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Streaming in the age of rechargeable hearing aids

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I wear Widex Moment 440 of which the left aid was recently repaired. Naturally, it’s out of warranty and I can’t replace either with insurance for another year. I use Com Dex which allows me to stream. The benefit of it is that if a business I’m calling puts me on wait with music - or like my property management for my condo, uses a pre-recorded voice WITH music while speaking, I could press the control and turn it off so I didn’t get a migraine.

The streaming feature in the hearing aids themselves no longer work which is why I’m grateful for the Com Dex, however, if the Com Dex runs out of juice for the day, I’m up the creek without the ability to stream to hear over the phone. I have a beef with my audiologist that when I mentioned that it stopped working in the hearing aids themselves, she gave me a number to call the company. I work and don’t have time to troubleshoot with Widex over the phone when I should be working. I don’t know how I’m supposed to do that on my smartphone that I need to hear on since I don’t have a physical phone at work anymore. I’m not going back to her because I don’t have another $330 to pay for the repair. When they came back the last time, the bluetooth in the hearing aids themselves worked for twenty minutes. I paused to do something and now they no longer work. Not doing this again. I’ve done everything and when I pair them, they go silent. When I’m steaming, the sound peeks through briefly and then goes silent so I’m seeing only video on YouTube with no sound. Again, I’ve done everything imaginable to fix it and it won’t work.

Looking to 2027, I now see that ALL BRANDS appear to be discontinuing battery operated hearing aids. I don’t want rechargeable because I stream so much, they’re useless to me. I want something more robust than the Widex Moment that I’m using. Frankly, my left ear is moderate to severe, and my right is severe to profound. I’ve always felt that the would work best for me with the power and comfort, but my audiologist talks me out of it when I bring up the subject.

During the COVID shut down, all my hearing aids on the left side broke. My trusty Starkey analog of more than 20 years, was still working until it didn’t but it amazed me how durable it was.

Are there any BTE models that won’t die after three years for the streaming and give me the option of turning it off if I get music on the phone? I’m into music and streaming and those are important. I’d appreciate any suggestions since I’m not sure if I want to go back to Widex again, or at least for them to be my only hearing aids. The Bluetooth was always one sided. Thank God for the Com Dex but that too is now discontinued.

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Edited

The Jabra 30s (rebranded Resounds) at Costco are available in both disposable and rechargeable batteries. You loose the benefit in the Hearing in Noise program with the disposable battery option, however.

For around $1,600 and full 3 year warranty - plus 6 month return option - it would be worth discussing with a Costco fitter and doing an in store trial, IMO. Note that your smartphone needs to be compatible with the newer tech. My Costco hearing center is open Saturdays and Sundays - you do need an appointment.

Edit to add: My Jabra 30s are with custom molds and rechargeable batteries. I stream several hours of TV per day but few phone calls. The disposable batteries never get below 60% (3 of 5 stars showing on the charger). The only way I know how to switch off phone call streaming music is to change to speaker phone.

I’m not sure about how reliable your Costco is but the one in my area bleeds audiologists according to one of the store managers. They literally can’t keep them with the doctors always leaving. What this does for the customer is that it’s often a long wait to get an appointment. I know when my mother bought a pair at Costco and needed to go back for assistance, it was six months wait. I’d like to avoid that myself and get something at a small business where I could get better service.

Edited

It’s unfortunate that your local Costco doesn’t work for you. My recent experience was that there was a three week wait for a hearing test if you took any appointment available. A three week wait to get the new hearing aid if you took any appointment available, and a three week wait for your next adjustment if you took any appointment available.

As for a hearing aid with a disposable battery, they are still being sold. Check their web sites. Phonak has one called the Audeo 312.

The problem with disposable batteries is that the battery isn’t strong enough to power the all features that new hearing aids come with. So you are not getting the latest in hearing-in-noise technology and .

You might see what Zip hearing can do for you at a good price.https://www.ziphearing.com/3

In reply to @Lau2046

That’s really a shame, especially if required to use actual audiologists instead of state licensed hearing aid fitters - like most states. My current Costco fitter is equal in ability (for my ears) to the very nice audiologist i used for about 6 years.

I have the Jabra 30 from Costco plus a pair Jabra 20s I bought just before the 30s were released. I could have returned the 20s, but decided to kept as a spare set.

My Jabra 20s take disposable batteries, which I prefer, and made long term storage a better option. Both sets combined cost about $2k less than one pair of Resound Vivia 9s (with comparable warranty) from the Audi. And of course they sell other major brands as well.

It takes about a week (two at the most) to see my fitter. At least that’s been the case so far.

I’m not 100% positive that I understand, but I think a problem you’ve encountered is that you’d like to stop the streaming when not needed to conserve battery life of the hearing aids. Note that other bluetooth devices, like a keyboard, will not work when Bluetooth is off.

I do this often. On my Apple computer the quickest way is to tap the menu bar Bluetooth icon and turn off bluetooth. On the Android phone, I drag down from the top of the screen & tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it off. This seems to help prolong the hearing aid battery life.

Another Way:
I don’t know how it works with your phone, but with my Apple computer and with my Android phone, I open Bluetooth Settings (called “Connected Devices” on Android) and tap to disconnect the hearing aids, leaving the computer & phone Bluetooth on. When I want streaming back, I tap the hearing aid icon to reconnect.

Hope This Helps!
Paul

@PJB12 said:

I’m not 100% positive that I understand, but I think a problem you’ve encountered is that you’d like to stop the streaming when not needed to conserve battery life of the hearing aids.

Also consider using flight mode which disables Bluetooth on the hearing aid. The simplicity of activating this varies with hearing aid. You are not able to remotely control the hearing aid from a phone if Bluetooth is off on the phone or the hearing aid is disconnected or the hearing aid is in flight mode.

Edited

I’ve got the Samsung S21+ - I’ve been all over this phone and it’s frustrating not to have the Bluetooth working in the hearing aids itself. If I forget my Com Dex when heading out to work, I’m out of luck, and I’m a care giver for my father so this is important to me.

Edit to add that when I go to the settings to Sounds and Vibrations, Volume - I not that Ringtone, notifications, system and assistant are all in blue and showing the volume is all the way up. Media shows the same but it’s in red suggesting to me that the volume must be affected and muted someone and I’ve no idea how to correct it so it’s appearing in blue like the others. Edit to add again, I lowered it and it’s blue again. When I slide it, I heard dots in the hearing aids but and my aids go silent. I played the media on YouTube and again, still no audio.

In reply to @Lau2046

I have Widex Moment 330 and I purchased these in 2020. When I first got them, they would only work directly with Apple iPhones and did not work with Android phones. Later on around 2022 Widex brought out a Moments app for Android so Moment HAs could work with Android phones.

I put a request to Microsoft CoPilot and it replied:
Compatibility Summary for Samsung S21+

  • Direct streaming: Yes — the S21+ supports , so you can stream calls and audio directly to Widex MOMENT.

  • Widex MOMENT app: Works on Android 10–14 reliably.

  • Bluetooth pairing: Straightforward — pair through the phone’s Bluetooth menu, then open the Widex app to complete setup.

Further comments by the AI said that Android 15 on your phone will cause problems with the Moment app, quote “Android 15: Some users report the Widex app becomes unstable or fails to connect properly, even though Bluetooth pairing still works. If your S21+ is on Android 15, the app may misbehave until Widex updates their software.”

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