Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Bluetooth reception issues outdoors

13 replies490 viewsLast reply

Link to this topic
Reply
Edited

I have a iPhone 16e & Starkey edge 2400ai hearing aids. I have been wearing hearing aids for 30 years & this pair is by far the best I’ve owned. What I like to do but have not been satisfied with is listening to music when I’m outside walking my dog. My beef with the hearing aid manufacturers is the quality of the Bluetooth reception is poor/terrible. For the prices the hearing aid makers charge…..in my case $4300…..they should get better reception outside. Inside it’s not much of an issue if you’re sitting down & not moving. Apple doesn’t have any Bluetooth tooth issues with their iPods being outside. Why can’t the hearing aid companies get with Apple & get this poor outside reception fixed???

7 people in this conversation6 min readJump to latest

Phonaks (Audéo) and Android phones here, no problems whatsoever with Bluetooth inside or out.

Edited

Do a little test: Plug your ears with your fingers and do some streaming. Is it better?

Starkeys use Bluetooth Low Energy (), a protocol that saves power but sacrifices some sound quality, giving them over 40 hours of battery life. AirPods, on the other hand, use Bluetooth Classic, which provides more bandwidth for better audio. Other hearing aids, like Phonak, also use Bluetooth Classic, delivering noticeably better streaming sound but at the cost of much shorter battery life.

AirPods are designed for streaming, with sealed tips to block out external noise and speakers built to handle deep bass. goal is to help you hear and understand speech more clearly.

If your HA domes are open or vented, sound can leak out, which may lower the streaming quality (which is why I suggested the test at the beginning of this comment). When you are outside, there are more sounds/noise that mixes with the sound that comes from the receiver if you were open or vented domes. My aids are useless for streaming outdoors.

Your hearing aids also support Bluetooth , a new protocol that enhances streaming quality. Apple hasn’t adopted this protocol yet, but once they do, you’ll enjoy improved streaming performance.

This is inherent with Bluetooth and nothing much can be done by the hearing aid or the phone companies. Bluetooth is line of sight and your body will block the signal. Place your phone in a breast pocket for best possible results when outside.

There is your answer you have too much radiation from radio signals and cellular signals that are much stronger than the Bluetooth signals. The signal strength of Bluetooth is strictly regulated. Bluetooth even has issues at with WI-FI signals in a lot of homes and businesses.

In reply to @OcramSagev

I have ear molds which gives me better hearing. My disappointment is the Bluetooth reception while walking outside. I’ve tried having my iPhone strapped to my upper arm or having it in a front upper pocket …..the reception is poor. Starkey should be able to match Apples iPod reception. Keep in mine ….the cost of ipods is a fraction of what hearing aids cost.

Edited

AirPods can’t match the 51-hour battery life of Starkeys. The AirPods Pro 2 last about 4 hours, while the third generation may reach up to 8 hours. Hearing aids with that kind of battery life would be impractical. To achieve very long usage times, you need Bluetooth Low Energy. For better streaming quality, opt for Phonaks or use a phone that supports Bluetooth . It’s like expecting a Porsche to perform the duties of a truck because the Porsche costs $100000 (or viceversa)

Many people on this forum have shared that they use both with great success.

One of our Starkey Edge users reported being able to walk about 100 feet in their office while connected to our FlooGoo FMA120 Bluetooth transmitter. You may want to try the FMA120 with a USB-A to USB-C adapter, or the FMA121, which includes a USB-C cable.

If it doesn’t improve outdoor performance for your use case, you can simply return it via Amazon.

Starkey Edge AI supports multiple connections, so you can connect your hearing aids to both your phone and the FMA120/FMA121 (plugged into the phone’s USB-C port). You’ll need to set the phone’s audio output to the USB device, rather than using the direct Bluetooth connection between the phone and the hearing aids.

Here’s the customer’s feedback on the distance performance:

“So, I worked with this on streaming pretty much all day. Incredibly stable. The range is ridiculous. I walked well over 100’ down a hallway with at least a wall or two in the way before I was able to disconnect. (My left ear had disconnected for some reason, so I had to go force my right one dead.) Reconnections (after both failed) were perfect every time. Left the building completely once for lunch and it reconnected immediately.

I did move my dongle to on top of my monitor with an extension so that probably helped the range somewhat, but wow, I didn’t think bluetooth would go THAT far.”

You’ve gotten some really great advice and suggestions in this thread - I hope you can explore these options and improve your own connectivity.

Speaking for my own solution: I wear Phonak Lumity Life 312-battery aids that stream with my Android phone - so it is truly the best of both worlds! Phonak is pretty renowned for its BT reliability, and the sound quality is superb due to the older BT protocol that controls that part of the aids.

Low energy is certainly the way of the future, but many hearing aids are in that “awkward” phase where the transition is still evolving. Those who wear hearing aids sometimes trade off LONGER battery life for POOR sound quality and BT instability.

I’m sacrificing battery life (with my tiny 312s changed out every 5th day) and valueing the ROCK STEADY BT performance - inside, outside, hanging upside down. Rarely ever have any issues with streaming phone calls.

O’course the PHONE and your service plan is another factor, cuz in busy, cosmopolitan places, I can’t even get a cell connection if there are too many people on their cell phones. That’s really annoying when I’m trying to get to a website f’instance.

I have the Phonak Spheres and the Oticon INTENT1 aids as my backup aids. I can say this streaming strictly from my Samsung S25FE the battery life of both sets of aids are fantastic. The INTENT1 aids battery life is over 24 hours of use while doing a lot of streaming, the Phonak Spheres, not Ultras, has a battery life of well over 32 hours streaming the same amount of time. Also, I haven’t seen any issues with speech in very noisy environments with the Spheres.

@cvkemp said:

The INTENT1 aids battery life is over 24 hours of use while doing a lot of streaming, the Phonak Spheres, not Ultras, has a battery life of well over 32 hours streaming the same amount of time.

WOW those rechargeables have come a LOOOoooooOOOONG way in 2.5 yrs! Glad the Spheres have delivered on the speech comprehension in LOUD places. You’re in a really GOOD place! :grinning_face:

In reply to @1Bluejay

@1Bluejay said:

Phonak is pretty renowned for its BT reliability

And that is my experience, too. The only, minor, interference I get is with my TV streamer (not regular ), when the microwave oven runs. However, reading some comments here it seems some people live in an environment with heavy electromagnetic smog. Possibly that could mess up BT between any and a nearby phone.

In my car I use Auto Android with a screen that talks to my Android phone over BT (music, navigation, phone calls), and this connection sometimes drops out in some places around town.

@RobHooft said:

this connection sometimes drops out in some places around town.

Could that be a 5G issue with some kind of building/phone pole/other blockage of signal?

That is funny about the microwave! Maybe replace that model and see if it still happens?

Related discussions