearing loss good feedback management is needed. And I would like to stick with custom HA.

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One review from one audiologist. Iphone as a replacement for an additional microphone like the Roger mic used by Phonak. For now only iphone, and android? Maybe later. In any case, if this works great, maybe we’ll see it in other hearing aid manufacturers as well

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