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Phillips 9030 purchase questions

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In reply to @mbsalty

Good advice as my present Rexton’s rechargeable batteries only lasted one year ! Have been using the disposible 312 batteries since then.

In reply to @user61

I don’t trust rechargeable with good reason. I got 3-4 days life out of the 312’s. I returned them because they didn’t work for me, especially in crowds. The discontinued KS10 works better for me, but I wish they used replaceable batteries; the charge doesn’t last a full day.

I purchased rechargeable 9030s from Costco in November and have generally been pleased with them. Charge lasts all day including streaming music for 1 hour 40 minutes on a daily walk. Music quality is good when streaming but the Bluetooth connection cuts in and out frequently when outdoors in noisy areas. The latter is my biggest complaint.
The 9030s will work hands free to answer calls if you have a late model iPhone. I had an iPhone X and had to upgrade to get hands free to work. I upgraded to the iPhone 13. As long as you are in a quiet location callers can appear to hear me fine through the hearing aid microphones, but not while outdoors with noise.
The Philips app on the iPhone allows you to add base, midrange and treble controls when streaming music. Also, Philips capability to add filtering in noisy locations helps eliminate background noise but it is not noise cancelling.
I’ve used my hearing aids on several trips and they work fine on airplanes. You can also use over the ear headphones while wearing them without interference.
For the price, the 9030s are a good value and perform well.

I have the iPhone XR and am not ready to upgrade, so I hope that the Bluetooth connection is reliable! I’ll have to ask about the length of the trial period for the 9030’s with the replaceable 312’s.

I had an XR when I tried the 9030 in 2021 and it worked fine. I loved the 9030 but at the time the equalizer could only be adjusted during streaming and that was a dealbreaker for me. I need the equalizer to tweak the programs for my reverse slope loss. Does anyone know if this has changed?

I went with the KS10 in May 2021 and my battery still lasts from 6 am until 11 pm. The only time it’s less is if I am doing a lot of streaming, but the streaming sound isn’t the best for me personally and I prefer to use my Beats Pro for streaming.

In reply to @user61

Yes, always clarify purchase contract. Costco doesn’t technically offer “trials.” You purchase their hearing aids and in the US you have up to 180 days to return them for full refund. But definitely clarify before you purchase.

Ordered the 9030 with the disposable 312 batteries. Expect delivery at local Costco in about 7 days. Paperwork which I signed says I con return the hearing aids within 6 months for full refund. (So that could be considered the maximum trial period).
The clerk who took my order said the 9030’s with Bluetooth CANNOT answer a ringing iPhone. You have to use the actual phone key to accept the call!
This is not what posters in this thread are stating, ie pressing a button on the hearing aid will connect to an incoming call.

@user61 said:

The clerk who took my order said the 9030’s with Bluetooth CANNOT answer a ringing iPhone. You have to use the actual phone key to accept the call!

I haven’t kept up with this thread but the issue might be a firmware update to allow the feature that you’ve been told they haven’t got.

When you get fitted, ask to make sure they are on the latest firmware.

So it seems it works with iPhone iPad, you can talk to the caller using your (Bi-directional streaming)hands-free, but still need to answer from the phone.
From Philips.

Screenshot_20230115_084746

In reply to @user61

I believe it’s technically 180 days. They should specify the date on the contract. From my experience they’re pretty picky about the last exchange date but are more generous on the warranty.

Edited

In reply to @user61

Unless the 9030 with batteries is different than the rechargeable 9030 in this regard, the aids’ buttons can be set by the fitter to let you answer/decline/end calls you receive on an iPhone using only those buttons. See @robsporny screenshot in that post.

Update: I don’t usually answer my phone with the buttons on my aids tho the features setting suggests I should be able to. So, I tested it this morning and it didn’t work with the button (short press to answer the call). I had to answer or decline the call on the phone. So, something to explicitly ask the fitter about.

Edited

My 9010s are at getting refurbed, and I have a loaner pair of 9030s. Calls to and from my Galaxy S20 5G streams to the , and I can talk through the HA mike. I have to bump the equalizer up, but +4 is too much gain. I don’t use the cellphone a lot, so I have to wait for a call to see how +3 works. I hit the phone buttons to receive or send a call, but I don’t know if that’s the only way.

The sound is very much like the 9010s; I’m not sure they’re enough better to justify the expense.

I picked up the 9030s 1/9 mid-afternoon, and I replaced the batteries on 1/14 late afternoon. That’s 2 days less than I get with the 9010s. The money doesn’t bother me; the inconvenience does.

Answers to your questions:

  1. Yes - iPhone models 12 and higher. There is a microphone in the hearing aids. Caution regarding operating from your backpack - I’ve experienced instances where the connectivity drops between the hearing aids and the phones when carrying the phone in a fanny pack while walking. It usually only drops one hearing aid or the other at a time. With music streaming, it drops both.
  2. I have rechargeable hearing aids and have never exhausted the charge while using them all day.
  3. Costco will allow you to return them during the first 180 days. Not sure about the term of the warranty.
  4. Don’t know.

I’ve been pleased with these hearing aids, an am hopeful over time with firmware updates the connectivity for the phone and music streaming to my iPhone will improve. I upgraded my iPhone from a model 10 (X) to 13 when I bought the hearing aids to take advantage of the phone connectivity. It works, but it’s not as reliable as I’d like it to be and have gone back to using my Airpods when walking until the next firmware upgrade.

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