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Thinking about purchasing Costco Philips 9040 to backup my Oticon Reals

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I’ve pretty much settled into my new Oticon Real 1’s. So far my wife and I are happy with the results and I’m now thinking of moving towards purchasing a back up pair.
Unfortunately my previous 8 year old can’t compete with these Reals.
I travel out of the country on business occasionally for extended periods and would hate to be in a horrible situation should HA failure occur.
Having already spent a considerable amount dollars for the Reals, would the Costco Philips 9040’s be a good backup for the price?

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Philips owns Respironics. Their cpap machines have been recalled because of powder blowing out and into lungs.
No Philips for me. None

DaveL

I’m very happy with my Philips 9040 as my only . They are the latest generation from the same parent as Oticon, with very similar performance, at about a third the cost. If you need backup, why not just get two Philips pairs and return your Oticons, if you were lucky enough to buy them from someone with policies as generous as Costco?

IMO they would be a good backup. The Reals and the HearLinks will have been fitted by two different providers using similar but not identical software, so they might not sound exactly alike.

I am wearing new Oticon Real 1s. Strangely (?) I today had an initial appointment at Costco with a view towards getting a pair of 9040s. There wasn’t time for me to do their “amble around the warehouse” with a pair of 9040s, perhaps doing some A/B testing, so I’m going back in about 3 weeks.

In reply to @user777

@user777 Well I’m a big believer in Costco but with my hearing loss I wanted to go with my trusted Audi that I’ve worked with in the past 2 fittings. That is the reason I am not going to return the Reals.

@brec Also, I would definitely like your feedback once you’ve had a chance to test drive them.

Having heard the Philips 9040 and Oticons share similarities anyone happen to know if the accessories like chargers, tv adapters and mics are the same and interchangeable between the two?

@Markem said:

Having heard the Philips 9040 and Oticons share similarities anyone happen to know if the accessories like chargers, tv adapters and mics are the same and interchangeable between the two?

I’ve read some post on here that the chargers might have been found to be interchangeable between the Philips and Oticon aids, but although the accessories like the ConnectClip look exactly the same, there have been reports on this forum that it’s not compatible and interchangeable with the Philips AudioClip.

@Markem said:

Having already spent a considerable amount dollars for the Reals, would the Costco Philips 9040’s be a good backup for the price?

If I were in your situation, I would do exactly the same thing you’re thinking about doing here.

If I had thought about it ahead of time, I would even go one step further and try them both out at the same time. If I find that I prefer the Real, and the Philips 9040 is not as good for me but still very competent aid, then I would keep the Real as my main aids and the 9040 as my backup aids, like what you’re thinking.

But if I find both to be equal to my taste, or close enough, then I would return the Real and get 2 pairs of 9040.

It sounds like you’re already past your trial period for the Real and have settled into it and are happy with it, so I don’t think you went wrong to get the Real. And my personal gut feel is that you’ll like the Philips 9040, too, but you’ll probably find that you like the Real more. I only guess this because I notice that your hearing loss is quite heavy. If you only have mild hearing loss, my guess would be that you’d probably like both about the same.

In reply to @Markem

@Markem said:

Having heard the Philips 9040 and Oticons share similarities anyone happen to know if the accessories like chargers, tv adapters and mics are the same and interchangeable between the two?

Along with @Volusiano, I’m guessing that the 9040s can use the Oticon SmartCharger that I have if the butt ends of the 9040s fit the charging wells. However, I expect – but don’t know – that the Oticon TV adapter, although externally the same as Philips’s, won’t pair with the 9040s.

I was mostly thinking that if the charger was compatible that would be the added bonus in case of charger failure. Nothing wrong with having a backup there. Another thing that popped into my hear, are the 105 receivers/ receiver wires interchangeable.

@Markem said:

Another thing that popped into my hear [emphasis added]

Heh. Some typos are too good to pass up :slight_smile:

I would guess that the all the receiver wires are identical, including the 105s.

I appreciate your posts.

Thanks

My iPhone has a mind of its own. I understand

DaveL

Can’t comment on a comparison between the two, but the 9040’s that I have had for almost two months now are far, far better than the old 9010’s, even older Bernafone Zerana 9’s (that Phillips bought), or the really old Phonak Audeos.
I also got the TV adaptor, and that has been a huge change - no subtitles needed any more!
They come with their own charger, so compatibility is moot, unless you really want to leave one at home when traveling.
Of course, your milage may vary. But with Costco’s great return policy, no harm to test drive them for a while.

@GBS said:

[9040s] come with their own charger, so compatibility is moot, unless you really want to leave one at home when traveling

True for most, though I have only an Oticon SmartCharger. I like it because it has a lid that should prevent dust accumulation in the induction bays.

In reply to @brec

I think ideally because of my constant travel a desktop version and travel charger would be ideal. I could leave the desktop version in the hotel room and carry the portable version with me to meetings, etc. Also in case one decides to call it quits while in a foreign land. Yikes.

Do you do much streaming ?

I have an appointment to test and then try the 9040’s at the end of December and trying to decide if I should just pull the plug and go buy the Phonak Audeo and pay an extra 3500$ :frowning_face:

streaming is the most important thing for me as I do very little socializing

I have heard that the 9040’s are pretty good for streaming

I managed to get an appointment with Costco hearing for tomorrow. I suppose that will kickstart the journey into backup ’s. Whether they are the ones, fingers crossed they will have good results.

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