My Phonak Sphere Infinio I90 vs Lumity L90 Shootout

Also looking forward to trying them out!

I like their width, it will be easier for me to handle the rocker switch. And this “pregnancy belly” will probably better align the microphones horizontally for better directional efficiency.

Here is another picture with both sets of hearing aids in their charge cases. Once again, Silver is Sphere and Black is Lumity. The center storage cutout in the Sphere charger is actually larger than the Lumity charger. Might still be a tight fit for custom earmolds but not horrible. Big bonus having a battery in the charge case for charging on the go!

Not much to report yet. When I left the audiologist, the Sphere’s were at 95%. Got home and quickly paired the Sphere’s to my work laptop (Dell) for a few meetings. After 90 minutes of streaming on three Microsoft Teams meetings, battery is now at 90%. Bluetooth connection is flawless and the Sphere’s seem to connect much faster. I opened the myPhonak app during the final Teams call and the battery level showed 90% and also showed “>16 Hours” as the time left on the battery. Nice to have a time estimate and there is definitely more battery capacity in these hearing aids. There is also a new “Find my Hearing Aids” feature in the app which shows you where they are if you lose them.

My general impression of sound quality in the audiologist office, in the car and at home is that everything sounds a bit richer than Lumity. Not sure if this is my imagination or if it’s just that the Sphere’s are setup slightly different. I haven’t had any opportunity to engage the new Sphere AI noise reduction yet but that test is high on my list.

Back to the larger size of these hearing aids. I honestly cannot feel the difference. I wear glasses and there is no issue. Here is a photo. No wisecracks about my gray hair. I came by it honestly…haha. My audiologist was originally going to lend me his Sierra Red Sphere’s (bling) but the silver ones arrived at the office. He said he will swap them out with the black or graphite color versions when they arrive in stock.

Jordan

@JordanK said:

My general impression of sound quality in the audiologist office, in the car and at home is that everything sounds a bit richer than Lumity. Not sure if this is my imagination or if it’s just that the Sphere’s are setup slightly different.

Would I love to know the answer to that!!! Having worn probably a dozen different aids over 35 yrs, I have NEVER (as in EVER) had an initial fitting that was even tolerable. REM has been done on the past maybe 4-5 pairs of Oticons & Phonaks. Without any exception, I find the sound quality pretty thin, shrill and horrific. It used to really stress me out, but now I almost laugh at it, cuz I know the audi will get me to where I need to be after 3-4 more visits.

After buying my Phonak Lumity Life aids 2 yrs ago, the new audi had a challenging time getting these to sound even half as good as my older Marvels. So she called Phonak tech while I sat with her and they walked her through how to “copy” and “paste” the old Marvel profiles into my new Lumity Life settings. That got me about 95% to GREAT. It’s been a series of trying this and that the past 2 years and now I’d say I’m about 98% to REALLY great. Even so, I sure wish I was a DIYer like so many folks here. I’d tinker with the settings, MPO, gain, Noise Mgt, Feedback Mgt, etc., and never stop fiddling.

You’re off to a great start - especially the BATTERY life! I. Am. Shocked. I thought you’d be at like 30% after the 90-min Zooms, but perhaps it’s just the “speech in loud places” that drains these Spheres?

We have the same hair and beard

Even though my loss is much worse than yours, this is the test I am very interested in.

Especially when compared to the current situation.

Let me explain: at the cinema currently with the Lumity do you understand all the dialogues? Does the noise reduction of the Sphere AI, zero the sound scene?

Today my audiologist (who has tried the Sphere for two days in Larry situation) warned me against the fact that Phonak‘s battery technology is simply not ready to allow Sphere (which he praised nevertheless). He said that if you use Sphere for 3 hours in party situations, the battery goes down to 50%.

He said that all the audiologists form all over the world that we’re with him had the same feedback.

His feedback (which goes against his own btw rest as a “seller“) is simply to wait for the next generation, which is most likely due in 2 years.

The AI technology seems to be already amazing though.

@DamonHill said:

He said that if you use Sphere for 3 hours in party situations, the battery goes down to 50%.

It was described in Dr Cliff’s review on YouTube (6-8h), but he didn’t specify whether the Sphere programme was at full power.

However, I think it will be rather rare that the full power of the Sphere programme will be needed.

@DamonHill said:

His feedback (which goes against his own btw rest as a “seller“) is simply to wait for the next generation, which is most likely due in 2 years.

I thought about waiting, but my Paradise 90-RT is almost 4 years old. About a year ago, just before the end of the warranty, when it was sent in for a technical inspection, Phonak wouldn’t change the battery, even when I offered to pay for it. So I need to buy Sphere now, probably after a Christmas.

EDIT:
I want to clarify that that was my audi’s statement, not Phonak’s directly.

He says something like, “I asked Phonak about the possibility of changing the battery to a new one, but they replied that they don’t do it, even for a fee.”

My Paradise had the SEM module replaced - I don’t even know what it is.

END of EDIT.

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@JordanK said:

The only glitch I noticed is a tiny bit of static when the Sphere program first engages. It’s only milliseconds but it almost sounds like the sound of a static electricity shock in the winter when you rub your shoes on the carpet and touch something metal. Might be a software glitch…not sure.

On the HearAdvisor review, when I played the speech in noise sample, I also heard similar static at the beginning. How about listening to a radio or podcast through the car speakers while driving?

So Sphere can be activated both automatically and manually?

@JordanK said:

The built in GPS probably decides you are driving and automatically adjusts to the right listening mode.

I think Phonak Lumity and Infinio has accelerometers but not GPS (GPS would chew through a bunch of battery).

Yes, it probably detect the last Bluetooth LE connection with a smartphone with GPS.

@ryanb said:

I think Phonak Lumity and Infinio has accelerometers but not GPS (GPS would chew through a bunch of battery).

I think Sphere has GPS. There is a new live find my hearing aids feature (see photo below). How would it know where your hearing aids are on the live map if there is no GPS? Plus it tracks each hearing aid separately.

Jordan

@JordanK said:

I think Sphere has GPS. There is a new live find my hearing aids feature (see photo below). How would it know where your hearing aids are on the live map if there is no GPS? Plus it tracks each hearing aid separately.

You could test this by going somewhere without your connected mobile. Leave them somewhere (safe) and come back and see where the app thinks your aids are. The aids don’t have a separate access to the net than your mobile, I think, so I predict you’ll find they are said to be near the last point your phone saw them.

WH