New Phonak Lumity hearing aids with disposable batteries released!

I first started a long trial with the rechargeable Lumity RICs. The battery life was much less than advertised by Phonak, where I would get roughly 18 hours of use. I sometimes have shifts that go overnight or need to keep functioning with hearing for more than 18 hours. I have profound hearing loss and can’t afford to sit in silence and wait for the battery to recharge when I need to be out in the field. I also hated being tied to a charger, with no alternatives if I ever forgot it.

I got the 312 Lumity BTEs at the end of November. I track every time I change the batteries, and I have made it at least 14 days before needing to replace the batteries every single time. I also love that I always have extra batteries in my wallet, car, and laptop bag in case the hearing aids die; I can always get the aids working again in a minute or less.

The BTEs with disposable batteries are much larger, but the 2 weeks of use is completely worth it! I listen to bluetooth every day, usually for several hours, and still get 14 days per battery.

@JordanK said:

I don’t believe the disposable battery version of Lumity can use Phonak ActiveVent either.

What does ActiveVent do? I have Phonak Lumity Life rechargeables and would like to know the benefit of ActiveVent.

I got an email from my audi the other day to let me know that the Lumity Life 312s are now available. I WAS THRILLED!

And then BUMMED. I already had to buy TWO pairs of Lumity Life rechargeable aids 1.5 yrs ago. They are long since expired on trial. One pair is already failing in battery life - going from a schmeasly maximum of 17.5 hrs use per day down to just 13-14 recently. That’s a pathetic degradation in so little time.

By comparison, my old 13-battery Marvel aids would go SIX days on disposable batteries.

My audi said that even with my level of hearing loss, I could use the 312 Life aids BUT I’d probably get just a few days battery use. A. Few. Days. I’d take that over 13 hours any day (if my aids should last that long).

But how can I afford yet a THIRD pair of Lumity Life aids, even if they are FINALLY disposable battery operated? Thanks to the redundant pair of rechargeables, I had to buy TWO charging bases and TWO Roger ON iN accessories for these TWO pairs of aids. I guess that’s the big incentive for Phonak to only release rechargeable battery versions of their popular aids - they make A LOT MORE MONEY when folks like me have to double up on buying two complete sets cuz we need to get through more than several hours use in a day.

Somehow, I feel chumped.

@1Bluejay said:

My audi said that even with my level of hearing loss, I could use the 312 Life aids BUT I’d probably get just a few days battery use

No way, like will they be running 24/7? Can’t understand why they would tell you that?
The run time is quoted 121 hours for the UP and 113 for the power receiver.

@1Bluejay said:

I got an email from my audi the other day to let me know that the Lumity Life 312s are now available. I WAS THRILLED!

But why? As in why the life model, you know they’re not waterproof as stated, I can only hope your not paying a premium for a useless feature.

@WtrEngr said:

I got the 312 Lumity BTEs at the end of November. I track every time I change the batteries, and I have made it at least 14 days before needing to replace the batteries every single time.

It can’t be that long is it? If the run time for those 312 models is between 113 and 121 hours, that’s about 16 hours a day, so maybe 7, if your streaming with classic bluetooth for a few hours every day that would lower it even more.
Also the 312 Lumity L was only just released right.

@tenkan said:

It can’t be that long is it? If the run time for those 312 models is between 113 and 121 hours, that’s about 16 hours a day, so maybe 7, if your streaming with classic bluetooth for a few hours every day that would lower it even more.
Also the 312 Lumity L was only just released right.

My apologies. I actually have the Naida Lumity L90-UP. It uses a 675 battery, and not the 312. (Unfortunately, I don’t know that I can delete my erroneous post.) I had been hoping that Phonak would release a disposable Lumity, and was excited when I saw the press release in August 2023.

Anyway, the 675 battery must have a lot more capacity than the 312, so ignore my 14 day use when deciding if you’re going to go with a 312 version. I still do greatly prefer the benefits of a disposable aid compared to rechargeable.

@WtrEngr said:

I actually have the Naida Lumity L90-UP. It uses a 675 battery, and not the 312.

Yeah that makes more sense, those 675 are about 221 hours, so I lot more than the 312.
If you want to delete any of your posts you can click on the 3 dots at the bottom of your post, you should get an option to delete, I wouldn’t worry about it, simple mistake no big deal.

