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Should I be skeptical about rechargeable hearing aid?

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In reply to @Heather_R

@Heather_R said:

technically these are not “what ifs” since they all happened to me along with many other similar stories I could share.

They are most definitely what-if unless they happened combined with a dead hearing aid at the most inopportune and deadly time.

Imagining being a CEO. You’ve invested plenty in consultations and made your decisions. Then a small group asks for a rethink based on the rarest of bear-burrito situations. Will you change your mind?

BTW, bears in my yard are routine, and I ride thousands of quad kilometers in the woods every year. I like to joke that I have mirrors so I can tell if the bears are gaining on me. I ain’t gonna’ give them the edge though by falling asleep in a tent. More power to you if that’s your thing. We’ll know if the industry has judged it popular if their brochure photos include silver-haired campers in tents in the dark in the rain. Who knows, they’ve already shown folks swimming.

In reply to #189

@JeremyDC said: (unavailable)

manufacturers who keep adding features, which take greater battery power than the replaceables can handle

My guess is that “super power” 312 and 13 batteries could be produced, analogous to the 675 batteries sold for cochlear processors. Also, this “battery power” issue isn’t clear, as I’ve said before. Isn’t Phonak able to make full-power Bluetooth aids powered by traditional batteries?

In reply to @Dusty

Hey, I’ve gone camping with my CPAP and hearing aids! :grinning: If I had rechargeables my Jackery would be good for a LOT of recharges. Sorry for off topic, but couldn’t resist. :grinning:

In reply to @Dusty

But Dusty, the whole point is they weren’t dead because I had batteries. In every one of these cases given a hypothetical rechargeable like the Lumity Life that is about as close as you can get to my loss they would have been dead as a doornail based on their 16 hour life. Perhaps in the bear scenario they would have had time to charge back up before I needed them but not in the others as I would have been wearing them non stop for more than 16 hours.

Now they I think about it how do you even make sure they charge in a tent assuming your pack has some charges to give? Can you toss the charger in the tent pocket? I keep hearing the connection for the charging is fiddly but not sure how big of an issue that really is.

Ultimately, however you define it, it is all what if for me since I am not a candidate for any current rechargeable :slightly_smiling_face:

@Heather_R said:

it is all what if for me since I am not a candidate for any current rechargeable :slightly_smiling_face:

I have been thinking a little about your hearing loss. Looking at your it appears you have all dead zones, no response from 1500 hertz up, is that correct?
You have mentioned the Phonak Naida L UP aids are doing well for you using 675 batteries. To get any speech frequencies out of your hearing loss would take extreme technology IMO.

The reason I bring this up is with frequency lowering you just might do ok with P or UP receivers on a type hearing aid with rechargable batteries. I did for a couple years before .

@Raudrive said:

The reason I bring this up is with frequency lowering you just might do ok with P or UP receivers on a RIC type hearing aid with rechargable batteries. I did for a couple years before CI.

I somehow don’t think that is feasible Rick, might be okay in theory, and I must admit the thought had crossed my mind, I think, even if that idea worked, battery drain on a rechargeable might prove excessive, but Hay Ho, I’m no A.uD! Perhaps one of our resident expert A.uD’s @Neville might give his professional opinion on @Heather_R hearing loss, and what is, and isn’t possible with this ladies loss please, is it possible to fit that loss, and fit it well, using compression, with a rechargeable aid Neville? And would the normal runtime be greatly reduced? Thank you in anticipation… Cheers Kev :wink:

In reply to @Dusty

Yeah. Sorry @Dusty . I don’t buy your argument about bear-yard scenarios because your hearing is about 5 times better than mine. You can likely get by without hearing aids for a short time. I cannot. I have to have my hearing, along with the instant hearing provided by disposable batteries, to function.

The fact that I have little to no hearing after I take my hearing aids off is a constant reminder every single time I go to sleep at night.

In reply to @Raudrive

@Raudrive My fitter did mention this as an option but said he had not had luck with this approach for others with my level of loss. I’m already annoyed by over compression and shifting so we didn’t really pursue it further, especially since I had zero interest in a rechargeable

A bit off topic but I finally found a new audiologist and will be getting another done in a few weeks since I used to hit some response at 110 and 115 in the higher frequencies and I want to get the drop confirmed by an audiologist.

In reply to @kevels55

Oh my god Kevels, did you just pull me into a 200 message thread of people arguing about rechargeable versus non?

If Heather_R has historically worn UP , it is unlikely that she will be happy with a UP . Other people with her loss are comfortable with UP RICs, but probably have a different hearing aid history than she does. Battery life is reduced for UP receivers, but the sorts of users who like a UP RICs often also tend to wear their hearing aids for less of the day than the sorts of users who are used to UP BTEs (they also usually developed hearing loss later in life). Heather should strongly explore candidacy assessment if she hasn’t, but I’m sure she has.

