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Bluetooth issues with Phonak L70

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Hello
Looking for advice on choosing my first hearing aids. I have age related mild to moderate hearing loss. I need a that has reliable bluetooth as I frequently stream podcasts, music etc from my iPhone SE 3 (2022) which has IOS 17.4.1.

I had a Phonak L70RT on trial for a few weeks and found it excellent but with a few issues.

  1. I garden a lot and found that bluetooth streaming becomes iffy as soon as I bend down- is this normal/common? Can anything be done to offset it?
  2. On one occasion it would not link to the app for several days- is this common?
  3. To solve 2 I deleted the app and reinstalled it. Connection to the app was restored but subsequently another issue arose- my phone gave me warnings that volume was too loud though I did not think it was too loud. On very windy days I turned up the volume- could this explain the notification?
  4. Is there some way to reduce the sound of wind while streaming?
  5. Is it essential to have an internet connection for the app to work and for the phone to connect to the app?
  6. Can the L70 be configured to solve these issues or should I look at alternatives to solve them and if so, which?

Thanks for any and all advice.

8 people in this conversation10 min readJump to latest

WOW! Lots of questions. My first response would be: GO BACK to your audi and make this a “punch list” for your appointment. Seriously, these devices are sold to us, and then we’re left to muddle through all the real-life scenarios. That’s not acceptable.

I can tell you that Phonak’s Classic and were developed expressly for robust BT connectivity while also delivering a low-powered solution that doesn’t drain the battery life. However, I think I’ve read that the Apple iPhone IS problematic with myPhonak. Perhaps others will chime in. Maybe try a new Android phone?

I’m no computer geek, but my guess is that you may have connectivity issues due to some issue on your cell phone. Something is not compatible with the phone app. Perhaps it’s your phone’s OS, or some other app that “wakes up” and interferes with the hearing aid app. There’s no reason I can think of why gardening, or bending over should interfere with a phone’s streaming.

I’ve never seen anyone here mention about the phone app warning about volume - that’s another matter to bring up with your audi. Did that person help you install the app initially? It is completely unusual and unacceptable that the phone app simply won’t connect with your aids! That may be a programming issue your audi can solve.

You should not require the internet for the phone app to work. It’s like an app that’s resident on your phone much like an app on the laptop. It’s not like email where you need the internet to pass messages back and forth.

If you can’t get a level of service and fixes from your audi, it may be time to either look for a new one or consider a different brand. Many audis specialize on just 1-2 families (Oticon & Phonak, or Phonak & Widex, etc.,) which makes it much more of a challenge for us to get aids that are set up correctly from the get-go.

As for the wind noise while streaming, your audi should be able to turn down the ambient noise when in streaming mode. It’s on a scale so that you can decide how much to let in. F’instance, when streaming TV, my dear hubs talks and asks questions non-stop, so I feel like I need some ambient noise coming in. But ideally, I’d have ALL ambient noise turned completely OFF when streaming to get the maximum benefit of audio going directly to my aids.

I hope you get more replies here AND some help fixing these annoying issues. Keep us posted.

Thank you 1Bluejay. I have not actually bought the Phonak L70 yet so am still in a position to choose.

On bending down, gardening etc. I should have said that I have been keeping the phone in a back pocket, so maybe this is relevant. However, I have been streaming from my iPhone to cheap and cheerful £25 bluetooth headphones for years and have never had any trouble with either phone location or physical position.

When you say I should be able to turn down the ambient noise while streaming, would that be via the app or the itself, and just a setting or a programme? would a custom setting programmed by the audi be needed for this or could I do it myself?

On the loudness notification from my phone, my audi thought the phone was probably at fault but I cannot help thinking that something is wrong with HA settings or the HA itself. The phone has never given me loudness notifications before, though I have used bluetooth headphones for years.

In reply to @Hardofhearing1

@Hardofhearing1 said:

When you say I should be able to turn down the ambient noise while streaming, would that be via the app or the HA itself, and just a setting or a programme? would a custom setting programmed by the audi be needed for this or could I do it myself?

Yes, I believe you can adjust the amount of ambient noise coming in to your streaming using myPhonak (but I don’t have that app on my phone YET); otherwise, your audi can change the setting for you (as mine has already done). If your aids are paired + connected to a device, your aids should automatically go into streaming mode. There is no need for a dedicated program.

And NO WAY should having a phone in the back pocket impede connectivity with aids. It’s sounding more and more like the iPhone could be your problem here. My Android Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 can be upstairs and I can answer and stream calls with it downstairs. The range is HUGE! (I have Phonak Lumity Life RL90s.)

Again - I would almost agree with your audi about the loudness notification being due to some inherent incompatibility with the iPhone. But it sure would be interesting to see if you trialed a Widex or Oticon, would these issues go away?!?

@Hardofhearing1 said:

Is there some way to reduce the sound of wind while streaming?

@Hardofhearing1
For Phonak two ways of doing that apart from in the fitting software of your Audi:

  1. Pushing left or right volume button of your , and in the Virto models an optional knob to turn on, during streaming. 2) Going into the MyPhonak app on your phone and use the streaming setting tab to move the slider for ambient vs streaming volume.

The Phonak you have has the best general bluetooth connectivity, that includes devices beyond cell phone (tablets, laptops, other bluetooth transmitters). If you only want to connect to an iphone, any modern hearing aid can do that.

1). Depends on where the cell phone is, relative to the hearing aid.

2.) Never had that.

4.) The pro can turn up windblock but i havent found that it helps

5.) I dont think you have to have internet. Haven’t tested it.

