I’m 73 and about to get my first set of hearing aids at Costco. I am overwhelmed by the decision. The detail everyone gives appears helpful, by we newbies haven’t learned all of the terms. My choice is between Jabra and Philips. I was told that Jabra has better clarity and a better app compared to Philips. Philips, on the other hand, has more natural sound but a basic app compared to Jabra. There is, for all practical purposes, no difference in price. My two hearings tests, one by Costco and one by doctor, were identical-- below normal hearing range from low to high frequencies, but especially worse in the higher frequencies. Any advice as to which hearing aid I should choose?
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UPPTJ18 people in this conversation14 min readJump to latest↓
I have both the Philips 9030 and the Jabra Enhance Pro (not the latest model).
I’m a long time ReSound wearer, and started with the Jabra, which is the same as the ReSound One. Early on they had to be sent back for repair, and Costco put me in a pair of Philips loaners. I liked them so much I bought a pair. My 9030s have rechargeable batteries, but they do have replaceable battery versions.
The only time I use the app with either aid is when I’m switching to the TV streamer, and use the app to boost the base. The functionality of both apps is similar enough that I wouldn’t use it as a deciding factor.
With both the Jabra and Philips aids I wear domes, and put on new and domes on the receivers every 4 to 6 weeks.
Both are good aids, but I’m partial to the Philips at this point. They’ve been the most reliable aids I’ve worn in over 20 years of wearing aids.
Start by reminding yourself that both options will improve your hearing. That may make the decision less stressful.
Have you tried either set at the store? That’s not a great test, but you may find you have a preference of one over the other. Ask your to set up both as they’d set a pair up as they would for your first fitting and, if you can, compare. Note the differences, preferably in retrievable form (paper? ;-)) and see if you prefer making one set of compromises or another.
I used Philips 9010s for all but 2 weeks from 1/6/20 to 2/6/23. From about 1/15/23-1/25/23, I used 9030s. The 9030s were better sound reproducers and they allowed me to stream phone calls to my cell phone. That really made it easier to hear phone calls. The better sound helped with hearing in general.
I found the Jabras to have both better clarity and more natural sound. I just wrote a complaint to ReSound about the app and a request for a fix.
Where are you having problems? What do you want from your aids?
I wanted to do things like 1) hear my wife better, 2) hear TV better, 3) hear groups like condo board meetings (you can’t believe the 2 bullying schmucks on my condo’s board) MUCH better, and 4) be able to listen to music (mainly orchestral) on my hifi system.
Goals 1, 2, and 3 are well on the way of being achieved, but I bought the TV streamer for the 2nd goal and a Multi-Mic for the 3rd.
As for listening to music, each new aid had been better than the last. The Jabras may actually be good - but note that I listen for natural, accurate bass. The closer to live bass, the better, and I dislike exaggerated bass much more than light bass.
In any case, I think it helps to have some goals to measure against the actual performance you get from your aids.
Whatever you buy, it will take a few weeks to get your brain to acclimated the new sounds you’ll hear, so give yourself time to adjust. That seems to apply to music, too. For the 1st time since I strated with (2010), I force myself to listen. Each short session (one CD) is better than the last. I think the Jabras are better than the 9030s (to my ears, maybe not to yours), but I never forced myself before
Thanks for the suggestion to try both. I thought it was one or the other, but if I can try each, that will make it much easier to choose. Thanks, again!
Something to be aware of in trying out either brand of hearing aid is that the initial fit you are provided may differ from the final fit.
Hearing aid manufacturers want to make a sale. If you’ve gotten used to your hearing loss, you might find all the “new” sounds you’ll hear again when your prescribed fit is met might be a bit overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to them over a period of time. To avoid having a potential customer say, “I can’t stand all the loud sounds,” etc., and return the ’s, HA OEMs have created “accommodation.” Basically, you may start out with only a fraction of your required amplification. Over time, maybe a few weeks, the gain is automatically cranked up until you reach 100% of your prescribed fit (or whatever you’re comfortable with and your will agree to).
When I started out with ReSound Quattros, I didn’t want to be “accommodated” and I told my audi to crank it up to 100% of my prescribed fit right away. Still, she had my profile set as “First-time User,” also designed to be “comfortable,” not necessarily my best, full fit. I read in ReSound literature that the best fit for experienced users (for ReSound HA’s) is Experienced User, Non-Linear. The ReSound proprietary fitting algorithm + is also designed with user “comfort” in mind. It backs off the amplification of high-frequencies present in the open-source fitting algorithm, referred to by some as the gold standard of fitting algorithms. There’s also another algorithm, DSL5-Adult, with much more high-frequency amplification than ReSound’s Audiogram+. I’ve tried them all, and like the Experienced User, Non-Linear, NAL-NL2 fit the best.