I love the tap control feature. Sometimes it doesn’t work properly because it doesn’t detect tapping, but in that case I tap again. … No one here mentioned one detail why people like tap sensor? Because hearing aids are small and fingers are large, it is more problematic to answer a call or pause music when a button is pressed. The tap control made it possible for me to use it even when I’m wearing a winter hat or jacket hood.

@JordanK

I understand.
I don’t think I adapt well to change.

Yesterday seemed a normal day. However, my rechargeable Paradise batteries only lasted from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm something. I put them upstairs to charge and shut the door. Dinner I couldn’t hear a thing. They charged for just over 2 hours. I had about 65% charge when I started using them again.

I’m used to carrying spare batteries. I had them for about18 years. Maybe a little longer.

I have a puppy. Concerns:

• he might eat my hearing aids if I leave them about
• he might swallow a button battery if I drop it and don’t hear it when it hits the floor.
• chances of hearing a pill or button battery hit the floor are slim to none.

In that regard rechargeable batteries are much better than a box of 40 batteries!

I get that some people don’t like having to ensure they have spare batteries on hand wherever they are. Since I’ve had to do this for 25+ years, I couldn’t care less. Until a rechargeable actually lasts me more than 16 hours, disposable is the way for me. I have Audeo L90-RT and would gladly give up the R and T and tap control for L90-312. Even if the lifespan were 2-3 days, I’d survive, though I suspect it’s at least a few days longer.

I travel frequently. 16-20 hour days, sometimes longer, are a normal occurrence for me. The annoyance of having to stop somewhere along the way to pop them out and put in a charger, even if it’s just 20 minutes (and for my peace of mind I try to do 30+ minutes of charging), really impacts the flow of my day. I don’t like not being able to hear even for that brief period, particularly if I’m at an office or mid-travel.

I would love a trade-in option to switch over. 18 months between Audeo L-R/RT/RL and L-312 releases is absurd. Since a trade is not possible, at this point I’m going to deal with it until LE Audio is more widespread since that will most likely come in the next generation of Phonak devices anyway, and there might be some Auracast public facilities by then.

Plenty of optical audio splitters on Amazon or most electronics stores. I happen to have this one I randomly chose to purchase.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0749G18PF7

It is a little weird if the soundbar volume is loud enough/I’m close to it that I hear kind of as stereo/echo effect - I’m hearing the soundbar via my hearing aid microphones plus the TV streamer signal. Easy enough to adjust the balance of stream vs surround in the app if it’s a nuisance, but it isn’t for me.

@MDB said:

From your 14 day battery life, I’m guessing 675 battery. 14 days out of a 312 would be truly incredible.

A few posts back he corrected himself. He has the Naida aids with 675 batteries.

@MDB said:

From your 14 day battery life, I’m guessing 675 battery. 14 days out of a 312 would be truly incredible.

Yes, I misspoke. I have the Naida Lumity L90-UP. It uses a 675 battery, and not the 312.

OK - so personal experience here. When I used to have Phonak Audeo B size 312 batts, indeed they only lasted 4-5 days MAX. I wasn’t even streaming phone calls daily like I do now. My Marvel 13-batts gave me just about 6 days of use, but since they’d conk out on Day 6, I always changed them first thing that morning, Day 6.

I can totally get how Lumity Life 312s would only give me 3 days or so. And I’d be happy with that! Other than tap control (never used) and the other ActiveVent (no idea what that is), I’d still get the Roger ON iN compatibility and BT streaming to devices. Goes without saying that any battery-operated aid is simply not going to be waterproof. Analogy: screen door in submarine.

The battery door would render waterproofness null and void. I’m totally fine with that, too, cuz I learned my lesson with these Lumity Life NOT waterproof aids: with my squishy power domes, they’d never be waterproof either.

If I could swap ONE pair of my rechargeable Lumity Life NOT-waterproof aids for a pair of 312-battery Lumity Life NEVER-GONNA-BE-waterproof aids … I’d DO IT!

@1Bluejay said:

ActiveVent (no idea what that is)

ActiveVent is for people who want open domes most of the time, but closed domes/molds for streaming (better audio quality) or in noisy situations. The receiver has a fully occluded tip, plus a vent with a little motor that automatically opens and closes it when certain programs are activated. So it will close for streaming music and open again when you stop, or you can set it up to close for speech in loud noise so that more of the noise is blocked out. Given your audiogram, I don’t think it’s something you’d want!