Resound Omnia vs Phonak Lumity

Don’t know if you ask forum users to check feature reviews for correctness. Since many users are very gung-ho about the particular brand and model they have chosen, they might help catch categorization problems before you publish a review.

I really appreciate what you’re trying to do with Hearing Tracker and the HA review process. It should help a lot of people get the information they need to make informed purchases that they’ll be happy with. Thanks for the effort you’ve put in.

@AbramBaileyAuD
off topic but can you add Nucleus 8 Sound processor? It is literally 3 things improved on top of the N7.

SCAN 2 with Forward Focus automatic program instead of a toggle

Bluetooth LE Audio capable HW but firmware is not available and is coming soon

more compact, much smaller, longer battery life. IP68, in contrast, N7 has iP67 rating i believe

I often post in the forums asking people to review new products I’ve added and usually no one bothers… so I figured asking for hardcore feature reviews would be a bridge to far… But, you are always welcome to provide feedback. It is helpful and appreciated.

Would adding Cochlear processors to your comparison be possible?

Like hearing aids members are full of questions about the different brand processors available and how they compare.

At least it is only three brands and functions only change every 4-5 years unless updated.

I finally gave up on behind-the-ear face masks. They either bend my ol’ ears in half so the ear loops slip off or my aids get tangled in it and zing across the room when I take the mask off.

1bluejay - That sucks!! See, I use a method where I use two fingers, both my thumb and index finger, to spread the ear loop wide enough, and wrap the ear loop behind my ear so that it ignores the hearing aid entirely. Then, I do the reverse when taking it off. Takes 2 seconds.

The one thing holds true, however, sometimes my hearing aids do get stuck but I am very careful to make sure that my hearing aids don’t get flung across the room using this method. I just take the hearing aid out and carefully unwrap it and put it back into my ear.

Hi jonifoz ,
Which Lumity hearing aids do you have, I am currently on a 60 day trial with the L70-R’s and also trying the Oticon more 2’s . I’m leaning towards the Lumity but the oticon has it’s pluses also. there are just so many settings to play with on the lumity that it can get a bit confusing. Which setting are you finding best when in noisy environments like a party or at a bar. I do find the oticon automatic seems better at adapting on it’s own to different situations than the lumity, lumity has way more features and better bluetooth, the phone with built in speaker in the aids is awesome.

Hi jonifoz, thanks for the reply, thru the phone app I have lots of ways of adjusting all settings , it sounds like the autosense on the 90’s might be a fair bit better than the 70’s, I see my audiologist, who I’m not too happy with , next week. My hearing loss is similar to yours, fairly severe, I get my aids thru workers compensation in B.C., Canada and they only pay for certain hearing aids, I can pay the extra and go to the 90’s and think I might do that, Had you tried the L70’s at all before going to the 90’s?

No, I did not try the 70’s. I previously had the Phonak Marvel 90, which was similar to Lumity, but Lumity is a big improvement. It’s like the Marvel on steroids! With my level of hearing loss, I’m pretty sure I would be disappointed in the 70’s.

Is there any way you can trial a pair of the 90’s and make a decision based on comparison? How great that workers comp in Canada pays for hearing aids! My health insurance pays for about half the cost of my Lumity.

Worker’s comp covers them if it’s proven that the hearing loss is mostly work related, I worked in heavy industry for over 40 years, in the early days there just wan’t a lot of good hearing protection available. It definitely helps a lot being covered especially when you’re retired, lol. Thanks for your responses.

I haven’t posted an update in a while about my Lumity L90-RT hearing aids so I thought I would share a short update.

I have now been wearing these hearing aids since Sept 2022 (4+ months) and I am still extremely pleased with my decision to buy these hearing aids. No…I don’t work for Phonak and I’m not a Phonak shill. These hearing aids are really spectacular when it comes to understanding speech in a very wide range of conditions and nothing I have ever worn comes close. I have tested Lumity in many different hearing situations and I continue to be amazed at how well Autosense 5.0 works in just about any environment. It’s not always perfect but it significantly better.

This last weekend I flew from Toronto to San Francisco to spend the weekend with some of my high school friends. Flying is stressful for hearing impaired people because you have to deal with all kinds of speech issues in a variety of noisy situations. The airport in particular has always been a bit of a nuisance because you are required to communicate with a variety of people as you arrive at the airport and eventually board the plane. Canadians travelling to the USA clear USA Customers in the airport in Toronto so you have to speak with someone at the check-in counter, then at security and finally at USA Customs before heading towards your gate. Once at the gate, you have to be able to hear the boarding instructions and flight departure information. All of these things are a struggle for hearing impaired people and not all hearing aids deal with these challenges well. That being said, Lumity passed with flying colours. I had no issue understanding anyone at the airport. This included people wearing masks and announcements over the PA system at the gate. Once on the plane, I had zero issues understanding the stewardesses or any of the announcements during the flight. The whole thing was a breeze and I didn’t have to change programs or adjust the hearing aids even once. I was super thrilled because flying has always a challenge over the last number of years.

