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How often to upgrade Phonak hearing aids?

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I purchased the Phonak Audeo Infinio I90-R back in October 2024. I was just looking at the Phonak website as I like checking if new technology have come out, and saw that new hearing aids under the EON line have just been released. I will not be upgrading, but how often do you recommend to upgrade your phonak hearing aids? I have extended warranty for 4 years, so until 2028. Maybe wait until the next version after EON?

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Hearing aids for adults should last for at least 6 years before they start becoming unreliable. The Infinio's may be different as they're offering 4 year warranties where I am because the housings have proven to be so resistant to water and dust ingress they're not getting the same level of repairs as previous products.

Two rules I follow:

(1) Technology upgrade not a features upgrade. There’s so much marketing by these companies that sometimes it’s hard to differentiate what is a meaningful transformation of the underlying technology vs new features, but look at reviews and ask your audiologist.

(2) Do new hearing aids on the market appreciably upgrade a functionality that addresses a core aspect of your hearing loss or hearing needs.

Of course, within warranty period and/or 3 years, Worth sticking with what you’ve got. Technology and are moving faster now, so meaningful improvements may arrive faster.

In reply to @kitpit123

You are ahead of me in your Phonak! I took a look at the Infinio back in '24 and saw it was just TOO BIG and heavy for the back of my ear, competing with sunglasses, reading glasses, headband, etc., But even better, I found that Phonak had released the 312-battery version of Lumity Life, so I got that (with an identical pair about a year later). LOVE that model for two reasons: it really does deliver on the speech comprehension promise, and the 312 batteries fit my lifestyle of living off the grid sometimes for weeks at a time with no reliable place to plug in a charger. I'm bummed that Phonak has zero plans to come out with any new tech on the 312 platform. So I'm hanging tough for now.

I'd typically swap out aids every 3-4 years depending on what's new and what works. To be a BUG, I also LOVE my 312s cuz one pair is Caribbean Pirate (teal) and the other is Precious Pink (fuschia) which is SO ME. I love color! Why do makers think everyone wants to wear black, white, tan, silver, champagne and that's it? BORING. There needs to be custom wrap for aids like there is for cars. Doing that would likely invalidate the warranty tho. 🤨

I had my marvels about 7 years. Just recently bought the Sennheiser Sonite rise aids (= I90R)

I was hoping for a notable jump in speech understanding but so far haven't noticed a huge leap in tech. Better in some ways, though and I'm still keeping an open mind that after I get some setting changes at my follow-up appointment, things will be improved.

My marvels are 13 instead of the 312. I opted for the 13 for twice the power for a negligible size increase. I'm not a fan of the rechargeables so far. Mine dropped below 10% a few nights ago...before 9PM... and that with what I would call light usage.... a little streaming and a few phone calls...certainly not on the phone all day though!

My point is that except for the Sphere series taht I have not tried, I'm not sure the thech leap over 5-7 years is all that great

Yeah most will agree, same for all the other brands as well, we're all still waiting for that "wow, amazing" feature to drop by, seems our only hope is in

From 2012 marketing hype

"The Quest platform offers the broadest range of features to deliver high end-user satisfaction in virtually every soundscape, even the most challenging ones, like windy and very noisy situations!"

In reply to @tenkan

The business lie is more refined now. There are one or more and we may not even be sure what they do but they do it faster and better than those before.

Do hearing aids know when they are in programming mode and if so, could there be defeat code to trick ? No idea why one might bother with that but if auto can do it, why not others. Does do anything to check for such a possibility?

@user490 said:

Do hearing aids know when they are in programming mode and if so, could there be defeat code to trick REM?

Of course they know they are in programming mode.

What would be accomplished by “tricking ” ?? The hearing aids aren’t in programming mode during that part of REM, they behave normally. The microphone inside the ear canal reports what it hears, and that is compared against what the sound levels are prescribed. The microphone hears the levels. If they are close enough in the right places then fitting is done, but if something is too loud or too weak adjustments are made.

WH

Folks like Dr. Cliff put a lot of stock in showing aids can meet targets. Whether it could be or there would be a point in faking it is unclear. All this might interfere and it's possible to disable that for REM especially becauese the DNN likely can recognize the REM tracks from the various machine manufacturers.

