Oticon ConnectClip - audio cuts out

I use the companion app on the Samsung S23 and my More1 aids are 1.4.2. My connect clip is 1.1.3 I believe.

I have since January damage one S22 and one S23 and three ClipConnect. Together with the same More 1. All five with damage BLE circuits.
I was convinced the error was in the More 1. So where is the root to the problem many of us have.?
I was streaming music from the internet 1-2 hours every day. And you?

cvkemp got me to wonder where is this ConnectClip problem generated. I guess Oticon has been aware of this problem since last January, and still not localised the origin. At least they have not communicated anything to us users. Below you find a message I sent to Oticon on June 26, without any replay. My expectation is now that some of you in this forum will share your experience that hopefully can give Oticon an input to find the problem. And put pressure on them to participate on this forum.

Background, summary, technical comments

After damage three ConnectClip plus two mobile phone’s BLE circuits, for a value of 3300 EUR, (YES!!), and during four months of fruitless communication with Oticon support in Sweden, I decided on 2023-04-27 to make my own troubleshooting. (Well, I do know now that many people think BLE is only software, and are not aware of that BLE consist of both software and hardware.)

I started from a new angle by listing the history of my three involved devices: HA More 1, mobile phones and ConnectClip. I am aware I am not the only one having problem with interruption of the audio in ConnectClip: Oticon ConnectClip - audio cuts out. Maybe we are not that many users of More 1 combined with Android Samsung S22 and S23.

History of relevant events:

2021-11-06 Purchase of mobile phone Sony Xperia 10ii

2021-12-30 Purchase of a pair of Oticon More 1 miniRITE R at Audika

2021-12-04 Purchase of a TV adapter 3.0 at earstore.se

2022-01-24 Purchase of a ConnectClip 2.4G at earstore.se (ConnectClip no. 1) which worked for eleven months

2022-11-07 HA was loaded with FW 1.1.1

2022-11-15 FW 1.4.1 installed on the HA

2022-12-16 Sends a complaint to earstore.se that ConnectClip no. 1 has stopped working after 11 months.

2023-01-23 Purchase of a Samsung Galaxy S22. It replaced the Sony which lacks support for ASHA.

2023-01-20 Received a new ConnectClip under warranty from earstore.se (ConnectClip no. 2) which was faulty on delivery.

2023-01-29 FW updated to 1.4.2.

2023-02-07 Received a new ConnectClip under warranty from earstore.se (ConnectClip no. 3) which broke after one month.

2023-02-24 Samsung Galaxy S22. ASHA stopped working after three weeks. BLE hardware.

2023-02-2x Received a new Samsung Galaxy S23 as a replacement for faulty S22

2023-03-11 ConnectClip no. 3 stopped working after a month. Not yet replaced by Oticon Sweden.

2023-04-25 Samsung Galaxy S23. ASHA stopped functioning after two months. When the mobile phone broke, I was talking to our son over the phone. Suddenly I heard a cracking sound in the left HA, sounded like you are connecting a headphone with a cable, then the left channel was completely silent.

2023-04-26 Received a new Samsung Galaxy S23 as a replacement for faulty S23. Still not paired with my (faulty?) HA.

Looking at the list above, I see that the “hell” started right after the FW (firmware) update of HA to 1.4.1.

Then the question arises: Can HA destroy BLE circuits in phones and ConnectClip? Is it possible that in the protocol between HA and mobile phone/ConnectClip you can set something that overloads some circuit, which eventually gets so hot that it stops working, burnt to pieces?

IF that is the case, then HA is “a ticking bomb”.

Of course it could be HW fault in HA, but is it likely given the history?

Therefore I put the question on a technical forum in Sweden:

QUOTE “My question.

Can a hearing aid destroy a mobile phone via Bluetooth, or rather via BLE??

I have a problem with my hearing aid provider. I have too little knowledge to argue.

This applies to three units:

• Android mobile phone that has BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) that transmits a fantastically good sound, from the internet to the hearing aid. The function that enables communication between mobile and hearing aids is called ASHA.

• A pair of hearing aids, known for their good sound quality.

• Adapter that transmits sound from the laptop to the hearing aids. Converts Bluetooth Classic to BLE.

For a year I used the hearing aids together with the adapter to stream audio from the internet and laptop. Worked perfectly.

Four months ago a FW update was made in the hearing aid, and a few weeks later the adapter broke. A fault that was never acknowledged by the manufacturer’s service in Sweden. Same manufacturer as the hearing aids.

Then I bought a mobile phone that supports ASHA. Worked perfectly. For a few weeks.

When I compiled the history, I found that in four months I have destroyed two mobiles and three adapters.

The only common point I found is the hearing aids. COULD the hearing aid be the cause? Now my knowledge is lacking. Is it theoretically possible that an update of the FW has been able to set something in the hearing aid which in turn sets something in the mobile, respectively the adapter, which overloads some circuit. I heard when the last cell phone broke. There was a crackling sound in one channel and then silence.

