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Hearing aids and Android compatibility

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I owned Oticon OPN and iPhone in 2016-2022. I decided to ditch Oticon OPNs and get Starkey evolv because the latter supposedly had better Bluetooth and Android compatibility. Starkey Thrive on iPhone was sloppy and took forever to adjust settings.

I have finally bought very nice Samsung S21 with Android 11. Android 11 could connect only 1 aid at the time, not both simultaneously. I upgraded to Android 12 and now both aids can be paired simultaneously. Starkey Thrive works like a charm and takes mere seconds to apply my adjustments. However, phone calls over the cellular network sound a bit lower while streaming directly to my aids. Calls on Whatsapp sound normal and punchy. All system volumes are boosted to max. I even tried to reset network settings and upgrade to Android 13. Does anyone here have any explanation?

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The settings you’re talking about are what you can do with the app? I’m thinking your audiologist could increase streaming settings to solve this. I don’t think it’s an Android issue, but more about how your hearing aids are set up by the audiologist.

Try going into the settings in the phone app and looking at whether you can adjust call audio specifically. Additionally, if your streaming volume is maxed out on the phone, it may be worth having your clinician boost up the streaming volume in the hearing aids to give you a bit more of a flexible range.

In your Android Settings you should see a similar set of options to the ones below.
Try increasing the Call Volume. WhatsApp volume is managed by Media Volume as far as I’m aware which is why there can be a discrepancy.
The screenshot is from Android 13 on a Pixel 6 but you should have similar settings on your Galaxy.

Screenshot_20230109-211343

@hearing-love_loss said:

There is no specific Call volume to adjust.

With my phone, I can only adjust my phone volume when on a call itself with the volume buttons.

Can’t access it if not on a call.

My phone volume is at max but audio volume for music etc is not very high at all.

I’ve just got a new phone and the default call volume was close to 0 rather then anywhere near the middle or top.

Edited

In reply to @hearing-love_loss

Sorry to hear that didn’t work for you.
For reference the volumes in the screenshot are about the maximum that I can tolerate otherwise media and calls would be too loud: at max volume it would be way too loud.
Have you got any other audio software installed? Driving apps can take control of volume too sometimes, do you have any of those?
I’ve also found that a phone restart can clear quite a few problems.

I’ve used Evolv Ai 2400 with an Android and there weren’t any problems but compared with Bluetooth Classic aids they are managed directly as a Hearing Aid in Android not a normal headset.
The next place that you could look would be under the Accessibility settings which is where Starkey hearing aids are managed under Android.

The only programs I have installed are Whatsapp and Starkey Thrive. Volume is already set to the max in “Bluetooth hearing aids” submenu of “Hearing aid support” in “Accesibility”.

I have already scheduled an appointment with the audi tomorrow. I think that Streaming needs more gain.

I had tried everything until now except the full reset. Today I did a full reset. After pairing, the calls sound normal. The only problem is Viber calls. Sure, iPhone calls were tad louder, but Samsung’s calls are acceptable now.

When you say you did a “full reset”, I hope you don’t mean you did a full reset on your phone. Did you uninstall the Thrive app or unpair and repair the hearing aides? I’m extremely frustrated with these as I can’t hear my audio books or phone calls at all unless I’m in a super quiet environment and even then it’s difficult. My Oticon and Phonak never had this issue and I’m considering returning these. Any other tips would be appreciated.

Yes, I meant a full system reset. Nothing else seems to help on Android. Also your Android has to be at least version 12. What is your phone model?

My apologies for not specifying that info. I have Starkey Evolve and a Samsung S22.

Fortunately, i have good news to contribute which might help others. Apparently in thr Thrive app settings for My Device: Streaming, you need to check “mute” on the microphone . That solved my problems.

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