Oticon Real 1 vs Philips Hearlink 9040 (huge price difference)

Thanks for the follow-up, @kharri . If the Philips 9040 rechargeable system is anything like the Oticon one, and it should be, the battery can easily be removable with a little pin tool (similar to that for a smart phone to take out the sim tray. So there should be no need to send the aids back to the factory for battery replacement. It can be done on-site as long as the HCP does stock spare batteries. Then it becomes a question of how much a replacement battery is. It’s easy enough to pop out the battery door at home yourself with the right tool that you can probably DIY as long as you can get the part from Costco.

A quick scan on eBay for Phonak Paradise receivers shows around $35/receiver. So if Costco has to pay $75 for each from Phonak, that’s pretty outrageous. It’d be cheaper to buy from eBay and replace it yourself.

The other thing I asked the audiologist, since others suggested it to me, was an ear mold.

He said I could try it, but it probably wouldn’t work well for me due the structure of my ear canals (small & short).
He said I would likely feel very occluded, even with a vent.

I picked up the 9040s at CC, they seem to be doing pretty good. I haven’t had any adjustments on the yet. I know I’ve missed a few words, but not many. I do like the more natural feel of the 9040s over the KS10. I’m not sure yet if I should try the Oticon Reals at over 2x the price?

It may be worth checking out the real but could be frustrating as you’d have to then go to a different Audi. As to the molds - not sure why they didn’t tell you they are returnable at Costco. There’s no harm in getting them - if you don’t like them just return them, no big deal.

I’ve had the acrylic and silicone. Got the acrylic by mistake (error in the order) and it turns out I def prefer them, but they’d just me

sonic / bernafon / Philips channel free. they use word bands.

more over, sonic and bernafon uses the same fitting software oasis (not genie )

traditional technology = beam forming conventional use. Oticon uses the
opn paradigm

yes there is, example being Vac+

as per the hardware, I was told they use the same which makes sense they dont have

to have more amplifiers , and parts made for each brand. The ones you mention

and the special ones, example Telex *Brazil

@user840 Which Oticon aids were you compairing the Philips to?

Hi - I was comparing the Philips the Oticon Real . i needed to replace my 6 year old Oticon Opn because my hearing decreased significantly (I have a profound loss).

Here’s what I am looking for - can I understand and distinguish words (speach). I am personally willing to give up other ambient sound to understand people talk. I understand the Oticon Real is giving much more full bodied or full range of sound - for me I need the crispness of speech to understand what is being said.

I am actually going to buy the Oticon Real this week too from a private vendor and compare at home with the Philips just to be certain. I will let you know -but right now after a week with the Philips I am very happy. If you don’t have the level of profound loss I have - the price difference is so huge, you really owe it to yourself to try.

I just had another thought (see my prior post) on the difference of the Oticon and Philips. Recalling that I have worn aids now for 50 years (since I was quite young) and taking into account that my hearing has been decreasing as I age… Years ago Oticon offered me the “bionic” ability to shut off all noise and hear only the person directly in front of me in a noisy restaurant/bar for example. I could hear better than my hearing friends in noisy places. Then they started to try and recreate normal hearing -which means now they are using aI to tell the aid when to pull down certain sounds. All of which to say is - there is a part of buying a hearing aid that is very personal. I counsel many of my friends now who are loosing their hearing just because of age. Some want to focus on hearing music well (Widex) some want full sound (oticon and others) or someone like me that has so little hearing I just want to focus on speech and will gladly give up hearing background sounds. That is why you owe it to yourself to take your time and compare aids. Oh - and finally - some audiologists fit better than others. The man I am working with at Costco was a DJ part time - he really understands music and sound and that is hugely helpful.

You are correct it’s 45 days. Several states are 30.
https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/ConsumerProtectionLaws.pdf20
They said Ziphearing gives them 60 days so they give the consumer 45 days so they can get the aids back to Zip.

And looking at the chart most states don’t have a required minimum. Many will give only 2 weeks.

@user840 said:

but because Philips is allowing me to hear better in noisy environments. That may mean I am loosing some sounds otherwise, but speech clarity is top priority for me.

I wear Oticon More. I like them in most situations but I struggle in a noisy restaurants with multiple conversations going on around me. I am distracted by the other conversations and by background music. Do you find that the Phillips 9040s allow you to focus on a target speaker in a complex situation better than whatever Oticon model you had been wearing?

I have just finished reading all 99 of these posts,because I have an appointment this week at my local Costco for a new test. I currently wear Bernafons which I purchased from Costco it 2017 or '18 ( old man memory]. I convinced my best friend to try C’Co last year and he ended up buying the K10’s. I suppose I’ll wait to see how much my hearing has declined and see what aid is recomended for me. I am hoping that I can continue with an aid that has disposable batteries rather than the rechargeable. But we will see and time will tell. I have been mostly happy with the Bernafons and they were an improvement over the prior Oticons I had before them. But they are now not seeming to help as much and the right one will just cut off if I get any sweat going on. Wish me luck!