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Which hearing aids did you buy from Costco in the past few months?

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I am, somewhat, surprised that Costco has't expanded the Soundgear AMP (Starkey Edge-like) hearing aid to all, or, at least, more of their stores.

Yes agree, it seems a bit strange, I guess their still on the fence about keeping them on board at all..

In reply to @Buckeye

Your post almost gave me hope, until I phoned the WA State nearest Costco hearing center manager that does carry the Soundgear Amp model.( 70 miles away). She was able to pull my hearing profile up on her computer and told me that, even with the Soundgear high end receiver for my very profound right ear, it would not even come close to provide any kind of clarity. Additionally, she told me there’s a huge hearing centers manager’s conference coming next month, September and that Soundgear is releasing a new model that will supersede the current one and is rumored to possibly roll out to Costco this OCTOBER.

In reply to @fitzie63

@fitzie63 said:

Soundgear is releasing a new model that will supersede the current one and is rumored to possibly roll out to Costco this OCTOBER

.

Wow‼️ That puts me in the 6-month window to switch over from the EDGE model to the Omega model.

I encourage you to try when the time is right. Perhaps the hearing levels won’t be perfect, but might be good ‘nuff.

In reply to @Raudrive

I’ve been using the Jabra E P MAX since mid-June 2026. And I hate them. Tried to get an appointment at the Marysville, WA Costco and it was the h ctr manager that answered the call. She said she would do some checking and call back. She pulled my hearing tests records up on the computer. She informed me that the Soundgear AMP that the “pilot testing stores” have would not help for my profound right ear. She kept trying to push me into switching to the Jabra BiCros instead (my excellent fitter recommended against those). She informed me that there’s a huge Hearing Center managers conference this month and that Costco will probably be rolling out the newest, upgraded Soundgear model in October 2026.

In reply to @fitzie63

@fitzie63 said:

She kept trying to push me into switching to the Jabra BiCros i

I agree with your excellent fitter. When all else has failed try a bi-cross. You need to keep your hearing system active or you will lose it.

That right ear is pretty bad in the upper frequencies. If everything is failing due to that ear it just might have dead spots that just can't be helped with hearing aids. Proper testing can verify this. If that ear does have dead spots it leaves you with less choices but that makes things easier, less confusing IMO. You might try hearing aids with to bring those highs down into your better hearing or possibly a . hearing can be very good. CI is amazing.

Do you happen to know what your word understanding percentage is for that right ear?

To the OP, sorry to get off topic.

I bought the Jabra and am reasonably happy with it. I am a musician so sound quality is important to me and it is adequate. No, it doesn't match the quality of a 64 channel equalizer, but it's a big help and I have no problem using it in rehearsals. My audiologist set up a music program to my specifications (i.e. the EQ curve I wanted) and with as little processing as possible. I can turn off everything except compression and we were able to set the compression levels to my specifications.

could there be a better set of . maybe. I don't know. these are my first HAs. so I have nothing to compare them with. But I'm satisfied with them.

I bought Phillips 9050. I went back to Costco several times because my hearing felt muffled. They were very nice and made several adjustments. After awhile I just thought that my Phillips would not be as clear as my Oticon. I kind of thought, you get what you pay for. Took me some time before I realized that my sound was muffled when I had the aids in as well as when they were out.

I made an appt. with my and was told I had an ear infection in both ear. After a treatment with an antibiotic my hearing is much improved.

I got the Jabra Enhance Pro 30s, but I have returned them primarily due to the terrible bluetooth connection with my iPhone 17 Pro Max. The bluetooth connection would cut out in one ear, then the other, then both. Phone calls would drop even when I held the phone in front of my face. I picked up the Philips 9050s yesterday and they are much better in almost every way. Bluetooth is much more stable, and sound quality is superior and not so mechanical sounding as the Jabras. Time will tell how good they'll be, but I am much happier now. I will be trialing the Phonak Eon Spheres when they are released in Canada. They will have to be significantly better for me to switch at this point considering the massive price difference. I figured that I will always be wondering if they were better, so I am already on the list, and I have until February to return the Philips. As my low frequency hearing is pretty good, I will be getting custom ear molds done for the trial, as I fear that all of the fantastic features that the EON's have would not be heard with open domes letting the garbage in and letting the good sound leak out.

I am having a big problem with my 9050’s losing connection to my Apple devices (iPhone and iPads). Happens 6-12 times per hour…only lasts for a second or two. You say your 9050’s are much better than Jabra 30’s. How often do you lose connection?

Well I've only had the Philips for a few days now. So I don't have a whole lot of time on them. I can stream audio while the iPhone is in my back pocket and I am out walking. I lost connection to the right ear momentarily twice during a 1/2 hour walk. With the Jabras, I would loose the connection while putting into my back pocket! First one ear then the other, then both. So for me, this is a big improvement. Not perfect but much better. I will be trialing the Phonak EON Spheres as soon as they are available in Canada, and I can only assume that they will be rock solid, but I have to ask myself if the difference is worth 3 times the cost.

"I can turn off everything except compression and we were able to set the compression levels to my specifications." Interesting. Classical guitarist here. I wear Signia Ax 7s. I had compression turned completely off in my music program. Otherwise I got bad 'flutter'. Turning compression off was a major help. And I did all that you mentioned as well. I have zero issues with the compression off.

Thanks, thought it was something like that because I haven't heard anything from Costco hearing specialists. They still haven't heard when the Soundgear will be released to all stores.

In reply to @step07726

Last week my wife took her KS9 aids in for cleaning and checking out a low clicking sound in the right aid. They found a bad receiver and replaced both receivers.

While there I asked about each of their aids, this is in a San Antonio Texas Costco. The fitter I talked to has been at this store 6+ years that I know of, maybe longer. He said the Sonite Rise has less returns than all the others. It is their best seller. The Jabra is next best seller but has more returns due to the rechargeable battery. Then the Phillips, it also has battery return issues. He said straight up the fitters in that area are not that familiar with the Sound Gear or the Rexton. Less experienced programming them. Those two are their lowest sellers. He came off as honest and I trusted his comments. I have dealt with him in the past, good guy.

Edited

Philips 9050 rechargeable - bought in March 2026 after 5-6 years with KS9. Happy so far.

Tried Sennheiser Sonite R for a week or so back then, decided to return.

Ordered Sennheiser Sonite R initially based on Costco tech's recommendation and a 30-min in-store demo. Then after doing some research, cancelled the order, went back to the store to talk with the techs, and then ordered the Philips ones.

Tried SoundGear for 2-3 weeks (got lucky with a loaner) - didn't like the app and a few other things - and settled on Philips.

KS9 had open domes because I was getting bad occlusion with or custom molds - and probably because of that (and my hearing) - wasn't getting good sound quality or streaming experience. Night and day compared to Philips, loving them so far. Wish I had longer trials with Jabra or Sennheiser - oh well.

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