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Costco appointment booked. Posting my of questions / concerns for comment

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This is what I have so far. If there are other things I should be asking, I will add them to my list. The fitter at my local Costco has very good reviews, and I liked talking with her over the phone, so there’s that.

Issues I notice

Banquet tables in noisy settings
Long tables in noisy settings
Television
Conversation -- drop off at end of sentences 

No problems on telephone
No problems with car radio talk shows etc -- more sound compression per my son

Concerns

Worried I will feel overwhelmed, irritated
I like to be outside -- wind noise
I like to workout -- sweat -- receiver "socks"? -- although I might not wear to gym
Reading glasses a constant on and off, will likely always be so.
Not sure how hearing aids, app and my car's Blue Tooth will interact.  Talking on phone in car is important to me.

Preferences

Android Samsung S23+ -- care about controls on phone, not with hands free talking, at least this point
	Care a lot about nothing interfering with ability to talk on phone in my car -- my favorite time to talk
Auracast -- intrigued by this -- is it available on whatever I pick?
Long initial battery life if rechargeable -- batteries always degrade over time
Suspect I would prefer a smaller dome or equivalent
	Don't want to feel sealed in
	Want to hear outside noise like nature, walking
	Will not like my own voice being distorted

Real ear measurement – is this an objective way of seeing if helps – like an eyeglass correction?

Do you test the HA when it arrives, to make sure it works by itself, before I start trying it?
Electroacoustic analysis aka testbox measure aka Hearing Instrument Testing

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I can see you have given a lot of thought to this. Your list looks quite complete.

I’ll add a comment about wind noise. You get two kinds of wind noise. One is the noise of the wind whipping past your ears, glasses, hair, hat, etc. The hearing aids will deal with this like they deal with other noise. With my Philips 9050s, I still hear this noise, but it is not usually too bad. The other noise is the wind actually hitting the microphones in the aids. Some or maybe all of the major brands have algorithms that detect this kind of noise (it is usually unique because it probably is only happening in one mic at a time) and either turn off those frequencies, or turn off the one microphone completely. My 9050s do a pretty good job this this kind of noise, better than the previous aids I had from a different company six years ago.

Debit33, a couple of FYI points, as I recently obtained the Philips 9050 from Costco, and still getting used to them. Overall though, very satisfied with their performance. I had tried the Jabra Pro 20s earlier this year, but returned them due to their noise performance (which could be either the Hearing Aids or the way they were set up by the Audi, still not entirely clear in my mind what caused the poor performance).
I also have an Android phone. The 9050s, while not perfect, maintain the Bluetooth connection somewhat better than the Jabras.
I was somewhat surprised to find the Philips domes for my ears to be smaller than the ones I had with my older Resound . These are comfortable enough to keep the hearing aids on for all day wear.
To address some of my noise performance concerns, my Audi loaded up 3 additional programs - Hear in Noise (restaurants and such), Automotive (reduction in wind noise), and TV. So far I have used the Hear in Noise (which helps a bit), and the TV programs. The Automotive program didn’t really seem to help me much, but still getting used to them.
As you have a Costco appt booked already, I assume it is in early December. Interestingly, the Philips 9050 is running a “special” until Christmas Eve, where if you purchase the 9050, you also get a Phiiips TV streamer for free (normally about $250), which will stream the TV sound direct to your Hearing Aids. I just picked up my TV streamer after Thxgiving, but have not yet attached it to the TV.

Thank you, these replies are very helpful. There is so much to learn and so many variables. Another variable I thought of is that I have tinnitus, which I think Costco can’t address in this model. I guess I’ll just go a step at a time. Dec 12, and I am aware of that offer.

Jumping in here from left field… What brand of hearing aid are you getting at Costco? I wear Phonak Lumity Life aids (fitted by an audi at a hearing clinic), and they are surprisingly excellent for phones - even without ! I can not only hear very well just putting anyone’s phone up to my “sweet spot” on the aids, but I also have a dedicated program called “Acoustic Phone” that lets me hear stereophonically in both ears, even with the phone held up to just one ear.

O’course 99% of the time I’m just streaming calls directly into the aids on my Samsung Flip-4 Android phone, and that works best of all. BRAND matters. So if the brand of aid you’re going to trial at Costco is a good one, you shouldn’t have too many issues to sort out.

Also:

  1. Wind noise - yes, can be annoying (along with hair rustle, and clanking with glasses going on and off over the ears
  2. Workout SWEAT - BIG concern I found out! I actually killed my new pair of Phonak 312-battery Lumity Life aids after just ONE sweaty workout in the gym. I don’t think that should happen, but I’ve learned that on gym days, I need to wear my older RECHARGEABLE Lumity Life aids. They are pretty much hermetically sealed.
  3. Bluetooth connection in car works A-OK with my aids, but hey, why not keep your aids paired + connected and just stream the call into them INSIDE the car? That’s what I do. Phonak has always delivered ROCK SOLID connection with BT, so that’s another point in its favor (or similar Costco brand).
  4. Real ear measurements may help with an initial setup, but DO NOT just accept the initial setup and think you’re done! I typically go back 3-4 times after any new hearing aid purchase to fine-tune settings and add/remove dedicated programs.
  5. You don’t mention MUSIC, but that’s another key concern for many who wear aids. You can probably get a dedicated program to remove any Autosense from destroying the dynamic ranges in music.

It’s a first fitting…
read all the online stuff about your particular aids
take a look at the software used to configure them
don’t ​interrogate them
don’t walk out expecting them to be perfect

Ask about the button options. For example, my Jabra buttons can both change programs and adjust volume, but initially they weren’t able to select my TV Streamer or Multi-Mic. That was an option I didn’t know about at first; I had to ask the fitter to implement it.

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