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Phonak Sphere Infinio Bluetooth Connectivity Failures – Who Else Is Affected?

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Fortunately, I haven’t experienced the dropouts and similar problems that other Spheroids have. However, I’ve noticed some annoying quirks (or maybe they count as bugs) when I stream from one of my PCs while still connected to my Android phone.

The worst is that if I’m watching something on the PC and my phone rings (and I take the call), not only does my hearing-aid audio switch to the phone - it actually disconnects the Bluetooth connection with the PC. (The PC will continue playing, now through its default speakers.) Phonak support told me that this was a necessary consequence of how Bluetooth works - but I find it a bit difficult to believe that this is really the case.

I also find that after streaming something on PC, when the streaming is complete the Spheres remain in “streaming plus mic” mode instead of reverting to Automatic. (I’m not sure what would happen if I just waited; I’m too cognizant of what John Kenneth Galbraith said about “the long run”! :-o)

Has anyone else experienced similar problems? These aren’t exactly earth-shaking, but they do add what seems to me to be an unnecessary amount of friction to the whole process.

The good news is that yesterday I clocked over 16 hours of use - including at least 8 hours of peace ‘n’ quiet and 8 hours of streaming - and was still left with over 50% battery at the end of the day. Admittedly, my gain is almost certainly on the low side - but still, it’s not too shabby!

It’s really important that you don’t leave Bluetooth active on more than two devices at a time or you will have connection issues. You can keep the other devices on, just turn off Bluetooth when you are not streaming to those devices. Otherwise, the three or four devices will all compete and randomly grab the Bluetooth connection away from the device you are streaming to. And yes…if you are streaming to your PC and your mobile phone rings, it will grab the Bluetooth connection away from the PC and the PC will then default to the speakers. All normal behaviour.

Key thing is to never have Bluetooth active on more than two devices. Every single time I have issues it’s because I accidentally left Bluetooth active on a third device in the house.

Jordan

I don’t have a three-device issue - just a few two-device issues.

Is it normal for a phone call to actually terminate the Bluetooth connection with the streaming PC? Seems a bit draconian…and contrary to the “two simultaneous connections” claim.

Phonak Sphere Ultra update. Weird problem. I hit golf balls on a quiet driving range. Phone in my pocket The pop of hitting a driver causes the Spheres to change on their own from Automatic to TV, with volume at O. Change back to Automatic via the app, volume goes to max. Happened 3 times. How can this be explained?

Edited
@MikeMcCarver said:

I hit golf balls on a quiet driving range. Phone in my pocket The pop of hitting a driver causes the Spheres to change on their own from Automatic to TV, with volume at O.

@MikeMcCarver Are you wearing (sun)glasses and have the buttons set to change programs? Sometimes when I make a sudden movement my glasses press the buttons.

(For some reason this forum refuses to save my messages as a reply. )

In reply to @MikeMcCarver

@MikeMcCarver said:

I hit golf balls on a quiet driving range. Phone in my pocket. The pop of hitting a driver causes the Spheres to change on their own from Automatic to TV, with volume at O.

What happens with a 3-wood? Or a 5-iron? Maybe the Spheres - which are intelligent, remember! - are commenting on your form in the only way they can?

In reply to @JordanK

Just to add to this, I have Phonak Audeo Paradise P90-RT and have found them very succeptible to RF interference from other Bluetooth devices. In practice this means they are almost unusable for streaming in crowded public places like train stations, food courts downtown on weekdays, or any other place where two dozen or more other people are present in a small area. This is compounded when the area has wifi hotspots, 5G repeaters, or digital handheld radio (walkie-talkie) repeaters installed — again, this is very common in urban employment areas.

For me this is very evident when I take a daily lunchtime walk at work in the underground tunnels that connect many high rise office buildings here in Toronto (these tunnels are called the PATH). If I try to listen to a podcast while I walk, the audio stutters and breaks up to an unlistenable degree in the same places every time: directly under certain antenna nodes for Wifi, 5G and other radio equipment mounted on the ceiling, and again each time I pass a food court where dozens or even hundreds of people are gathered each with one or more 5G, WIFi and BT-equipped mobile phone, smartwatch, headphones, and so on. If I walk the same route with my Soundcore earbuds I only run into problems in one specific place (where I think a 5G repeater is over-powered), not in any food courts. Holding my iPhone in my hand (not my pocket) helps in some locations but not all.

I think the struggle because of an inferior BT antenna and also perhaps the antenna placement with respect to the body (behind the ear, with more tissue to travel through on average than headphones that are on the outside of the body). I can only hope that will perform better but my hopes are not high.

