Phonak Rechargeable vs Battery-Operated Aids

Out of warranty price of $60 is not bad for a pair of aids - and hopefully 3 more years of use! I think Phonak has a similar procedure. I’ll find out … in about 3 years I’m thinking!

@jeffrey said:

Ibluejay: two questions:

–on a twenty hour flight, were you using bluetooth a lot?
–do you have a telecoil model aid? (I’m guessing, no. Maybe these aren’t available with Phonak?)

1. Okay, so I haven’t taken an international flight since “da Cobid” in 2020. But for my last two long flights between 2019-2020 I had my Marvel battery-powered aids. So I have yet to put the new Lumity Life aids to the test on a 20-hr flight. Yes, I do like to stream music about 4-6 hrs in-flight. I typically listen to the in-flight movies using the standard headset they hand out.

2. Correct: neither my Marvel (battery-powered) nor my Lumity Life aids have telecoil.

Why tenkan? The FAQs here1 intrigue me! By just swapping out the battery door, any button-powered aid can be turned into a “rechargeable”. At the same time tho, if a user’s Z-Power battery died, one could pop in a normal battery. VOILA! It’s a hybrid!

That said, the single battery ran like $65 each, and lasted about a year. That means it costs about $130 per year for power. Granted, I was spending about $50 for 1.5 yrs of standard 312-battery power for my Marvel aids … but I can actually see the benefit of a hybrid aid.

What am I missing?

@jeffrey said:

They will send mine in after two years, if I notice a reduction in charge, and then again just before their 3 year warranty is up. Most likely I’ll get new aids each time; but that’s not important. If I can get 5-6 years out of these aids before having to pay for new batteries,

Signia might be better than ReSound on refurbishment. During the warranty period, I got a number of replacements, and all but one had ~brand-new rechargeable batteries. But then, as my warranty was about to expire, I actually got a notice from my original provider, TruHearing, suggesting that I should visit my audi and have my aids checked out before the warranty expired. The audi said, no problem, she’d just send the aids back to ReSound. The ones that I got back did not have like-new rechargeable batteries. I sent them back and got similar replacements back again, and then gave up. I described what happened in the following thread: Getting Your Rechargeable HA's "Refurbished" Under Warranty Doesn't Always Work Out So Well

It will be interesting to see if you get replacements with good as new batteries at the end of your warranty period. If the batteries are supposed to last five or six years, HA OEMs might be undercutting future sales by providing replacements that are good as new and work for another five years after the end of the warranty period.

Check your warranty language. The Quattro warranty is open to interpretation. Can’t find my original warranty documentation, but in the Quattro user guide, it says, “…ReSound pledges to secure functionality at least equivalent to the original hearing aid. … Hearing aids therefore, at ReSound’s discretion, may be replaced by new or refurbished replacement parts.” To me, that doesn’t sound like you’re guaranteed of a “like new” replacement, particularly if you’re someone like me who already needed a few replacements before I was anywhere near the end of the warranty period. My Ford EV warranty only guarantees that if my EV battery fails before the end of the warranty period that it will be replaced, entirely at the discretion of Ford, by a battery of equivalent age and expected functionality. Ford spells out the functionality that you can expect a lot better than ReSound does or for any other rechargeable HA’s I’ve heard about so far. It would be great if folks with rechargeable HA’s could describe what their warranty says, and then we all could learn what HA OEM has the best warranty for their rechargeable HA’s.

@1Bluejay said:

if a user’s Z-Power battery died, one could pop in a normal battery. VOILA! It’s a hybrid!

After looking at the warnings it might be when, not if. They warn that the battery may not be able to power the aid for a full day’s usage.

FWIW Toyota has proven long life with Li-Ion batteries by restricting charges to 80% of capacity and only discharging to 20% charge. That likely does not happen due to size and complexity constraints. Our family has had those batteries last 8-10 years, until the vehicle was sold.

@ZPower Rechargeable Batteries 2020 said: (member archive)

Short answer - NO!

