My experience with Phonak infinio sphere I90

I am in the 4th week of phonak infinio sphere I90 trial. Early this year, I tried Starkey Genesis 24 followed by Otican Real. I was going to buy Genesis but decided against its purchase as Starkey would not commit that Genesis was upgradable to LE audio/auracast via future firmware update. This turned out to be a good decision in view of the recent announcement of Starkey Edge AI. I have ordered Edge for a trial, meanwhile let me give you my pros and cons in the context of my hearing loss and experience. Per my audiogram, I have issues hearing sounds in high frequencies and some soft voices. I am wearing fairly open domes.

Pros

• sound clarity and quality is excellent. I hear my wife and children better compare to the others I have tried so far.
• it has many programs and provides capability to modify the fixed programs to create your personalized programs. For example, you can create one program for a particular restaurant you visit often.
• it is constantly monitoring my sound environment and selecting the correct program to give me the best hearing. For example, if I am an environment with 80 db noise level, it would most likely switch to sphere mode.
• I hear the dialogues better on my tv without using the tv streamer by using modified programs. I have a large tv room.
• for streaming I can switch between my iPhone and iPad without any manual intervention.
• the streaming works even if I am away from my iPhone or iPad. No Bluetooth issues while streaming and walking or biking.
• battery life is excellent as I use it for two days, around 12 to 15 hours a day which includes over 2 hours in the sphere mode
  -In noisy places, the sphere mode kicks in automatically or I can select it. I have not experienced the “wow” effect with this feature but others with higher hearing loss may have different experience.
• charger works fine.
  -When I am brushing my teeth with a motorized tooth brush, it is not annoying in the automatic mode.
• they are pretty light and I forget to remove them before going to bed.
• they connect with my iPhone (version 14Plus) without any issues in the morning.
• the app is user friendly and more sophisticated for modifying programs
• LE audio and auracast capable

Cons:
-at times the quality of better hearing comes at the expense of hearing the echo of your sound. I have managed it by creating alternative programs or adjusting the volume in the app.

• they are bit fat in size and although I have sufficient space behind my ears, the placement of reading glasses (frequent on /off) is a struggle depending on your glasses. I have learned to place my glasses though. I had less problem with Starkey Genesis.
• when receiving calls on my iPhone, the sound of the caller is not great although this is not an issue when I am using what’s up app
• the sound during zoom calls on my iPad is not great. I normally disengage them.
• Expensive and only 3 year guarantee versus Starkey for 5 years. I am located in Canada.
• the virtual assistant is mediocre and is not up to the level of Starkey Genesis.
• You hear musical tones when you press the button to change programs unlike voice alerts in other devices.
• tap control is a hit and miss
• it provides a breakdown of your daily use and type of programs used but the data are buried under the “health” button. It is not a good place.
  -when my HA were connected to the software during a follow up appointment, all the settings on personalized programs were deleted. Solution, take a screen shot of your program.

In conclusion, had it not been for the introduction of Edge AI, I would have bought Phonak Sphere by now. I think Edge Ai needs to be equal or better vis-a-vis sound quality, comfort etc described above. If both units are neck and neck on the first tier criteria then the winner would be the one which has other features. For example, I liked the voice instructions in the Starkey Genesis. Their fall and balance feature has improved and appears to be exceeding the Apple Watch feature so it would be one of the deciding factor.
Please do not ask me to try Costco because they do not sell them in the Province of Quebec. Buying it at the neighbouring province is not a good option for me.

Same HCP, each trial involved minimum of two visits, one for REM fitting another one for a follow up, similar open domes. I consider my Audi to be proactive as she attends introductory seminars on new products. I am not familiar with the receiver tips but if you mean the wire between the speaker and the device, they are similar.

What part of my review, you find it not in line with your experience with sphere. My Audi did offer me to have both Genesis and Otican real at the same time for the trial but she told me it is not the best practice for a variety of reasons. I will post my audiogram if I can figure out how to do it.

@AlanK1 said:

What part of my review, you find it not in line with your experience with sphere.

Initially, my reaction was your description purports to describe a very exact comparison, but an important parameter is whether you’re going to the same HCP for both brands and whether the HCP is equally experienced with both, does REM, etc. So, you answered that part, which was unanswered in your initial post.

As @Bimodal_user points out, you won’t get the maximum noise reduction effect with the Spheres (or any other hearing aid) wearing an open fit. Especially with your good low-frequency hearing, if you wear an open fit, noise will leak directly to your eardrums and NOT get processed by the HAs. Open fits are a big thing to avoid occlusion, have a natural sound, preserve directionality through a real pinna effect, etc., but they’re lousy for noise reduction by the HAs (don’t ask me how I know… ).

Phonak Sphere Infino - experience with open domes

Yes, openness reduces the effectiveness of HA noise reduction by letting the noise leak directly to your eardrums, avoiding hearing aid processing to eliminate it. Phonak and several reviewers online have noted an occlusive fit is necessary to obtain the best noise reduction results with the Spheres (or other HA noise reduction, too). Phonak has online “evidence” of the effectiveness of Spheric processing: Evidence Library | Phonak. In the following article, labeled as a Scientific Poster, P…

Edit_Update: Theoretically, a hearing aid could do active noise cancellation (ANC), playing frequencies in reverse phase to match the noise and cancel out pressure changes in your ear canals. Apple Air Pods Pro and Air Pods 4 can use active noise cancellation but it takes a toll on battery runtime and is more complicated. DSP processing of the digitized sound wave within the HA chip is a lot more energy-efficient.

The Infinio BTE models have been improved compared to lumity life. Phonak claims you could swim with them but does not recommend them.