In reply to @Um_bongo

@Um_bongo said:

My personal theory is that some users charge their aids within Bluetooth proximity of their phone and some don’t. This establishes two very different user profiles; in both cases the connection is suspended, however where the aids are rebooted outside of the phone Bluetooth range, the original connection is absolutely lost: so another one is added to the list (every day).

Thanks in advance… Just trying to find practical tips to “solve” issue, so would appreciate it if you clarify and/or correct my misunderstanding of (2). Suggested procedures for iPhone & Sphere Infinio:

1) Once you have things working (connecting reliably; not disconnecting randomly/inappropriately; and having eliminated sources of interference i.e. turning off connections to not in use) - presumably in part achieving this good functioning by BT unpairing and repairing; perhaps deleting apps and re-installing; then

2) When turning on HAs they should be always in proximity of iPhone with latter having BT on/active. {This is to avoid creating a new connection to the list: You wrote:”**where the aids are rebooted outside of the phone Bluetooth range, the original connection is absolutely lost: so another one is added to the list (every day).” **
Is this a “list” in iPhone (whcih it seems I’d have access to and could tell iPhone to forget; or is it within the HAs where access might be harder to get, perhaps only through the Phonak Target software that many users do not have.}
During the day, I often turn off (unpower) iPhone and/or HAs (in part to conserve battery). Am I correct that you’re suggesting to only turn on HAs when in proximity to iPhone that is on;
OR if I have HAs on but I have turned off iPhone to: a) turn off HAs; b) turn on iPhone, then turn HAs back on.

Again, my emphasis is on establishing Best Practices as a user, and yet having some basic understanding of what might be causing an issue, and therefore why the Best Practice is likely to be successful gives an important context (for any other troubleshooting).

=========
In my own case I have a Roger ON IN external mic; Phonak TV streamer/connector; iPhone, and Apple iMac devices that often do NOT play nice with the HAs.

@Edma said:

OR if I have HAs on but I have turned off iPhone to: a) turn off HAs; b) turn on iPhone, then turn HAs back on.

This bit: I’m not sure it’s going to stop the Phone creating a new pairing (effectively lengthening the list of connections before a time-out) but at least you’ll have a ‘fresh’ pairing to work with.

If it starts getting a bit flakey; forget, delete and re-pair to ‘clean out’ the cache of handshakes once a month at least. Unless this newest (Ultra) firmware update has sorted the issue.

In reply to @Dusty

Huh. I don’t have Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio’s (yet) as I just started researching what news ones to get at my appointment next week. But this seems exactly on point. The problem is neither Phonak nor Apple have implemented LE audio yet. The explanation starts a little under halfway through the video at the link

In reply to @greg.smith

I had been using an iPhone 11 for many years, but just got an iPhone 17. Suddenly, it seems my Bluetooth connection issues in high-traffic areas are much reduced. Time will tell if this is actually resolved or not but it seems that my phone may have actually been substantially to blame.

Have ever found at problem with Phone going to streaming mode , without you wanting to do so ? It seems to be a growing problem with new Ultras Infiinio i my country . People notice that having their Phone in the pocket, suddenly start hearing differently ..they go to the app and see that ,s are ine the srreaming mode / program .

Yes, my INfinio I90 Spheres do that often. No idea why but I thought it may be when other Bluetooth devices are near. Phonak Bluetooth function sucks.

I’m quite sure that I’ve worn the Sphere’s longer than anyone else on this forum. I can honestly say that after the Ultra upgrade I’ve had zero Bluetooth issues. No drop offs. No disconnects. If you are having chronic problems it’s probably your phone.

Just my humble opinion…

Jordan

Edited

In reply to @wtolkien

I am wondering now if this is something inherently wrong with MS Teams, because I have the same problem with my Oticon XCeed plus . It has been happening more and more frequently with Teams dropping the call, going to speaker, and then going back to my ConnectClip even though it is plugged into power via power strip 24/7.

It does not happen with Zoom or any other connection.

EDIT: this is not the same as the random rebooting issue that I have posted about previously.

In reply to @Tom.Joke

It will start streaming if you get a notification. That is what all headphones do that I ever used. But the spheres should drop out of streaming mode after a few seconds. I noticed no change with the new firmware.

Also, some apps stream silence like the Spotify app, even when you are playing music over Spotify connect.

I seem to have too good of a connection. I find since the upgrade my sphere takes over the connection away from any other device paired with my phone. I can go to my bluetooth settings and tell it to “disconnect” but within 30 seconds it reconnects and takes over again. I’ve had to “forget” it as a device on my phone and my macbook so i can use the speakers on the computer or use other devices with my phone if i want. It really became an issue when i was trying to stream to my car then the sphere would take the connection and only turning it off would release it back.

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