Oh, please. This is a load of rubbish (of the odoriferous type that is expelled from the back end of farm animals) it’s frankly insulting for you to argue that anyone who has issues with the pairing process is “technically challenged”. I don’t disagree it’s relatively simple moving the Marvels from one phone to another, but moving Marvels from a phone to a computer (at least one running Windows 10) is another matter altogether. Unless your computer is a toy that you’re using to watch movies or surf the internet, pairing doesn’t just involve pairing (in itself, trivial), but it also involves rebooting the computer and restarting however many applications you are using and saving how ever many documents you have open. This takes much longer than pairing and during this time, the applications you run are non-operational. Not to mention that the Marvels don’t just have to be re-paired EVERY TIME you move them from one device to another, they don’t even reliably reconnect and stay reliably connected. Keep on denying…
i don’t think he was being malicious or denying anything, at least not as malicious as you’re portraying or even being towards him.
I can only speak from the Mac standpoint, but it really is quite simple on a Mac. all i have to do is delete the pairing, open/close battery door, and repair on the other device. can’t speak from a Windows standpoint. your notion that don’t stay reliably connected or that they do not reliably connect however is wholly false in my experience on both computer and phone. this is the experience of many others – especially with the latest firmware.
I never used the word malicious. I said it was insulting to use the words “technically challenged” and “age” together in the same breath as disregarding the pairing issues that the Marvels have. It’s not that the pairing process is difficult, it’s that it’s time consuming, especially for computers running Windows 10 and it’s not just time consuming, but it’s unnecessarily time consuming, due solely to the brain-damaged single-pairing limitation of the Marvels. But hey, just keep on saying they have the most advanced connectivity in the industry…
I never used the word malicious. I said it was insulting to use the words “technically challenged” and “age” together in the same breath as disregarding the pairing issues that the Marvels have. It’s not that the pairing process is difficult, it’s that it’s time consuming, especially for computers running Windows 10 and it’s not just time consuming, but it’s unnecessarily time consuming, due solely to the brain-damaged single-pairing limitation of the Marvels. But hey, just keep on saying they have the most advanced connectivity in the industry…
Marvels are advanced in connectivity by the ability to pair to an Android phone using Bluetooth Classic without the necessity of wearing an intermediate device around your neck. That’s EXACTLY why my wife and I bought our Marvels. From what I’m reading, that’s all they’re claiming for connectivity. What other can you name that can currently pair “directly” to an Android phone?
I think I might have earned the right to use “technically challenged” and “age” in the same breath. I’m 77 and I’m a retired Microsoft software engineer. I’ve seen “technically challenged” and “age” in action enough to make the correlation! I’ve spent a lot of time working with folks in my age group to help them understand their computers and cell phones. It’s certainly no shame for older folks not to have grown up with the same technological advantages as younger folks have.
I’ll agree with others on the forum that it is not necessary to reboot a Windows 10 computer in order to pair or re-pair the Marvels. I can un-pair and re-pair back and forth from my computer to my phone in about a minute without ever having to reboot my computer. I have no idea what you’re doing that makes it a problem for you. Perhaps it’s something that your corporate IT department has done for security. Have you tried it on your home Windows 10 machine?
I will agree with you that Phonak has made the pair re-pair process unnecessarily complicated and time consuming. (But certainly not impossible.) If you attempt to disconnect your Bluetooth connection on your Android phone, you will see that within seconds the HA automatically reconnects itself again! That’s NOT how Bluetooth Classic is supposed to work! That’s why you have to go through the “Forget” the connection, un-pair and then re-pair again from scratch when changing paired devices. I’ve reported this several times to Phonak Development and I’m hoping they can make a simple fix to correct that and make it work like Bluetooth Classic “should” work.
And lastly, you continue to say that the Marvel is unreliable. As far as I can tell, you are the only one on the forum that is saying that. My Marvel M90-R is absolutely rock solid and reliable. My Wife’s Marvel M90-R is absolutely rock solid and reliable.
For the record, bluetooth streaming to the Galaxy s8 is poor. Appears to be an s8 problem, unfortunately.
When you say “appears to be an S8 problem” what do you mean?
I have an S8+ with M90s and streaming is great except when I’m outside. When outside (in the open air) it drops out every few seconds; it seems to happen every time I move my head! I’ve heard that this is due to the left aid needing to bounce its signal off ceilings and walls to reach the right aid. But I would imagine this is a problem with any phone, not just S8 / S8+. Have you heard otherwise?