@user490 said:

All this DNN might interfere and it's possible to disable that for REM especially becauese the DNN likely can recognize the REM tracks from the various machine manufacturers.

It's overthinking a bit. To make the most of any , patient's gains should meet the targets (especially for high frequencies) for getting as much benefits from DNN as possible with high probability.

This is also from my experience, if HA basics like being at least on targets, proper receiver power, vent diameter, etc. aren't set properly, it is unlikely that DNN will provide benefits or if any, that benefits will be mediocre.

When I had M receiver (theoretically ideal for my ), my Phonak Audéo Infinio Sphere 90 was worse even than my old Audéo Paradise, even with highest level of DNN denoising.

In your trials did you go back and use an M receiver with a small vent in case it was the vent more than the receiver strength that was not working for you?

Edited
@user490 said:

In your trials did you go back and use an M receiver with a small vent in case it was the vent more than the receiver strength that was not working for you?

No, because why would this help? I started trial with M receiver and Phonak soft silicone power domes L size.

Now I have P receiver with Unitron thick silicone M size because of deeper placement in ear canal.

Now I wait for UP in cShell eith no vent after trying with 1mm vent.

See my fittings, on the left you have the M receiver:

UP was in cShell with 1mm diameter vent.

M receiver was in high risk of saturation and had very poor high frequency amplification. This would be even worse with venting, so I don't understand your question or I maybe I misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Even with a cShell with no vent an M receiver would provide a similar fit to the M fit shown?

How common is this issue? Does it tend to occur when folks are near the edge of the fitting range? Are the fitting ranges sometimes too broad with specific receivers/aids?

@user490 said:

Even with a cShell with no vent an M receiver would provide a similar fit to the M fit shown?

Not necessarily if cShell wouldn't has outlet of the receiver as deep as with power domes. But why I would choose M receiver again, even in cShell, given this is too weak?

M receiver was chosen by remote fitter based on Target software suggestion based on my , which was bullshit.

@user490 said:

Are the fitting ranges sometimes too broad with specific receivers/aids?

Fitting range is a general hint, rule of thumb, nothing like "0-1" statement engraved in stone.

@user490 said:

How common is this issue?

I don't know.

@user490 said:

Does it tend to occur when folks are near the edge of the fitting range?

Possibly yes, especially when someone has much mid- or high frequency loss.

Bradh, similarly I had Marvel for 5 years and just got Sennheiser at Costco last year. It has a little more power and with adding the partner mic and the TV connector, there is some help in understanding speech better. Speech in noisy environments is still very difficult and no improvement there.

I bought Costco Signature 10s as my first foray to Phonak (basically paradise). I didn’t bother with Lumity as the difference wasn’t significant. I did buy a cheap second hand pair of Life’s for cycling and programmed them myself. Which I used as backups anyway (L30s).

When Sphere came out it was such a game changer that I took the plunge. The tech was remarkably different in noise and it was worth every penny. EONs aren’t worth it for me, I don’t find the size difference is significant between Sphere and Paradise or Lumity and I also wear glasses. Battery life wise my Spheres have never run out of juice in one day. They often last two since the Ultra upgrade.

So bottom line I upgrade when the tech changes enough to justify it. As Sphere will get I’ll probably hang around with these for a while. I have Roger too but since sphere I use it less and less. Only really for large meeting rooms and of course Teams meetings and the TV (I got rid of the TV Connector).

Am replacing my 6.5 yr Marvel Naida SP with Lumity Naida UP.

Not from aids not working, just now need more power in old age....

In reply to @kitpit123

I got the Phonak Audeo I90-R back in December 2022. I'm about to replace them. They're out of warranty and while they still work, not as well as they did originally. Maybe I just need more power, hard to say. I've been impressed with the moisture resistance and how well they held up compared to my previous Widex. My drive to upgrade comes in part due to insurance coverage, which I may not have much longer, but I feel like it's time anyway and I hope there's been some improvement in technology, even if most of it is marketing. I usually go 4-5 years.

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