Are Oticon/Philips/Bernafon travel chargers the same?

I’m no pro, not even a Philips HA wearer, nor do I wear one of the Oticon lithium-ion rechargeable models, but just by looking at the 2 pictures below, they don’t even look the same. I don’t know if they’re interchangeable or not, but if they don’t even look the same, then most likely they’re not interchangeable.

Even if the circuitries design inside is the same and the battery is the same, despite the 2 cases looking different, it’s still very likely that they’re not interchangeable because if you look at the Oticon ConnectClip and the Philips Audio Clip, they look exactly the same, yet they’re not interchangeable according to one of the members on this forum who tried.

Thanks for your reply. I’ve read the threads on the issue but couldn’t find a definitive answer to whether the travel chargers are interchangeable.

As far as I can see all three have the same specs. I was told that the Bernafon is the same as/interchangeable with the Oticon. If so, the Philips also should be interchangeable. I’m still hoping that a pro who reps one of the brands would be able to tell us for sure.

The Oticons have a different body style than the Philips and Bernafon. Not cross compatible. Now the Philips and Bernafon have a similar body style. If one does decide to interchange between the Philips and Bernafon, just use caution. Try not to rely on interchangeable chargers often.

Thanks to all for the input. My conclusion after googling around some more is that the Bernafon, Oticon & Philips travel chargers are all just “dumb” induction chargers. That is, they don’t do anything other than send electricity from the primary coil (in the charger) to the secondary coil (in the hearing aid), just like your electric toothbrush charger. Therefore, so long as the aid will fit into the receptacle in the charger with a reasonably close fit you should be able to use any of the three.

Based on the above I’ve been charging my Oticon Mores in a borrowed Bernafon travel charger. They fit & charge perfectly. This is as I suspected; they are all manufactured by the same company for related lines of aids & were released at the same time. So as @Um_bongo suggested, I’m going to get a Philips travel charger from Costco for $200 (US) with a three-year warranty; it’s cheaper than buying a new Oticon & about the same as buying a used Oticon/Philips/Bernafon charger on ebay.

Please keep us in the loop with an update after you’ve successfully used the Philips Charger Plus on your Oticon Mores. Thank you for taking the initiative to do this. It should help with a lot of Oticon users in the future to save money by buying a cheaper/brand new SmartCharger equivalent.

The only reservation I would have is whether Costco would give you any grief if the charger fails and you bring it in for warranty replacement, and they find out that you’ve been using it not for Philips aids but for Oticon aids. It may be OK if it simply won’t charge right off the bat and can be verified using one of their Philips aids they have onsite. But if the issue is that the battery does not deliver the promised amount of charges, or something more complicated than simple failure to charge, then I don’t know how the fact that you’re using it for Oticon aids would play into their return decision.

Thanks for the update. It is interesting, as @flashb1024 pointed out, that the SmartCharger does not work with the OPN S (I verified that the SmartCharger does not list the OPN S as a compatible model with it). But the desktop charger seems to be the same one that works for all Oticon models, including the OPN S.

If that’s the case, it does seem to have some software inside to recognize which model it is, then. But apparently even with the software to exclude the OPN S, there’s no exclusion for the cross-brand models, perhaps as long as they’re in the same class (Polaris-based platform).

@flashb1024 said:

There is software of some kind in those “Smart Chargers”, because they will not charge the Oticon OPNS

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Not sure if “OPNS” in this context means OPNs (plural of Opn hearing aids) or OPN S aids. Respectfully, it doesn’t affect my opinion either way.

The Opn rechargeable aids did not use Lithium-Ion batteries; they used ZPower silver-zinc batteries. That’s a different power source that requires a different type of charger so of course they won’t charge in the Smart Charger.

The Opn S, on the other hand, is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery, and is charged by the Oticon induction Charger 1.0. The most current (2022) Instructions for Use for the Charger 1.0 state that it is compatible with Oticon Real, More, Zircon, Play PX, Opn S, Opn Play, Ruby, and CROS PX, all of which use lithium-ion batteries.

The Smart Charger came out later (summer-ish 2021). Regardless of what the current spec sheet or sales brochure states about compatibility, I’m not able to come up with any rationale that would explain why the Smart Charger is not capable of charging everything the Charger 1.0 can charge. (Interestingly, the Charger 1.0 Technical Data Sheet lists compatibility only with the Real, More, Zircon & Play X aids, which shows the documentation doesn’t always match compatibility).

In any event, this is a bit tangential to the original issue of whether the Smart Charger and Philips/Bernafon Charger Plus are interchangeable. It’s my opinion that as long as so long as your Oticon/Philips/Bernafon Lithium-Ion aid will fit into the receptacle in the charger with a reasonably close fit you should be able to use any of the three.

P.S. I’m posting my thoughts & conclusions about what I’m comfortable doing, but respect that others might not wish to do the same.

@CatMan said:

Not sure if “OPNS” in this context means OPNs (plural of Opn hearing aids) or OPN S aids. Respectfully, it doesn’t affect my opinion either way.

Pretty obvious to me, I’m not referring to the OPNs, where did you get the idea I’d be discussing a device which uses ZPower batteries in a induction charger?

@CatMan said:

The Smart Charger came out later (summer-ish 2021). Regardless of what the current spec sheet or sales brochure states about compatibility, I’m not able to come up with any rationale that would explain why the Smart Charger is not capable of charging everything the Charger 1.0 can charge. (Interestingly, the Charger 1.0 Technical Data Sheet lists compatibility only with the Real, More, Zircon & Play X aids, which shows the documentation doesn’t always match compatibility).

That is exactly what I was attempting to convey to you…
The Smart Charger is designed to only be compatible with the Polaris processor, whereas the Charger 1.0 works with prior architecture, ie: Velox S processor used in the OPNS or for your edification OPN S:>)

I’m not privy to the inner workings of the S Charger, but there must be some electronics in there which communicate with the HA processor for the purpose of regulating the current, which isn’t needed for the line powered C1.0.
Hence no backward compatibility to the OPN S.

@flashb1024 said:

Pretty obvious to me, I’m not referring to the OPNs, where did you get the idea I’d be discussing a device which uses ZPower batteries in a induction charger?

I didn’t know whether by “OPNS” you meant Opns or Opn S. I apologize if my response offended you.

@flashb1024 said:

there must be some electronics in there which communicate with the HA processor for the purpose of regulating the current, which isn’t needed for the line powered C1.0.

I respectfully disagree with your opinion regarding compatibility of the Smart Charger. As I stated, I posted my thoughts & conclusions about what I’m comfortable doing, but understand & respect that others might not agree or wish to do the same.

Best regards!