Phonak unveils Lumity hearing aid platform

It seems like some are saying now that Life = Lumity (not ever paradise) yet Life was out more than 6 months ago, well before the release/even announcement of Lumity, presumably programmed with Target versions not yet updated for Lumity and working with MyPhonak not yet updated for Lumity. Did they just suddenly start being Lumity when it was announced? Are there really two versions of Life out there, Paradise (at least firmware) and Lumity? This has me curious.

WH

In target, there are Audeo P-RL and Audeo L-RL. To me this suggests that there are both Paradise and Lumity Life versions. RL is Phonak’s designation for the Life

Someone said the Life was removed from target in the paradise line. I have it installed on my son’s computer, but it is inconvenient to go look at.

WH

I just installed the update on Target and P-RL and L-RL models are listed. I actually didn’t see any mention of Life in my brief look, but RL is the Life designation.

@pvc said:

But Audéo Life is not a separate hearing aid model in Phonak Target. In Phonak Target the Audéo Life must be programmed as the Audéo Lumity meaning it’s the same hearing aid except for those waterproffey case changes.

OK. That-all makes my head hurt to read. What I thought was that the Paradise aids were the Paradise platform, and they were NOT “waterproof”. But the Life aids Ver 1.0 were introduced, built on the Paradise platform and are supposedly “waterproof”. These are the first aids to also feature induction charging - hence the sealed case in the BTE “bean”.

I was under the impression that Lumity is a NEW platform - NOT the same as Paradise - and that this newer platform not only offers the Life aids in their so-called “waterproof” form, but also enhanced speech clarity. So that makes TWO models of Life aids: 1. on the older Paradise platform and 2. newer release on Lumity platform.

Now if I’ve gotten this all upside down and backwards, I’ll have my scrambled brain on wheat toast for lunch.

Why isn’t the Phonak website SUPER CLEAR on what their product offerings are? I wonder if my audi even knows?

So… If I go into my audi, they’re called the Phonak Audeo Life’s? Because that’s all I’m seeing on the Phonak Pro website.

I would refer to them as the Phonak Audeo Lumity Life, aka known as Audeo L-RL (L for Lumity, R for Rechargeable, L for Life)
When they get down to the specs, I don’t see them called “Life,” they use the model designations. In the more marketing like material, they use Life. They did make it confusing

Things come out a bit later in Canada than in the USA. You might have to wait.

@1Bluejay said:

^^^^^

YES it’s fuddled alright! Cuz I’m under the impression I bought the Paradise Audeo Life aid. I got these in early July, and the announcement about Lumity just came out last week, right? So how could my Life aids be built on the Lumity platform?

This is the pressing question I need to ask my audi when I get in to see her.

What we don’t know for certain is whether the entire Lumity line is simply the Paradise but with a new operating system on it or whether it is—as the marketing states—an entirely “new platform.” Assuming for the moment that Lumity and Paradise actually have some different hardware, and Lumity is therefore a new platform, then I think the answer is pretty straightforward:
In July you bought the Audeo Paradise Life (Audeo P-RL) and in August they announced the Lumity line including the Audeo Lumity Life (Audeo L-RL). If that’s accurate then your Audeo P-RLs are not based on the Audeo L-RLs because they are different hearing aids.

The “Audeo P-RL” means “Audeo Paradise-RechargableLife, while “Audeo L-RL” means “Audeo Lumity-RechargableLife.

I take it there’s no real precedent or history for an OS upgrade? Or am I looking at this in the wrong ways (eg a smartphone or iPad)?

Thinking back to when Paradise hit the streets, Phonak/Sonova made much of the new chip and its advances on what they had previously. Either their PR teams figured no one cares about 16% this and 10% that or it’s the same PRISM chipset, but their software bods just optimised performance further and they were able to innovate and crowbar in new features.

In any case I’m sure that even if it were feasible they’d cannibalise sales I guess…

I hereby decree a Doctorate of Knowledge, Assimilation and Information on you! Thank you SO much for straightening this out AND for the alphabet soup explanation at the end:

<<The “Audeo P-RL” means “Audeo Paradise-RechargableLife, while “Audeo L-RL” means “Audeo Lumity-RechargableLife.>>

Um. Do you work for Phonak? NO matter! I definitely have the Audeo P-RL (which I killed with my 2 swims in the pool). I now look forward to getting the Audeo L-RL and can actually ask my audi for that specific model with the proper nomenclature.

@garethjwells said:

I take it there’s no real precedent or history for an OS upgrade?

I have looked at the history of Phonak releases and there have been a couple where they released “new versions” but the underlying chip remained the same. I don’t think there was anything done to lift the older versions. They are pretty overt in some areas like the Roger licensing. You’d think they’d at least come out and say, “Come get a new version of Autosense and other great features from the Lumity platform added to your existing fine Paradise hearing aids, suggest retail price only $xxxx per aid! Contact your HCP today!”

If only it were as simple as the ios model…

WH

@WhiteHat said:

You’d think they’d at least come out and say, “Come get a new version of Autosense and other great features from the Lumity platform added to your existing fine Paradise hearing aids, suggest retail price only $xxxx per aid! Contact your HCP today!”

How I WISH. Bingo on the button. Installing a new OS on aids should be similar to what we do with our cell phones and laptops. Yes, it’s ALWAYS a day-long painful and protracted procedure, and I actually keep a list of “Things to Check” after each new OS is installed (e.g., email, printing, banking, camera apps, et al), but if everything’s working after the update, life returns to normal.

I can’t remember the exact history, but I recall once I got new Phonak aids, then a couple of months later Phonak announced a new platform, and my audiologist was able to do an upgrade to get at least some of the new features. I’m pretty sure it was with the Audeo Venture line.

But my money is still on hardware differences between the Paradise and the Lumity such that an OS upgrade would not be feasible.