LOL!!! says it all. Thanks very much for that comment. And another one bites the dust …

@jim_lewis said:

I described what happened in the following thread: Getting Your Rechargeable HA’s “Refurbished” Under Warranty Doesn’t Always Work Out So Well

Well that was worth a read. I could’ve just about written the first paragraphy myself, just with the replacement Lumity Life aids I got back in Sept. It’s this very pair that has now been sent back, having given me only 3.5 hrs a day of charge for a few weeks, and then dying cold a week ago. Could they have given me a refurb pair? I should’ve written the serial nunber down when I got them.

I didn’t get any kind of rechargeable battery replacement warranty in writing with either pair of Lumity Life aids I bought. Just the sales invoice with the model (no serial number - and that was another excellent point you raised: write it down!), and the date of warranty expiration.

I guess I’ll find out soon enough what kind of battery life I get on the replacement/repaired aids when they come back from Phonak.

EDIT: WHOOPSIE ON ME! I had my spec sheet separate from receipt. I have ALL serial numbers present and accounted for. I got the serial number on all sets of Lumity Life aids, the charging base they came with AND even a set of custom silicone earmolds done last June. So I’m GOOD. The serial number on my replacement Life aids is different from the original set. Now I’ll be checking to see if when these Life aids sent in for fixing come back - same serial number. My audi said that since the pandemic, Phonak reps no longer even put the cause of failure on a returned pair. Like maybe no time to dot the “i” and cross the “t”.

Yes, I returned my Lumity aids for Omnia rechargeables, without the Marie receiver, which have superior battery life. Easily have plenty to spare at the end of the day. I tried the battery Phonak Paradise a while ago and liked the size but didn’t like the app and was disappointed that they did not include the motion sensors in the 312 battery powered aids. Also, the best accessories were the Roger devices which will cost you a lot.

I fully agree with every thing on this post and I would never buy a rechargeable hearing aid all the reasons mentioned.
Now the problem is that companies like phonak may be all moving in the rechargeable only with no option for regular batteries.
The question is WHY?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ it’s all about money!

I disagree with this logic. A replaceable battery model of the same aid likely has a higher incidence of needing repair due to moisture ingress into the battery compartment or busted battery doors. Any alleged “planned obsolescense” would be no different for the two versions of the same model.

@jay_man2 said:

I disagree with this logic

In my recent research on the models I was interested in they usually show the expected battery life as 5 years, I believe. Troubleshooting sections list dying batteries as a possible issue after 3 years. I expect most all of us expect to keep our expensive hearing aids longer that that. My current suds are over 4 years old with no issues apart from replacing receivers every 2 years due to physical deterioration.

EDIT: After looking at the manual for the Oticon More, I would say hospital workers should not use their rechargeable aids since they have not been tested in possible explosive environments. I think there will likely always e a market for disposable battery aids. This time though, I chose to purchase the rechargeable More 1 aids.

Here is a quote from the manual.

The hearing aid is safe to use under normal usage conditions. The hearing aid has not been tested for compliance with international standards concerning explosive environments.
Therefore, do not use the hearing aid in environments with danger of explosions e.g. mines, oxygen rich environments or areas where flammable anaesthetics are handled.

Jay i disagree with you. You are right to say humidity could eventually damage the fragile electronic. But there is a simple solution for this: A desiccant box.

I have owned and used a Ponto bone implant hearing device made by Oticon for 7 years and right away I bought a small dehumidifier jar with a restorable desiccant in it. Every or (honestly) most night I removed the battery and place my Ponto in the desiccant box. In all those 7 years, I have not experience on problem with it. Now it’s past time for a replacement and I will not settle for a hearing device with a rechargeable battery for all the reasons mentioned by Prodigyplace.

By the way thanks Prodigyplace for your excellent post on the reasons why replaceable batteries are better than rechargeable.

@andre4carignan said:

By the way thanks Prodigyplace for your excellent post on the reasons why replaceable batteries are better than rechargeable.

I did not follow my own advice though. I have rechargeable More 1 ordered. Their specs appear to be good and they are designed to be able to replace the battery although it requires a change from the programming software.