I probably don’t need to read any of this thread at all, as I’m sure it just follows the regular line of dedicated trad battery users saying, “We’re mad that the industry has abandoned us and is oviously trying to force rechargeables down our throats, and anyone who likes rechargeables is just ill-informed, stupid or crazy!” and then the rechargeable side coming in all defensive and saying, “Hey, I like my rechargeables and a lot of people like rechargeables and maybe you should just give them a chance!”

Realistically, there are pros and cons to both. People who like trad batteries should get those and people who like rechargeables should get those. And, many apologies, in my direct experience the group that likes and wants rechargeables is actually a majority proportion of the market and they have not just been “forced” into getting rechargeables, although there is also a not-insignificant percentage of people who had trad batteries and moved to rechargeables and regretted it for completely rational reasons.

In reply to @Heather_R

Yes, Heather, for wilderness hiking battery aids make sense. And for wall climbing, etc.
I mostly hiked in the Sierra and PNW, three season. I skied in the fourth. I tried my best to avoid bad weather, but you know how that goes. Again, I’m lucky in that the hearing in my left ear is good enough that I could leave my aids behind.

But surely you can see that for most folks, none of this applies. Most folks are speaking about their fears around rechargeables as they pertain to everyday living. I’m suggesting that those fears are overblown.
I’m a musician and need my aids to play. I know musicians who refuse rechargeables out of fear of running out of power at a crucial time. I shared those fears. In my experience with rechargeables, they’re way overblown. My aids have been dependable and easier to relate to, with no worries and expense around replaceable batteries. I think a lot of us who’ve moved on feel the same way.

For backcountry visits, yes, bringing your replaceable battery aids makes sense. Maybe having a dedicated back up pair for out in the wild, and more recent pair for everyday use also makes sense.

In reply to @Neville

Apologies for dragging you into this thread @Neville Don’t say I’m not good to you :rofl: :upside_down_face: :joy: Hopefully we have been fairly civil :grin: I tend to agree with your sentiment’s, I don’t think you would want a UP, if you have always worn a UP since many moons… Thank you for your input, I am as always, much obliged… Cheers Kev :grin:

Edited

I’m not really sure why the debate still persists. For those who want the option of disposable batteries in newer hearing aids, pick a brand and model that offers it. If any brand/model doesn’t offer the disposable option, vote with your wallet and pick a different brand/model that offers it.

And of course for those who like rechargeable aids, they have the pick of any brand/model that offers the rechargeable version already.

Nobody needs to explain and justify their choice or convince others to see their points. Many brands now offer both options anyway.

For those on the fence, I’m not sure if threads like this are helpful anyway. If anything, you’ll probably get more confused after you read it. Just consider your own situation and use your own logic to arrive at a decision yourself, rather than arbitrarily ask folks to give you an opinion. THIS is what happens if you ask. Maybe when rechargeable versions just came out before, it was worth the debate. But several years later now, it’s really not worth debating anymore imho.

Edited

… all the better to catch the attention of a deep-pockets brand seeking new advertising opportunities. I’m talking to you Red Bull! It’s way past time for you to discover the intersection between adrenaline and tech. :slight_smile:

Edited

In reply to #206

@Baltazard said: (unavailable)

Dear @Volusiano Not a comment against you, nothing personal, I am not against anybody, but here are my points of view:

@Volusiano said:

I’m not really sure why the debate still persists. For those who want the option of disposable batteries in newer hearing aids, pick a brand and model that offers it. If any brand/model doesn’t offer the disposable option, vote with your wallet and pick a different brand/model that offers it.

Numerous posts on here shows that HA users like this or that brand because it fit their bill and they/I don’t want to change for another brand, some of them/I like disposable batteries, but if new HA are all rechargeable, that’s maybe an issue for them/me, hence why they/I voice their/my concern.

@Volusiano said:

Nobody needs to explain and justify their choice or convince others to see their points. Many brands now offer both options anyway.

Not all brands at the moment, Phonak’s Audeo Lumity is rechargeable only, not sure about Signia Pure Ch&G IX, Resound Nexia, Jabra EP 20, Philips HL 9040,…
Also, this is a forum where people from all around the vorld and valk of life can express their opinion ewen if the 5th amendment doesn’t apply to them as a foreign citizen, nonetheless, they are human like any other regardless of … (fill the gap with what you like), we live in a free vorld so they say.

@Volusiano said:

For those on the fence, I’m not sure if threads like this are helpful anyway. If anything, you’ll probably get more confused after you read it. Just consider your own situation and use your own logic to arrive at a decision yourself, rather than arbitrarily ask folks to give you an opinion. THIS is what happens if you ask.

