Phonak Launches Infinio Ultra and Ultra Sphere: Improved Processing, Battery

I only paid attention to this about a year ago, but then we were calling the Sphere the I90, and the Infinior R (non-Sphere) was called the IR90. Looks like Phonak still hasn’t blown away the nomenclature fog. Now in its data sheet posting, the Sphere is referred to as the Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio, and the R non-Sphere model is referred to as the Phonak Audéo Infinio R. The models for both are listed as I90, I70, I50, etc.
Product Datasheets | Phonak29

@OcramSagev said:

Probably they are more focused right now on helping people hear better and improving their quality of life

You think maybe to implement Auracast they’d have to pull people off their signal processing /ai /audiology teams? This is Sonova we’re talking about.

@OcramSagev said:

don’t buy a tech device for what it can do in the future , buy it for what it can do for you today

Ok, but when we’re making our pros and cons lists we might make room for supporting those companies and those technologies that are moving us towards the future that we want.

@OcramSagev said:

No unless you change any of your hardware

Actually, I’d disagree slightly here: if the response has been modified -which some people have suggested is happen in the higher frequencies, I’d like to see if there’s a difference in terms of actual gain and whether I’d need to modify venting/change the feedback manager.

I’m not 100% on this: @Neville will see far more than I will and will be able to give a more authoritative response.

I don’t disagree with you .

But is the recommendation then to do REM after this firmware update in all cases ? Is that something that providers are doing now ? Or is there a way to find out in advance which patients are affected by the high frequency change change (if this is indeed happening ).

This firmware may become very expensive for providers .

This is a lot of hype. In reality the 2.0 ultra firmware update benefits Sphere’s in massive way in the buildout for the DeepSonic AI chip. i90’s only benefit a little because they do not have an AI chip.

The Sphere chips have not changed, it’s just the 2.0 firmware that is a complete game changer, but for sphere only. i90 gets tiny benefit and some better battery life. Sphere gets a lot of everything including 56 hrs/11 hrs of Deepsonic use. I ordered my Sphere Ultra’s Monday. Looking forward to what should be among the best hearing devices ever. Ultra is a brand refresh in name only. The hardware’s the same. If you wish ask ChatGPT. There’s granular detail.

I think, there are also benefits in the fundamentals of how the hearing aid works, at least in my case, see here:

Phonak Virto R Infinio Hearing Aids or Phonak Virto Paradise P90 312 (Custom ITE) and other questions?

Depend on particular fitting. What I see in my particular case (I will provide screenshots later) is, after firmware update (P receiver): A bit poorer maximum output (1 dB) from ~1000 to 3200 Hz) - rather unsignificant. 3200 Hz - no difference. From 4000 Hz - 5 dB higher maximum receiver output From 6650 - 7 dB higher. From 7294 - 8 dB higher (47 dB vs. 39 dB before upgrade) From 8000 - 9 dB higher (44 dB vs 35 dB as above) From 9190 - 10 dB higher (38 dB vs. 28 dB as above) From 9624 - 11 …

@TonyF said:

Ultra is a brand refresh in name only. The hardware’s the same. If you wish ask ChatGPT. There’s granular detail.

I do I knew it right after creation of this topic, by the OP.

At the end of warranty my Practitioner sent my two Paradise P90R’s and charger back.

I’m very grateful

Phonak replaced both hearing aids and charger with new.

The batteries last longer.

DaveL

We hear a lot about making speech in restaurants great, I would be interested to hear from some of you including Jordan what are the benefits in windy conditions if any, I and many others who don’t spend their lives in resto’s but either bike or walk (dog) a lot would appreciate this information.

I have the phonak spheres and I have to have the wind blocker turned down because not only do they lower the sound of the wind they also lower the sound of everything else which makes it very hard to talk to somebody.

Thanks Markoo for the feedback.
In the fall and winter I wear my winter Tilly hat that has ear flaps, eliminated 95% of the wind noise, next move is summer noise buffers, the day they figure out this wind issue, a lot of us will go the distance in hardware change, for myself the shopping center environment is the only area (so far) that I have a problem with and there I switch program to one I’ve made to help reduce the noise. I feel very fortunate that my P70’s are doing a great job, 2 of my sisters have CI’s and out of 7 kids 5 have hearing issues.

@JordanK said:

I haven’t tried the Ultra update with Wind yet.

Can’t wait for the results, same condition here west of Montreal

On old hearing aids the microphones had different filters and in my opinion they blocked the wind much better. The disadvantage was that they had to be changed often because they would get clogged with dust. Maybe Phonak should make it possible to bring back those old filters for those who often spend time in windy conditions because people often need to talk in windy conditions.

@kgmgpm said:

windy conditions

Two weeks ago I would have said Spheres didn’t have a great ability to reject wind noise. Yesterday was really windy here, and I was doing work outside boxing fruit and squash for food pantries. I was really not looking forward to being around people doing this work in the wind, but they did very well! I was shocked as the experience so far had been terrible.

WH