I have not received any answer to the question from the hearing aid service department, which is why I am asking the question here on the forum. Surely there are some who have knowledge.

• Answer number 1.

It is theoretically possible, perhaps, because Bluetooth uses the 2.4 GHz frequency just like a micro oven, and if you run the mobile phone in the micro oven, nothing happens. But in practice, I see it as impossible that the hearing aid could send such a strong signal that it physically breaks the mobile phone, especially if the signal is to travel from your ear to the mobile phone in your pocket.

The more likely thing could be that a software error in the hearing aid causes a software error in the one you connect it to. What actually happened to the cellphones that broke? They don’t even start?

• Answer number 2 .

Theoretically, one can imagine bugs/errors in the handling of the Bluetooth signals that lead to various errors, perhaps it is possible to overload an analogue part or write a memory. But that’s unlikely and even if it were, I’d say both manufacturers are equally to blame. One sends errors but the other cannot handle the incorrect signal.

Probably far outside the competence of the service department, but would have to be driven to (both) manufacturers’ development departments, which is supposed to be difficult.” END QUOTE

More comments

I do not believe in the option that HA burns the circuits in the mobile and the ConnectClip. There is not enough energy in the HA’s battery.

Oticon have given me an EduMic as a workaround also. I use it to stream audio from my PC (it uses a 3.5mm stereo jack for this, so there can be no Bluetooth issue there!). I also use it as a remote microphone when I go to restaurants etc. with my partner. It is reliably performing this task so far.

This is all fine for me, but I do feel for those who need the functions of the ConnectClip.

I note that in Australia you can get a ConnectClip for about $350 AUD, but an EduMic will set you back about $900 AUD. The EduMic can automatically remember and connect simultaneously to 20 Oticon hearing aids though, so there’s functionality there that I will never need to use.

This is really just for people’s information. I appreciate that it doesn’t help with the ongoing ConnectClip issue.

I have now got confirmation that developers are working with our problem with More 1 and ConnectClip. This is really good news, for me. I hope this is the beginning of the end of my nightmare.

I also heard form Oticon that this issue is currently being addressed. If only they would add a Bluetooth receiver to iPhones that would remove the need for a connect clip almost entirely.

This is old news. Oticon has been aware of problems with the CC and both the More and the Real HAs since last year.

To be honest, I had no idea that you were talking about a BT “receiver” so you could use your iPhone to listen to your TV. BT supports transmit and receive, but for specific use-cases. These are referred to as “profiles”. An iPhone has BT which supports transmit and receive, but not so it can be used as a headphone. Phones connect to a headphones, but phones aren’t headphones. Maybe the hardware on an iPhone could support that, but it would require software including probably firmware and device drivers to support what you’re asking for. I really doubt Apple would do that and I also doubt any other mobile phone would either. And I further doubt that Oticon could or would do that. How could they? Why would they do this?

The connect clip is a work-around to connect BT devices to our hearing aids. Before I got my first Oticon Opn HAs, I HATED talking on the phone and avoided it at all costs. When I use my ROKU, the remote control on my iPhone will play the audio through my phone. I just want to do that with my Apple TV and Windows PC. Surly a pair of $6,000 high-tech hearing aids can do that better than a $50 pair of Airpods.

Oticon continues to surprise us unpleasantly. Why they cannot kill Connectclip and create a new one from zero? Or maybe problem is not CC, but many varieties of Bluetooth stacks?

I fully agree with @darylm that it’s most likely not because the ConnectClip is a bad design, because I have the OPN 1s and I never have any connection issue using them with the CC for my laptop. But something changed when they moved from the Velox (S) platform for the OPN (S) to the Polaris platform for the More and Real. So the culprit most likely lies in the new Polaris platform somewhere.

Unless Oticon knows what the real issue is between the Polaris platform and the ConnectClip, they wouldn’t even know how to redesign the ConnectClip differently to resolve the problem anyway if they don’t even know what the problem is in the first place. But if they figure out what the real issue is, then if it can be fixed via firmware, then that’s what they’ll do. Unless it can’t be fixed either via the More/Real firmware or the ConnectClip firmware would they resort to designing a new ConnectClip equivalent that would work with the Polaris platform because sure as heck it’d be easier to design a v2 of the ConnectClip than a new HA platform.

Coincidently, I received an update from Oticon:

Our research and development team are actively working on this fix, as it is complicated due to streaming with phones.

I wish it was more helpful, but it’s better than nothing.

I had this issue with my connect clip, my audiologist did a hard reset on the connect clip and it worked.

Do you have the More or Real? If so, the ConnectClip may work again for a while until it doesn’t anymore. Beside a hard reset on the ConnectClip buttons, there’s also a software reset that must be done in Genie 2 by the HCP, if the hard button reset no longer helps. But even the software reset done by the HCP may help for a while only, until it doesn’t work anymore again, until another software reset is done again by the HCP.