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Are there any hearing aids that provide direct Bluetooth connectivity with modern TVs?

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Edited

I had the same question back 6 years ago or so when I bought my Phonak and had to buy the TV Connector (BTW, much cheaper than the analogous Resound device). Fast forward to February 2025. I have a modern 65" LG TV that has built in BlueTooth, but I have yet to find HAs capable of direct connection. An engineer friend tells me, as best I could understand, that BlueTooth has frequency variants and compatibility is not universal.

My HMO is offering me these three HAs (I insist on non-rechargeable) Phonak Audeo Lumity (30-90), Oticon Real (1-3), Resound Nexia. Can anyone tell me definitively if any are capable of direct connection?

I thank all who respond!
arthur

36 people in this conversation19 min readJump to latest

Phonak are probably the leaders for Bluetooth connectivity, and can connect to most Audio devices, as they use Bluetooth classic. Frim comments on here, their TV Connector (V1 or V2) work really well. I have 2 of them. Just ensure your TV has an Optical Toslink connection. There’s very little latency with them as well.

Direct connections are possible with some TV’s but you’re more likely to suffer high latency and the speakers not working for others in the room.

The TV Connector is the best accessory I’ve bought, including Roger devices.

Peter

Current Phonaks and a few versions back are known for standard bluetooth connectivity. Yours likely pre-date that.
I would stick with the TV Connector. Bluetooth can introduce some lag ie. lip-sync. Maybe the most current have fixed that.

Edited

Peter, Z10,

Thank you. I have the Phonak TV connector for my now old . I am hoping to obviate use of any connector device with new HAs! I am hoping for direct connection, like with my SONY headphones.

Sometimes, the TV Connector drives me crazy because I move around my house and I am frequently at the range fringe. The HAs go beserk. Yes, I can turn the transmitter on and off, but that becomes very annoying.

Plus, if I am in my car listening to music or news, as I pull up my driveway, if the TV Connector is on, my HAs automatically connect and I hear whatever my wife is watching on the TV.

Hey Z10, wanna play Scrabble? You should be able to find me on Scrabble Go as aky13.

Does your TV Connector have the touch buttons on the top?
I generally turn off the TV Connector after a session. I turn it on again if I’m watching something that requires more attention than just news which I am mostly fine with just the aids. Some have a dedicated power thingy with a remote to turn it on and off.
When I’m out of range I just get the disconnect tune. Not berserk.
My username comes from the old Blackberry phone that I still miss. I borrowed the scrabble piece just to have some kind of avatar. I’m not particularly original :slight_smile: The 10 had to move up when this site used to have a little symbol in the lower right. I left it there.

In reply to @aky13rx

I have an Amazon Smart TV (Omnia QLED). My Phonak aids connect directly to it via Bluetooth with little or no lag. But doing this switches off the TV speakers. I’ve heard that Amazon are introducing “dual audio” TVs which would give the option to have audio to both TV speakers and Bluetooth hearing aids. However, this would only work with specific - initially Widex.

In reply to @z10user2

Yes, touch sensitive “buttons.” Unfortunately, unless I turn the volume way up on my , I cannot hear the TV well enough to understand what is being said. The transmitter does work very well, except that when in use I cannot have a conversation with my wife without pausing the TV.

I am DISAPPOINTED that your avatar is not Scrabble meaningful. I play a Canadian in Vancouver. Friends through Scrabble. Variations in our languages are fascinating and educational.

In reply to @Teewens

Interesting that using bluetooth turns off the main speakers. That’s like using headphones in a normal way. Some tv’s also do that with the optical connection.
Might there be a setting to allow both sound outputs in the tv?

I have a Sony TV with the Bluetooth and I can connect directly to my Phonak Infinio Sphere . It works fine but is kind of finicky, it drops and reconnects randomly. The TV speaker volume controls the HA volume. Other people can listen through the sound bar sound.

Your TV probably isn’t as modern as your think if it doesn’t have capability.

As far as I know, only a couple of high end Samsung TVs have that capability right now. I expect to see more TVs with this capability by the end of this year and into the next year.

Edited

thank you! very helpful information. In fact, thinking about it, the TV is from B.C. (Before Covid)

In reply to @Teewens

My 2009 tv gives volume control of the optical to the device. My tv does turn off the speakers when something is plugged in to the headphone jack. My tv does not have bluetooth.
Some tv’s do control the volume of the optical.
For me, I mute the tv speakers and use the TV Connector (TVC) to the aids as really a lot like headphones when the spouse has retired for the night. When we both watch, the tv is unmuted and I can get the assistance of the TVC along with ambient.

I have a new set of phonak infinio (not the spheres) 50 hearing aids. They are paired with my TV connector. I had the aud program the phonak app to not let the TV connector turn on automatically when I entered Bluetooth range. I do get a little door bell ding dong alert in my ears letting me know it’s ready to connect. If I wish to connect, I just hit my rocker switch on the back of the aids 3 or 4 times and it will connect to the connector. Otherwise, the aids work normally.

I don’t know if that would help you or not. If I am listening to the TV and wife wants to talk to me, I hit the rocker switch one time and it shuts the TV connector off (actually changes programs) until I hit the switch (3 times) again to connect back to the TV connector.

I am still learning to use it, but, I do not have to physically turn the connector on/off all the time. I can use my rocker switch on the aids or the phonak app in my phone to switch it on and off.

Gimpy,

Thank you. I remember having a similar option … not to connect automatically. But, my Phonak Brios are now around 8 years old, I think, and did not have easy on board control. I needed to turn the facility on and off using the app. That meant I had to have the app with me all the time. Besides that the Phonak app was useless, at that time, I was not, yet, used to carrying my phone with me all day.

I can tell you definitively that the Phonak Audeo Lumity connect to my 2023 LG TV. I don’t use it much because the only connect to 2 devices at a time and I usually prefer to leave them as-is. It also allows for the regular audio to stay on while you listen via the aids.

From the Signia docs, it sounds like they also do regular Bluetooth? I don’t have first-person experience though.

@hearjoy said:

From the Signia docs, it sounds like they also do regular Bluetooth

Not classic like sonova products, but and , if you wanted classic you’d need the extra accessories like the StreamLine Mic, there’s also the StreamLine TV which uses its own unique connection.

In reply to @aky13rx

@aky13rx said:

Sometimes, the TV Connector drives me crazy because I move around my house and I am frequently at the range fringe. The HAs go beserk. Yes, I can turn the transmitter on and off, but that becomes very annoying.

Plus, if I am in my car listening to music or news, as I pull up my driveway, if the TV Connector is on, my HAs automatically connect and I hear whatever my wife is watching on the TV.

It would wind me up to, but I’ve found a way to stop these annoyances, without need to approach your TV Connector.

  1. In Target, you can set the TV Connector to “Manual plus beep”. This can only be done if the TV Connector has been listed as an accessory in Target.

So, with this, If you’re pulling onto your drive in the car, you’ll hear a 2-tone notification from your TV Connector. A quick short press will connect you. If you’d rather not, it won’t. You can select later with long presses.

  1. If it still annoys you (as it did me), I’ve connected mine to a Smart Plug, so I can isolate it totally from my phone. I use this if I’m using Target, as the TV Connector can interfere.

As a side note, I use Manual plus beep for Roger devices. Like you, I dislike autoswitching.

Hope this helps

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