Phonak introduces Paradise, a new paradigm in hearing aid sound quality

@Blacky said:

From what I’ve understood they use motion sensors, not touch sensors, so they shouldn’t need skin contact for conducting current.

I did another test… I took the hearing aid off, held it by the wire and tapped on it twice with a drink coaster that was on my desk. This triggered siri… So, I guess I missed that part of the briefing

@MDB said:

it will be up to hearing aid manufacturers to implement

They all will… In fact the hearing aid companies were the driving force behind the development of the new LE Audio codec.

@lbr0el0fs said:

but is there any word if a variation of the Paradise will come to Costco?

I don’t have that level of security clearance

Here’s a good summary of what’s new in Paradise:

@AbramBaileyAuD said:

The “mini charger” … You can check the photo in my article too.

You killed all my hopes
My experience with hard to push and pull was with regular one, so I hoped maybe travel version is easier.

Maybe it gets easier with time?

@AbramBaileyAuD btw did you manage to decipher what exactly is blocking you to connect to your macbook? Was it two active connections to two phones/other devices or something else?

Have not figured out yet.

I am really liking this feature.

Some random speculation. 1) Unless Phonak decides to break with Costco, they will likely appear at Costco sometime next year (2021) Could be in the form of KS10, or perhaps Brio 5. No clue if rechargeables will be available, but I’m doubtful. 2) Custom hearing aids using this chip will likely not be made until about another year. I’m guessing the motion sensor and tap feature only being available on rechargeables has something to do with voltage requirements. Lithium ion chemistry generates notable more voltage than zinc air. Perhaps more voltage is somehow better for powering motion sensors or it was just too much work designing ones with different voltage requirements. This prompted a thought on the “Will hearing aids designed to use disposable batteries go away?” If I’m not mistaken, all custom hearing aids use disposable batteries. I doubt they will go away, so I’m guessing at least some hearing aids will be built with disposable batteries, although likely high end models will only be available in rechargeable if Phonak’s move is any indicaton.

I hope you’re right! Somehow I’m guessing it will be awhile though–maybe in 2022?

@MDB said:

If I’m not mistaken, all custom hearing aids use disposable batteries.

I had to check, but there’s one rechargeable, starkey livio edge ai custom: https://www.starkey.com/blog/articles/2020/07/livio-edge-ai-custom-rechargeable-hearing-aids10

charging connectors are on the outer side

Good find! I gotta think that designing a custom battery for each pair of hearing aids has got to be expensive.

I believe they don’t reinvent the battery itself, just the shell outside, but that could lead that some small ear canals probably can’t get rechargable version then.

Yeah, maybe not custom batteries, but figuring out how to make everything fit is unique for each pair. Perhaps certain patterns occur.