@Don said:

4.) The pro can turn up windblock but i havent found that it helps

5.) I dont think you have to have internet. Haven’t tested it.

@Don @Hardofhearing1
4) Windblock is not ment to do what the poster asked. My answer to that is given above. Windblock is another possibility to reduce wind noise but not ment for solving the streaming question from Hardofhearing1
5) No of course you don’t need the internet for the MyPhonak app. This phone- app, after installing, is just making contact to your ’s to arrange the settings you want to make to your aids.

And the question if Oticon is the first choice for iPhone/ IOS operating system. Answer again NO. It has nothing to do with iPhone.

My experience was
After you fresh install the MyPhonak app , and after every new update of the MyPhonak app, the App check if Internet is avail. after the first start , then the App need onetime internet connection ,
Without a internet connection the app will not start after update, or fresh installation.
After the first usage the app don’t need and check for active internet connection.

Thank you to all. Can anyone comment on why the iPhone would issue several warnings on loudness after I had deleted and reinstalled the Phonak app? Does the app contain programming that would have been lost when it was deleted and reinstalled and that this could have affected things?

@Hardofhearing1 said:

I garden a lot and found that bluetooth streaming becomes iffy as soon as I bend down- is this normal/common? Can anything be done to offset it?

I find the streaming is nowhere near as strong outdoors as it is inside. My presumption is that inside the reflections off the walls and ceiling help while outdoors you do not have them. And the signal does not travel well through your body. I also find ordinary earbuds do well when the streaming poops out. I move my phone to my front shirt pocket or hold in my hand. Sometimes I set the phone on a table or the ground. Line of sight is your friend.

WH

Also, the Bluetooth is only handled by one hearing aid. The right aid is default but your could have changed it to left like mine. You can tell by the connections you see in the phone. Each aid has an LE connection, but only one has a traditional connection. That is the side to favor holding/pocketing your phone. Rt bt master with phone in left back pocket having to cross your body while bent over would be a worst case.

WH

In reply to @Hardofhearing1

I have an iPhone and iPad. I do NOT believe that the Oticons are the best choice for us iOS users. What is best for you will depend on your needs.

I have been having issues with my Phonak Paradise P90’s. I picked up Jabras from Costco last Friday. Decent but Bluetooth is abysmal. After research, with one exception, it appears that virtually ALL HAs have Bluetooth issues including Oticon.

The new Oticon Intents are heavily hyped (which I find offensive). That said, they may be quite good except for their Bluetooth performance. Apparently they share one major flaw with most other HAs - to successfully switch from one device to another (including iOS devices), you need to turn off Bluetooth in your current device. To me, that the Oticon shares the same flaw as a $1,600 Costco Jabra is offensive.

But this is the same marketing problem that Oticon shares with virtually all brands - hyping their features and hiding their flaws. For us HA users, that makes it extremely difficult to find the best HA for our needs.

As far as I know, the only brand with good Bluetooth connections is Phonak, which I have. They can connect with up to 8 Bluetooth devices and have 2 active simultaneously. NO disconnecting Bluetooth required. I did not realize how good this feature was until recently when I tried to find an a Phonak alternative. HOWEVER…

There are probably better alternatives than Phonak if you do not value robust Bluetooth connectivity. In my opinion, if you need to disconnect your current device’s Bluetooth to connect to another device, then it’s NOT robust. For example, I am a diabetic that uses a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). If I turn off Bluetooth on my iphone, the CGM software on the iPhone blasts an alert at me. While that is a major issue for me, obviously it won’t be for others. YMMV.

My Phonak is not perfect. It has some issues. I only get 12-14 hours per charge. I think the software needs to be updated. And, I based on a recent hearing test, my current HA profile needs to be changed. Maybe my current Phonaks can be updated or maybe buying a new one would be better or maybe waiting until a new HA comes out. Still trying to decide.

Good luck with your decision.

Best,

Dan

Thank you to White Hat and dan_public. Bluetooth performance is definitely a high priority for me.
Yes, I am coming to the conclusion that my very basic bluetooth headphones are the solution to streaming from the iPhone while outside or doing anything active-- they function perfectly regardless of whereabouts on my person the iPhone is. That is very disappointing and surprising given that the price of the is well over 100 times that of the headphones!
And on Oticon Real 1, which I have on trial at the moment, it is really awkward that, unlike the Phonak, they cannot be connected via bluetooth to two devices at the same time. This in itself makes the Phonak L70 more interesting because it is easier with Phonak to stream from iphone or iPad at different times of day.

Edited

In reply to @Hardofhearing1

@Hardofhearing1 said:

Can anyone comment on why the iPhone would issue several warnings on loudness after I had deleted and reinstalled the Phonak app?

IPhones are set up to to do this with airpods and other earbuds/headphones. Go into the bluetooth settings where it lists all bluetooth devices, and find the one that says R-Phonak hearing aid. Click the “i” in the circle next to it, and there should be an option to change the device type. Select Hearing Aid from the menu, and that should solve the problem.

The stability of the bluetooth connection to my L90s is definitely not as good as with airpods, though based on others’ feedback, it doesn’t sound like any other brand is better. For streaming audio, you can enter your into the phone, and the sound streamed through your airpods will be tweaked accordingly, similar to if you’d streamed it through your hearing aids. Depending on your audiogram, that might solve the problem. This only works with airpods, no other earbuds, and only for streamed audio and phone calls.

Thank you CombatWombat – I did not know about this setting on the iPhone. Currently trialling Oticon Real 1 but don’t like its bluetooth performance and am likely to go back to the Phonak L70.

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