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Lifespan of rechargeable batteries

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Hi Folks,

I’d like to get some opinions regarding the average lifespan of the self-contained rechargeable batteries in hearing aids, before the aids need to be sent back for battery replacement. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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From limited experience with my Mom’s and from what I’ve heard here I think getting a full 3 years out of them and then sending them back to the manufacturer for replacement is what a lot of people do. Reasonable to expect another 2-3 years use which puts you at 5-6 years which longer than most people keep their hearing aids.

I believe I was one of the first people to buy the Phonak Lumity hearing aids when they came out. In a few months I will be hitting the two year mark. I have not noticed any degradation in the daily life of my hearing aid rechargeable batteries but I will definitely be getting them checked before the warrant runs out at year 3.

Jordan

My Marvels started to go after 2 years, replacement started fading after another 2. Big factor is that they are pretty useless now as backups. I got Lumity 312s.

For the Oticon Intent, they claim a 5 years of use life, as seen in the video below. For their previous generations like the More and Real, I think they claimed a 3 years of use life.

Of course mfgs’ claims is one thing, actual user experience is another thing. I’ve know of More users who have had to replace their rechargeable batteries after only 1 year or less due to charging issues (battery wouldn’t charge fully and/or give the same of robustness as from day 1). But of course these are anecdotal experiences only.

image

I have the Costco KS 10’s and with 3 hours of streaming a day after 2 1/2 years I am just getting through a day 14 hours and that are almost dead. I went back to Costco and they sent them in and i receives a new pair under warranty in about a week.

In November 2019 I purchased rechargeable Marvel 70s. I had no issues but before the warranty expired, I sent them to Phonak for battery replacement.

I am using them now as back up because a pair of Lumity 90s that were put in service in November 2022 have battery failure. I don’t know how often this occurs.

I will seriously consider non-rechargeable hearing aids for my next purchase. The industry needs rechargeable hearing aids with a battery that a consumer can replace themselves.

I had to get the batteries replaced in my Starkey Livio 2400s at around the two-year mark because they wouldn’t last much beyond 8:00PM. After being replaced, I typically have between 40-50% left when I go to bed and that hasn’t changed all that much and it’s about 16 months since they were replaced.

I know this topic is months old and that 2.5 years seems to a general expectation, but I have some relevant questions. The batteries in my Phonak Marvel M70s, bought online from India in 2019 are now 6 years old but actual usage is more like 2.5 to 3 years, and they are still going strong. They were at 60% yesterday after 15.5 hours (no streaming) I hardly used them at all in Covid times and sparingly for another year. I am visiting my Audi in a few days and I am wondering does Target read total hours used or charge cycles?

I just had the batteries in my 3.5 year old Philips aids replaced. The left aid totally died, so I had Costco send both for repair. $135 each for new batteries in the aids and a one year warranty.

Does it matter how much you use the ? Will streaming podcasts through the HAs reduce the life of the batteries? Does it matter whether they are down to 20% each evening or still at 40%?

The user manual for Jabra EP 10s has a chart on page 66 for ‘expected service lifetime when used as intended’. It states the battery is expected to provide service for 5 years.

My guess is that other companies’ manuals provide similar info.

Expected service lifetime may or may not match user experience, but I want to know what the manufacturer expects, and perhaps you do, too.

I wonder how these Infinio Spheres will fare. Today, I am at 13 hours plus of wearing them. Yet battery is at 70%+ or 16 hours according to the app but 30+ hours by my reckoning. So battery would have to degrade by 100%+ to impact my normal 15 hours per day of usage.

In reply to @OffendedOtter

ln studying lithium batteries in general, I gather that, rather than the absolute number of times the batteries are plugged into the charger, it is the equivalent amount of energy in and out, that corresponds to X number of full or nearly full charges that determine the batteries’ life span. In my case, without any streaming, I often recharge with the batteries at 70 %. So I am guessing that instead of say 1000 full recharges I can expect perhaps 3000? However, I doubt very much if that means I can expect 9 years life for my M70s even if the electronics survive.

I complained to my dispensing Audi first week. Asked if my hearing aids were defective. Rechargeable were a pain.
3 yrs. Sent Paradise P90Rs and charger back. New hearing aids and charger.

Big difference. Thanks Phonak. I was right.

In reply to @OffendedOtter

Yes it does seem to matter. Many phones have battery protect options that you can enable to extend battery life. Typically, these limit the maximum charge to around 85% to 90% and warn you when the battery gets down to around 10% to 15%. Apparently a battery is most “stressed” when discharging above 90% and below 10% so preventing this reduces wear on the battery.

Having only used non-rechargeable aids I am curious if any rechargeable aids have a feature to limit the maximum charge?

Also battery life is usually measured in chargeing cycles, not time. So if you charge your hearing aids twice as frequently as someone else e.g. because you use them for longer each day and do a lot of streaming, then the battery life will be reduced twice as fast.

I am pretty sure they do. I live in New Zealand where we had extended lockdowns during the Covid pandemic and it so happened that my Phonak rechargeable aids spent a couple of months in the charger with the USB cable disconnected. They seemed flat when I eventually connected the charger again. Then for another couple of months, they remained in the charger connected and presumably kept fully charged. At the time I thought this “abuse” might have damaged the batteries but it seemed apparent it did little if any harm. So whatever battery management algorithm Phonak uses it can not be all that aggressive despite only having 29 (or whatever) MaH to work with.

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