So, Costco may have a certain fitting recipe they follow with each HA brand. You might ask your fitter what the possibilities are and whether you can try different things like the above, maybe not all right away but over time. But whether you will be accommodated or not, whether you need a First-Time User profile or can try the experienced user profile, if there is one, for each brand, and whether whatever brand you favor, will Costco let you try different fitting algorithms to see which one you like best are things to look into. Perhaps other forum users of each Costco brand can tell you what options worked best for them.
There’s a lot of adjustment and fine-tuning that can be done to improve what you hear, and you may want to start out closer to where you’d like to end up rather than being only slowly “accommodated.” In my fitting of the Quattros with my audi, I’m not even sure she knew that she had the default fitting profile for a new patient as First-Time User, and I had to tell her that I wanted to switch pronto to Experienced User, Non-Linear!
I am forever thankful to everyone who responded to my question/concern. This has been an amazingly positive experience. I am so thankful for having found this wonderfully helpful site. Thank you, everyone!
Since posting, ReSound has published an update to the app, and I’ve been looking at the app more closely. The in-app documentation seems to say the default is a single volume slider. If that actually were the default on my phone, I think I’d be happy.
Meanwhile, I emailed app support. The email apparently went to Denmark, and they’ve redirected it to North America. That doesn’t delight me, but I understand it. I’m not expecting an immediate fix - they need to figure out if it’s their problem or mine, code and test a fix, etc. I offered to test the fix, and I hope they take me up on it.
I still haven’t tried the app on my wife’s Mini SE(2020).
This is a significant annoyance, but I like the Jabras enough that I’ll go Apple if that’s the only way to solve it. Going Apple, after years of disliking them, is a big compromise for me.
This is a significant annoyance, but I like the Jabras enough that I’ll go Apple if that’s the only way to solve it. Going Apple, after years of disliking them, is a big compromise for me.
That sounds like me 10 years ago with KS6 which were aids. I was on the fence until I had to give up my Nexus phone anyway to join my son’s plan. I have happily been iPhone ever since.
This is a significant annoyance, but I like the Jabras enough that I’ll go Apple if that’s the only way to solve it.
I was an Android user since 2011 (and a Windows Mobile Phone user before that). The advantage/disadvantage of Android is that every Android phone OEM gets to customize their brand of phones, and the result is a Forrest Gump box of chocolates: you never know for sure what you’re going to pull out. So, you could essentially be demanding that ReSound figure out the problem is with a Brand X, Model Y Android cell phone. In contrast, perhaps the problems are with an Android tweak the maker of a phone hasn’t even totally scoped out - I’ve had such problems with Samsung phones, and I’ve always considered them among the best.
Apple does have an advantage in being in ~total control of hardware and OS software running on an iPhone, but as various complaints about iOS/ OEM problems on the forum show, you’re not guaranteed a trouble-free hardware/software experience with an iPhone and HA smartphone apps on an iPhone, either. Life is like a box of chocolates…
I went to iPhone from Nokia simply to get good connection from my to the phone app (the manufacturer was a laggard when it came to connecting to Android phones).
I have not regretted this - it is very easy to discount the value of good no-problem connection
I was an Android user from the get go, untill I got my 1st set of Oticons that needed a seperate device hanging around my neck to connect to my cell phone. It didn’t work that well so I just had to put up with it for 3 years untill my insurance would help pay for some new aids again. So in 2018 I was getting ready to retire & lose my insurance to help cover cost of ’s. I went to Costco and ended up getting the Bernafons which have been a very good decision for me along with switching to Apple. I can hear and understand phone calls as well as watching tv with the tv connector so I’m not blasting my wife out. But— I’m now starting to have some problems occasionally with my aids and will be going back to Costco some time soon to try out new aids. I saw last week in the store they have the Jabra’s or the Phillips for the same price so I’m very intrested in these opinions on here for each. I will probably ask the Costco person about them but I wonder if these “new” Phillips will be compatable with my tv connector or will I have to get a new one, and if so would I be better off to go with Jabra? Which ever one I go with I want to stay with battery operated so I don’t chance running out of power in a bad place or time. Thanks to everyone here for the comments and help thru the years.
Northern Virginia