The other thing I have been able to figure out is that the rechargeable batteries in the Lumity hearing aids are fine. I have come close to running out of batteries on a few days over the last four months but I haven’t actually completely run out. On days where there is minimal streaming, the batteries never run down below 25% - 30%. On heavy streaming days, I don’t get much more than 17 hours of battery life so if it looks like it’s going to be a long day with lots of streaming, I avoid battery issues by dropping the hearing aids into the charger for an hour while exercising, showering, reading, etc. One short charge at some point in the day gets me through the heaviest of streaming days. For me, this is 4-5 hours of streaming and this only happens a few times a week.

What I have noticed is that listening through the hearing aids alone doesn’t chew up battery capacity. The Phonak TV Connector doesn’t chew power either. Most of the big drain comes from Bluetooth Classic streaming for use cases that involve BOTH audio and the microphones on the hearing aids. Basically Zoom or Teams video calls, etc. This is where I see a big drain and the need to top the charge in the day. I don’t even think this is a design issue with the batteries or hearing aids. Bluetooth classic is just a battery hog but the huge benefit over the Apple MFI standard is that you can connect these hearing aids to just about any Bluetooth enabled device without having to use an additional connection device. It’s basically a tradeoff that could be fixed in the future if Phonak and the mobile phone companies support the Bluetooth LE audio standard.

The complaints about the myPhonak app being difficult to use are somewhat warranted. Truth is…I rarely touch the app because AutoSense 5.0 handles just about every situation quite well and I never need to fiddle in the app. I only go to the app to mute the microphones or to check battery life and every once in a while I go to the app to check my listening stats for the day/week. AutoSense 5.0 is really good and this has diminished the need to adjust with an app.

Other than that, I am happy with my purchase. Hearing better is the ONLY thing I care about. I am more than willing to put up with a tiny bit of battery anxiety if it means less stress in noisy situations. Everything other issue is secondary to hearing better and Lumity certainly delivers on that promise.

That’s my latest update. Happy hearing.

Jordan

On the flip side, I can say that I’m very happy I chose the disposable battery-powered version of the ReSound Omnias with custom molds made to accommodate M&RIE receivers. Although I was a former proselyte of rechargeable batteries until I got warranty replacements of ReSound Quattros that had decidedly less than brand-new battery runtime. Putting environmental guilt aside, it’s great not to have to worry about running out of juice for up to two weeks with size 13 batteries (haven’t found out what my runtime is yet), and the Omnia replaceable battery bodies with telecoil aren’t any larger than my Quattros, although not as small as the Lumitys. Whatever hearing aid model and brand one prefers, I really recommend custom molds, as closed a fit as you can tolerate (choosing your preferred vent tube size with Select-A-Vent), and using the NAL-NL2 fitting algorithm rather than the manufacturer’s fitting algorithm. As pointed out in the ongoing thread on REM vs. in situ, most manufacturers’ proprietary algorithms are based on NAL-NL2 (according to a post there), but then the proprietary algorithm typically backs off high-frequency amplification for user comfort. I didn’t want to have custom molds made to trial the Lumitys as I knew if the Omnias were in the same ballpark as the Lumitys, I’d prefer them for their disposable batteries and relief from range anxiety. Consequently, my Lumity trial was with a relatively open fit, whereas I trialed the Omnias with custom molds and a ~1 mm vent size. The Lumitys had to allow for high-frequency feedback; the Omnias have almost none because of the molds and narrow vent I’m using. So, I really enjoyed a lot more high-frequency sounds trialing the Omnias because of the much more closed fit. YMMV. I figure a lot of people, because of their high-frequency loss, really don’t enjoy “recovering” those sounds via a gigantic amplification boost. I do sometimes worry that all that amplification is going to contribute to future hearing loss, but so far, my loss has held steady for about the past 13 years - four of which I’ve worn HA’s using NAL-NL2 (and I’m more careful about hearing protection from loud sounds these days! ).

I’m also glad that I could be fit with the M&RIE receivers. Perhaps it’s because of those that I didn’t notice much of a difference between the Omnias and Lumitys in everyday listening situations, unlike Jordan, who trialed both with regular receivers and thought the Lumitys an order of magnitude better. I did take both to a dinner in the Sports Bar section of Chili’s right under an overhead speaker. I’d say both Lumitys and Omnias struggled in that situation. If I sat next to my wife, I could understand her with either. If I sat across the table, I couldn’t make out her soft voice very well for all the sound reflections off hard surfaces and the overhead speaker blaring away - and the Lumitys, with their open fit, were at a disadvantage for controlling noise - another reason for going for a closed fit if you really want to try to handle the hardest of noise scenarios with HA’s alone. A remote mic hung around my wife’s neck was basically needed in Chili’s bar!

One of the reason, I chose the rechargeable version so i can have consistency between the CI sound processor and HA… Since i have to charge both of them like 1-2 times a day…

New User here. I just got my Omnia 961-Rs today. The app is great! The only problem I am having is streaming phone and media audio to the Omnia. The sound has zero low frequency sound, very “tinny” and unusable. Is there a setting I’m missing? The audiologist said that was “normal” because of the high freq boost used to correct my hearing loss. That seems ridiculous to me. Am I wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff