Widex SmartRIC aids now out

Hearing Aids
#21

I am now on week two of my SmartRIC (440). I do not miss the buttons. Even when I had buttons I never used them. I find the automatic program to be fine as is. I can easily go the whole day without needing my phone to manage the aid in any way.

The charger is terrific. As for battery life, I wear my aids 14-16 hours a day. I am going to bed with anywhere from 60 to 70% battery life left, depends on my streaming levels that day. The charger itself has not yet dipped below 3 LEDs (out of 3) in the two weeks. Granted I’m only charging a single aid, but still, that’s impressive.

Speech in noise is fantastic. I am highly impressed with this aid.

As for AI - I used it once or twice. It did accomplish the task I asked it to do, it was kind of cool, but in reality, not something I’ll use often.

2 Likes
#22

Bet they are rewriting all their marketing to say they have Artificial Intelligence in their hearing aids!

#23

Funnily enough, they [WS Audiology] just released IX Stylettos, completely unchanged hardware wise, just adding group-hearing software feature and theoretical future LE Audio firmware update.
It’s just soo soo lazy, that it offends me.
This should be an update, not a “new” HA release…

2 Likes
#24

Absolutely agree, but all the manufacturers are guilty of doing this, Phonak is the worst!

3 Likes
#25

I need a power receiver in my right ear. I wonder if this Widex will work with my needs? Or if someone might recommend a Widex aid that would fit my profile? Just out of curiosity at this point. This is almost strictly for playing my guitar for myself and in small ensemble. I have another aid that I wear for everyday situations. Widex has a good rep among musicians.

#26

I would recommend downloading and installing the Widex compass software, because everything you wanted to know about which models are right for you including tech specs is available in there.

1 Like
#27

I will take a power receiver, just not a UP.

#28

My Widex Moment Sheer 440s don’t have much button functionality either. One button on each aid … quick push on left one lowers volume, quick on right raises volume, push and hold either one to turn the aid off.

So anything else, you need the phone. But the thing I do most often is turn on TV mode or a couple custom ones I made, and I discovered I can control the things with my Apple watch… so I don’t need to have the phone right on me all the time.

1 Like
#29

You can change button functionality to changing program (up or down) by sacrificing button volume control, either/or scenario.

#30

That is very COOL! I have an Android phone. Anyone here using an Android “smart” watch? If so, what can it control in the way of hearing aids?

1 Like
#31

I’ve had my SmartRIC for about two weeks now. So far, so good. It’s lived up to its promises. Regarding your comment about no button and the awkwardness of using your phone, you should know that, if your phone is an iPhone and if you have an Apple Watch, the app works on the watch, too. It’s easy to change volume and programs using the watch app.

2 Likes
#32

I have an Android Samsung Flip-4 phone, but maybe there’s a watch for that platform, too? Thanks for sharing! :slight_smile:

#33

You want Google’s Wear OS watch, currently one of the best is from Oneplus [Watch 2] It has voice command support [not all of them do], and very long battery life.

#34

I guess what I’m wondering is: would this Google Wear OS watch somehow connect via BT to my hearing aids so I could use the watch (instead of my Samsung Flip-4 Android phone) control the aids?

Augh. I SO wish there was a Geek Squad for us hearing aid wearers. There are so many accessories and things out there that if we KNEW how they worked, we could actually buy them and use them.

#35

The AI have huge potential, look at this:

Samples of Adobe Enhance Speech A.I. - YouTube

I tested Adobe Podcast AI by uploading recordings with speech with backgroud noise and it really make a improvement:

Adobe Podcast | AI audio recording and editing, all on the web

#36

The shape of SmartRIC has a quite jutifiable reason:

Providing Some Direction – Beamformers Explained (audiologyonline.com)

Directional microphones - exploring the effects of microphone orientation - Phonak Audiology (phonakpro.com)

1 Like
#37

These are not the kind of AIs that can be put in the HAs. “AIs” in hearing devices are nothing like the “true” AIs everyone is using nowadays; due to severe hardware limitations, which won’t be possible to overcome in the near future (owing to hardware development plateauing and miniaturisation limits). I’m saying this as someone who works in the field of AIs.
The only hope is in external devices; that’s why open connectivity standards like BLE Audio are massively important.

4 Likes
#38

Quite an attractive and comfortable fit on the ear with this device. The lack of buttons is annoying, but the app connectivity is snappy. Seems to be no way to turn them OFF, which is wild–how do I send one for repair?

#39

In the case of Signias you can turn them off (it’s called perseveration mode or something) via fitting software. It’s the same company so I’m guessing that Widex has a similar feature.

1 Like
#40

I didn’t know that! I have an iPhone and iWatch. My iWatch is supposed to mirror my iphone