Thanks, Jordan, for your rapid response. Overall, I am very pleased. It has been a long time since I have been able to walk on the beach and hear anything. Just hearing the waves come in is worth the price of admission!
There are certainly limitations and for ordinary situations they are not as good as my Widex BTEs. On my Widex, I use non-RIC narrow tubes with full molds and wide open venting. My loss is mainly in the high frequencies.
Here are the problems so far:
- I do not find the Phonax sound as good as the Widex.
- I prefer standard BTEs, but the Lumity comes only in RIC.
- The molds must be sealed, which means I have to give up my vented molds.
- I prefer #13 batteries to rechargeables, but for obvious reasons the Lumity needs to be completely sealed so there is no battery case.
- Streaming works fine on the beach, but the sound cuts in and out while swimming.
– While swimming the instruments keep flapping out (they do not actually fall out) and I have to repeatedly tuck them behind my ears. There must be a fix for that.
All that said, I am going to purchase the Phonaks just for sports and beach use. They work well for what they are intended to do. Anyway, I don’t get by well without my hearing aids, so it is always good to have a backup set (I always travel with two pair anyway.)
I have no idea how they will hold up in the long run. But they are under warranty. I have a wonderful audiologist/hearing aid dispenser who stands behind everything she does. I’ll keep you informed.