I use an LG G6 with M 90 Rs and so far I’ve only had the signal breakup when I was too far from the phone. Streaming with Android (and Windows) Is really just icing on the cake for me. I seem to be hearing better overall with them than with previous aids. I’ve worn several brands and I’m not knocking any of them.
When you say “appears to be an S8 problem” what do you mean?
I have an S8+ with M90s and streaming is great except when I’m outside. . . But I would imagine this is a problem with any phone, not just S8 / S8+. Have you heard otherwise?
When you google s8 bluetooth distortion there are countless people talking about this issue as being an s8 issue in particular. There’s a low level crackling distortion when streaming through bluetooth to various devices.
I have the drop-out outside, too, which I do not have with the iphone. It’s too bad, because I really like this phone on the whole.
Neville,
I’m curious if you think I should go ahead and do the firmware upgrade?? My audiologist says its unnecessary since I am using the iPhone 7Plus and the firmware upgrade is to accommodate the XS phones. But others on this forum have indicated there are other benefits to the upgrade (e.g. faster connection with the Remote App??) and they say I should do it. My audiologist thinks it might cause new problems and since I’ve not had any issues she thinks waiting for a more significant upgrade in the future is better. Your thoughts please??
Hard to answer. If I have time during an appointment, I will generally run the update, but if I do not have time at that appointment I will not necessarily recommend booking a new appointment specifically to run it if the patient is not having associated issues. In my experience, I have not had a Phonak update break anything, but that is not saying that it wouldn’t. Have had updates with other manufacturers cause connectivity issues, so I can understand if your provider is a bit shy about it. You can certainly ask that she contact phonak to ask whether anything else came out with the update. I haven’t checked, I’ve just been updating everything so far (have been doing it in advance when pre-fitting, have not yet had a patient come in with a pre-existing Marvel that calls for update).
I think your tone darylm is really getting out of hand and unwelcome on this board (at least from my perspective). Calm yourself down, sir. You’ve made your point that you don’t find that Marvels work well for you based on your connectivity needs. We get it. There may be some who disagree with you.
Coming from ReSound LiNX (original LiNX 4 years, trialed Quattros for ~6 weeks) to Phonak Marvels M90-13T, I will say that I really love the hands free calling (other than in wind). Being able to multitask instead of holding my phone in one hand is great!
That wind noise you describe is about the only drawback I’ve found with the Marvels so far, but I also had that when using a standard headset (wired or Bluetooth). Wind on the mic or traffic sounds were heard by the person I was speaking with.
Boy the whole Bluetooth issue while I’m sure a detriment to some, has sure gotten excessive talk time on here. But at least there is a good idea of potential pitfalls and a few workarounds. But it was hard to read all of that. Hoping that debate is put to bed.
I’m real close to getting ready to start a trial for some M90Rs. I’m undecided if I will eventually buy that model or the M70R or the battery versions of one of those.
20 year hearing aid user here. I listen to music both in my car and on my 7.2.4 home theater setup where I also watch tv and movies. Do not need tv connector as I have decent word understanding etc.
My hearing loss is higher end of moderate or moderate/severe in upper frequencies, almost as bad in low and mid frequencies. I’ll upload my audio gram as soon as I go in for my fitting and get a printout.
There is a question here. As far as the manual programs, besides the manual music program with all the compression and soundsense nannies turned off, what other manual programs would you insist upon?
Besides listening to music I am a business person that occasionally is in board room meetings, interacts in restaurants etc.
I would recommend having the Speech in Loud Noise program added. This was formerly called StereoZoom in Phonak lingo and allows for streaming of sound in really noisy situations to improve clarity and understanding. It is definitely (in my experience) a great feature and unique from other brands. While the M-90’s can automatically switch into Speech in Loud Noise within AutoSense 3.0, the M-70’s can only access it via a program slot. I would also add it as a program with the M-90’s, so I can manually go into it when I feel it’s needed. In previous version of Phonak hearing aids, it was a godsend in noisy restaurants and truly made a difference for me.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I’ve spent a lot of time working with folks in my age group to help them understand their computers and cell phones. It’s certainly no shame for older folks not to have grown up with the same technological advantages as younger folks have.
