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Hands-free calling with MFI hearing aids

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My original post is below.

I’m hoping to find MFI aids that allow truly hands-free calling WITHOUT any additional devices. I realize the Phonak (Oticon) allows this but it’s not MFI.

Hoping I can overcome the issues I have in this post:
No Speech to text

9 people in this conversation8 min readJump to latest

I wear MFI aids , they are from Oticon, at this time the only way with MFI aids to get handsfeee is with an external added device. From my reading of Apple’s documents, the adding of handsfeee within the IOS will not happen until IOS 15 is available this fall. But what isn’t explained is which iOS devices will get the capacity. It could be made available to some older iPhones or it could be only available to the newest iPhone coming out this fall. As for as what aids it will be available on is anyone’s guess. I am sure it will more than likely require new products.

@cvkemp said:

I wear MFI aids , they are from Oticon

cvkemp. Thanks for the reply.

Spoke with Oticon this AM and couldn’t get a straight answer if their aids were MFI. Are you sure? They recommended the “Jumps” which they say are totally hands-free. She also said something about a new model the “Move Blu”.

Anyway, since Oticon and Phonak are pretty much one and the same, I sure would like to know if the Oticon is MFI.

Oticon and Phonak are competitors.
Apple MFI were first in with capability. Good for them.
Listen to the actual customer that uses the product. cvkemp knows of what he speaks.
Phonak is NOT mfi. They chose to go standard bluetooth. Good for them. And they can do hands free mics. ie. using the mics on the HA’s for input. And they can connect to iphones using bluetooth as well…just not “mfi”.

In reply to @Flyswatter

I have been wearing Oticon aids for the last 10 years, my OPN1 aids that are now my backup aids are MFI, as are the OPNS1 aids that are my main aids that I am wearing and are connected to my iPhone and can be paired to my iPad. I will be getting the Oticon More1 aids in 3 weeks and they are MFI, as well as being able to connect to the newest Android OS and a small number of Android phones.

In reply to @Flyswatter

I think you’re talking about Unitron, not Oticon. Unitron and Phonak are made by same parent company (Sonova) Neither are “Made for iPhone,” but some models can work with iPhones (and be handsfree)

That is true for now. There isn’t any aids that use MFI that is totally hands free at this time. Apple will not have that capacity in IOS and MFI until this fall. Then it will be up to the hearing aid companies to come up with aids to work with the new MFI standards.

In reply to @Flyswatter

I wear Oticon OPN1 hearing aids. They are definitely MFI. My phone is Apple XR. While not completely hands free, I am able to ask Siri to Call (someone in my contacts) and it routes the call to my OPN hearing aids. My voice is transmitted thru the speaker on the phone. The phone can be sitting on my desk. Easy. My voice / conversation is clear. The streamed call to both my aids is very clear. I have the ability to mute the outside mics on my aids, if necessary, if there is external noise. I can adjust the volume of the call on the phone, like normal.
No other external device is required. MFI directly to the OPN aids was a life changer for me.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond and provide their feedback and info.

I’m actually thinking about upgrading to the Phonak P70R’s The idea of having to carry/wear a device to make and receive calls is a deal breaker for me.

The tap your ear to answer the phone is just too geeky for me to pass up. And Siri does work to send iMessages (just not Facebook Chats. :slightly_frowning_face: And who knows, maybe there will be a firmware upgrade to the P70-'s when the competition heats up for hands free calling.

Once again, thanks all!

Well…you still need the phone on your person. But yes the Phonak is uber geeky for that. And it will work with an iphone.
There’s another thread about what’s coming down the pipeline for mfi if you’re interested. But that’s still future. Phonak is now.
cvkemp entirely rightly focuses on hearing performance before connectivity. He prefers the output of his Oticon’s. Then secondarily it happens to be mfi.

@z10user2 said:

Well…you still need the phone on your person

But that’s true under any circumstances. Currently, it’s in a mount in my truck and it announces the caller. Tapping my ear rather than fumblimg to press the aids button is a game changer. I haven’t tested it yet but hopefully I can ask Siri to reject the call.

My only disappointment is that Siri can’t open a friend in FB Chat. But I have a feeling that’s due to the issues between the two companies. I just realized Siri can open iMessage i.e. ‘message john’ and perform speech to text.

I’ll post back on the P70R abut I’m OK with the sound quality of the P30’s

That line was in response to your line:
The idea of having to carry/wear a device to make and receive calls
Obviously obvious but had to be said :slight_smile:

Edited

In reply to @Flyswatter

To me it isn’t about what you use, it is about does it really work for you. I am a retired IT professional, and I had to work with the ones that had to have the latest and so called greatest. But I am someone that has always preferred what works, over what looks cool, or what is the latest model.

In reply to @Flyswatter

Yes writing is hard :slight_smile: I’m going to delve in to the semantics of your “sound quality” bit.
In the playback world that means the fidelity of the sound reproducing what the recording intended to capture.
In the hearing aid world, I would go on to say that it means how well it is able to help you hear and understand speech. That is the prime directive.
It will be some time yet before aids can help us hear everything that was intended on the recording. ie. music. Particularly deep lows and highs and harmonics therein. That’s where I go in the definition of “sound quality”.

In reply to @cvkemp

@cvkemp said:

it is about does it really work for you.

It works for me. I used to have Nikons and Canon cameras, but my lifestyle has changed and I’m content with the camera in my phone.

I’m sure there are nuances between makes and models, but I’m not sure I could tell the difference.

In reply to @Flyswatter

For me I have tried pretty much all of the ones that the system offers, and I keep coming back to Oticon. There is just something about the Oticon sound that keeps me coming back. None of the other brands sounds right to me as for as speech understanding goes.

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