Reading people’s experiences gives someone perspective on what to expect in both cases, that’s why OP have asked the question, so he/she can make an informed decision, not everyone is wise enough to anticipate everything for a given situation, so by asking around you could learn 1 or 2 things that might save you time and spare you some hassle in the future.

@Baltazard → we’re just having a healthy debate here so no offense is taken at all, no worries.

I do want to comment about the Phonak Lumity offering only the rechargeable option. Like I said, “many” brands now offer both options anyway (I never said all brands). I also said that one should also vote with one’s wallet and pick another brand/model if the brand/model one wants in a disposable version is not available.

I also understand that one may like or has been used to a brand but now the new model one wants to upgrade to in that brand all of a sudden no longer has a disposable version anymore. That’s why I said that this is worth asking if the rechargeable version of hearing aids has only recently come out. But this is not the case. Rechargeable hearing aids have come out several years ago already, and there has been plenty of opinions about it said on the forum about all particular brands/models that are rechargeable.

There has also been plenty of opinions in previous threads about the use model of both options, not just about reliability of the chargeability of a particular brand/model. So all one needs to do is do the due diligence and search this forum and one will be able to find almost all the answers to one’s questions in this area. There’s really no need to stir it all back up and rehash this great debate again needlessly because one doesn’t want to use the search function. Now if the debate has settled the issue once and for all clearly, then I guess it’s OK to ask. But if the debate is far from being settled and is deep in a quagmire like this one, it’s probably not helpful to ask.

But I do fully respect the free speech aspect of it and if one doesn’t want to use the search function and would rather prefer to ask the question over again, of course that’s one’s prerogative. But I’m still not sure how helpful it is to start another thread that has already zoomed past 200 posts in only 8 days with no end in sight. But I must admit that there’s still a HUGE draw to this debate that everyone and their brothers and sisters still has a piece to say about it. If anything, I guess this thread surely is fascinating to read from an entertainment aspect, at least to me. Actually I no longer read it, I just skim through it quickly just for fun because it’s drawn out for too long. But here I am, still spending time to “debate” in it myself, LOL.

I’m curious to see if there’s going to be another thread like this again in January to rehash this whole debate all over again soon (wink, wink). :slight_smile:

So is this thread the online version of Yogi Berra’s place that no one goes to anymore because it’s too crowded?

Yes, i think the Yogi Berra analogy is perfect because for many here its not about what they sez its about.

Wow…this has been a fun thread to read through!

We all have different levels of need and experience and lifestyles. Hearing aids and the issue of rechargeable or not is never going to be one style fits all. My experience with hearing aids stretches back a few years with my first need being only one and I was young enough that I chose a to conceal my loss. That was some 35 years ago and my success or lack thereof coupled with my decent hearing in my right ear found me leaving that CIC in the drawer more often than not. I worked in a dirty environment and found carrying spare batteries was just one more thing in my pocket that made me less comfortable throughout the workday. After 20 years of that infrequent use of that CIC I noticed I was having a harder time hearing people I loved and decided to revisit my hearing loss issues. I graduated to wearing two aids and chose the lineup with disposable batteries. I was much more successful at wearing these aids more regularly and my batteries would last me 4-6 days before needing to be replaced. I was the user that would get every las minute out of my batteries before replacing them so I carried spare batteries in my truck and in my wife’s car and usually a pair in my pocket. During the years I have owned these HA my main issues were due to them getting wet and needing repair, replacing the battery doors(5 times in as many years), and general cleaning. Recently I decided to try Costco based on all the chatter on this site and most of it being favorable to them. They put me in a set of Rexton rechargeable HA. Now if they had mentioned “the green new deal” or anything about green…I would have refused these things. I don’t want to have that conversation here but that would have been a deal breaker for me. One of the biggest advantages of this new tech to me is the smaller size of the aid that sits behind my ear and the fact that there is no battery door to let water into the battery contacts to short out the aid. My loss is not as profound as some of you on this site but I need hearing aids to help me understand speech and I do enjoy new technology. I love spending time outdoors and time will tell if I will be a happy rechargeable user but with the two chargers these came with I feel prepared for any adventures that my mind can conjure. With the Costco system(at least in my home state) they give you 6 months to return them if you are not happy with them! Certainly I will have a good feel for the rechargeable by then but my experience so far has been a positive one. I appreciate all the input and especially those that go out of their way to keep it civil. None of us has the answer for someone else’s need…we can only share our opinions and our own experiences. I chose to give this newer technology a try.

@ittookastorm said:

carrying spare batteries was just one more thing

This is a bigger barrier than you might expect. The difference between changing a battery and putting a hearing aid in your ear, and just putting a hearing aid in your ear seems like it should be almost negligible if there aren’t dexterity issues, but rechargeables have dramatically increased wear time for my intermittent users. You’re right, checking and changing the battery is just one more thing.

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