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When Will Auracast Actually Be Enabled for Phonak, Oticon, Signia, etc.? (From a Device Maker’s Perspective)

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I have read the new Cochlear Nexa processors have , K3 Nexa and the N8 Nexa.

I have hoped the new non Nexa K3 would be LE Audio and the non Nexa N8 would get updated to include LE Audio.

No it doesn’t have LE audio, nor does the kanso 3, the cp1110 ( the same n8 from 2022) is used on the nexa implant but it is running a slightly different firmware on it, no other changes except for firmware support package for the nexa .

In reply to @Raudrive

Minor rant. Sorry. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

Out of curiosity, I looked around the Cochlear site. It took a bit of finding, but eventually I found in a footnote:

When the technology becomes available for the Cochlear Nucleus 8 Sound Processor, a firmware update to your sound processor will allow you to connect to Bluetooth compatible devices.

The way they use language. Seriously. “When the technology becomes available”. You’d take that to mean that they’re just waiting for the technology, as in it’s out of their hands. Errr… the technology is available Cochlear. It’s been available for the three years since your device was released. It’s just up to you to implement it in your firmware and release it. No-one’s going to do it for you.

It’s similar to the dreaded “ready for ” which most people would take to mean that as soon as Auracast becomes available the device will work with it. No, it actually means that it’s ready for them to implement at some future time of their choosing. Bleh.

This is a copy straight from Cochlear.

Nucleus Nexa Sound Processors7

Hear clearly and confidently every day with Nucleus Nexa sound processors—designed for comfort, all-day battery life, and seamless streaming to fit your lifestyle.

In reply to @d_Wooluf

Ahh I see now.
You are correct. Ready… Down at the bottom is small print.
My mistake, thanks.

I do believe the Nexa processors are smaller and lighter than their non-Nexa couterparts.

In reply to @PhoebeY

Oct 2 2025

Having just read Cochlear’s glossy book for my wife’s possible implant they very clearly and multiple times say the newer Nexus will have . As they are a GN/Resound company member I expect they will make good on it. They do use soon and will be a lot though so No idea as to when.

*The Neuro Practice Audiologist has not let me see a sample functional nexus processor, so I have no idea how well they do BT LE Audio yet.

I know you had commented on Phonak before and while it’s true they support BT audio, but not BT LE as I expected but a hybrid of BT LE for control and device communication and BT Classic for sound, they still do not give even a calendar year for deployment of BT LE Audio or Auracast. I have to say here BT LE Audio is the thing users want most as it allows for connections without cell mfg proprietary connectivity.

We made an expensive decision partially based on Phonak providing the ability in calendar year 2025. I had hoped to have all the devices configured/connected for my wife by now on a group of Auracast channels. It might be a bit messy physically, but she would just have to point and click to stream from any device.

For Phonak Infinio users, Phonak have just announced the Ultra upgrade (existing aids can be upgraded).

As I am just in the process of buying them, my audiologist is going to upgrade my aids for free.

The main new feature I am interested in is the (alleged) rechargeable battery life improvement of 30%.

Sadly no updates - current estimates are mid 2027 :-(.

@Danskeman said:

The main new feature I am interested in is the (alleged) rechargeable battery life improvement of 30%.

Yep, sounds like the only real possible way would be to reduce the amount of Auto sphere mode.

Philips 9050’s now has a firmware update 1.3.0 that supports . A required update is also available for the HearLink 2 app.

Thanks for letting everyone know, a few people have been waiting on this!

I have two of your (old) devices (a DG4OS dongle and a Avantree Leaf Class 1 Long Range USB with aptx low latency). You make good stuff. To partially answer your question, Perplexity says:

“. . . the Pixel 8 series and newer models have full support after Android 16 updates, allowing these devices to broadcast Bluetooth audio or receive broadcasts from others using the Bluetooth standard. This support enables features like sharing audio with multiple headphones or earbuds simultaneously, similar to an audio hotspot . . .”

Hi Phoebe Y,
Your post mentioned Signia.
From them, I received conflicting information. On line, they have something talking about not implementing on existing models. Promotional e-mails they’ve sent me say that soon my devices will be Auracast ready, And, calling to ask gives mixed answers. Not much help, huh?

This thread also talks about Apple. I don’t understand exactly what is being discussed, but my Apple with M4 SOC streams very well to the Signia hearing aids. No middleman app is needed.

In reply to @PJB12

image

Thanks for your message. Based on our latest info, Signia / WS Audiology are actively working on support and should release it soon. As for your Apple device working with Signia, that’s actually through technology, not Auracast.

We’ll keep you updated as soon as we get more details from Signia!

In reply to @PhoebeY

You make great products!

Questions for you: I am pretty sure I will be prescribed Spheres by the this Tuesday, but Phonak has not yet enabled (except to the app?), nor . I need their speech clarity, but would like Auracast also. My Pixel 8 & 9’s have LE audio. Are there Type C Auracast receivers for a smartphone that could get an Auracast and relay the audio to my Spheres?

Also do you plan to make a receiver that will work on HDMI as well as optical and analog? I have older TVs and AV receivers not all of which have optical which is better for 7.1 than analog.

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