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Phonak Certena M from 2009. Time for new aids?

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Hello everyone,

I was diagnosed with a moderately severe bilateral sensoineural hearing loss in 2009. I got my ear mold Phonak Certena M’s in September of that year. I was uninsured and on a budget, but managed with a discounted program to pay around $3000 total for both the aids.

I have had these aids for 5 years, and my hearing loss has gotten worse. I haven’t visited the audiologist lately, or for that matter found one in Mendocino County in Northern California that I necessarily like. Almost all of the audi options available to me require an hour drive. On a positive note though, I have recently gotten health insurance, I believe which will cover the cost of certain audi services and even provide me with possibly up to $3000 total for both ears hearing aids cost coverage every 5 years.

My question is, should I move on to new aids. I am not swimming in extra money. I know I want to step up a level or two performance wise, especially in difficult noisy environments. My loss has gotten worse. I would be prepared to pay a good bit over the money my insurance company provides, in order to get rather good quality aids. So the second part of my question is, what are the options these days, what sort of difference in performance can I expect compared to my current aids, and what features would I gain as I move from a lower to a higher price bracket?

Some other things of note: I work outside, in wet environments. I have a Dry Store box for the aids, and I have found the Certenas to be extremely resilient to moisture. This is still important to me. I actually dropped one in the creek one time, and it fully recovered after a night in the Dry N Store. Amazing. That incident alone makes me think I will stick with Phonak. The other thing I want to add is some sort of system - for phone calls and especially for listening to music and the radio.

So what sort of options are out there?
What improvements can I expect compared to the 2009 Certena Ms?
What differences exist between low and high priced models these days?

Thanks a ton if you can contribute any answers or personal experiences to my situation!

History:

EAR 250 500 1000 2000 4000 6000 8000
2009
L 55 65 70 65 55 70
R 50 60 45 60 55 70
2011
L 55 65 85 75 70 95
R 50 65 85 75 70 90
2012
L 65 70 95 85 75 80
R 70 80 95 85 75 70
2013
L 60 70 85 85 85 95 105
R 70 70 90 85 70 85 80

If you want to stay with Phonak, consider the new Audéo V instruments that were released last month. These are (receiver in canal) devices which have sound quality advantages over the form factor that you’re using now. They’re available with the superpower plus receiver that’s strong enough to support your loss. The receiver is encased in a custom acrylic shell.

The processing chip in the Audéo V is much faster and more powerful than the one in the Certéna, so it can more accurately classify the environment you’re in and apply the appropriate programs and features to help you hear better. There are also new wireless accessories available that are more reliable and use less power than previous products.

More info here:
https://www.phonakpro.com/content/da…V_027-0173.pdf1

Some other things of note: I work outside, in wet environments. I have a Dry Store box for the aids, and I have found the Certenas to be extremely resilient to moisture.

My experience with Certenas is the opposite. I’ve found them sensitive to moisture particularly sweating from hiking, mowing the lawn &c. I inadvertently left them in when mowing the lawn on a 25 degree humid afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Despite taking them out when I started to sweat the left aid stopped working and didn’t come good until it had been in the dry-aid for 24 hours.

The insides of mine have been replaced twice under warranty due to moisture-induced failure. They’re the same age as OP’s . Based in this I wouldn’t buy Phonak again.

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