Need advice on LE audio firmware for new Phonaks thru the VA. Alternatives?

I am getting the Phonak Spheres from the VA the first Friday of December. I now wear the Oticon INTENT1 aids that are le audio, and with the new firmware update that hopefully will be available from the VA soon they become auracast enabled. Why the Spheres? I need the help of the Spheres for speech understanding. And honestly there isn’t that much use for le audio and auracast at this time. The Phonak Spheres will be le audio and auracast at some point with a firmware update.

thanks. I too am impressed about the 4.6 speech test results for the Spheres. That would really help me also. But I would find reliable Bluetooth very helpful also. Bluetooth works with my P90’s but LE audio would be much better. My Pixel 8 and 9 smartphones support LE Audio. There has got to be a reason why after a year Phonak has not provided the firmware update to enable this feature that it said it supports. Its competitors have had LE audio for some time, (but not the AI assisted speech recognition). There has to be a problem. Sometimes promised features are never delivered.

@TambourineMan said:

But I would find reliable Bluetooth very helpful also. Bluetooth works with my P90’s but LE audio would be much better.

Since the ultra update BT streaming on my Spheres is rock solid and just as good as my airpods pro.

I can now finally use it for Teams meetings at work and making phone calls.

THANKS! I knew there was a problem - probably monetary or PR. I was suspecting it was because they have been touting the use of BT classic so it works (to an old quality level) with all BT devices and possibly implementing LE Audio might reduce compatibility. I was unaware that Sonova owns Roger. Makes perfect sense now.

for the near or even foreseeable future I don’t so care so much about Auracast itsleft as I read on the internet (FWIW) there are only 7 facilities worldwide equipped with it. But the LE audio seems valuable due to continuous/drop out connectivity issues (although these seem more prevalent on IOS than Android and hopefully even less on Android devices that support LE Audio as do my Pixel 8 and 9’s.

You should get the hearing aids that allow you to hear the best in many different situations. LE is a nice to have but really not the top buying criteria. Especially given the limited support that exists today.

Just my 2 cents…

Jordan

Agreed. Consensus seems to be that the Phonak spheres with good audiologist are the best for most situations but with caveats: battery life and connectivity drop outs. The latter seems fixable if Phonak cared more about the user than the effect on their bottom line WRT Roger.

The question is can Oticon Intents match the Spheres for AI assisted speech in noise

I hope you are right that Auracast takes off exponentially and that forces Phonak to do the right thing and fully implement BLE 5.3. I don’t get out to large crowd events or big venues much but when I do, it can be torture as sometimes I miss 80% of what’s being said.

@TambourineMan said:

The latter seems fixable if Phonak cared more about the user than the effect on their bottom line WRT Roger.

I’m experiencing zero drop offs since the Ultra firmware update and battery life on the Sphere’s appears to be improved too. My advice is to try a number of different brands as their AI tech is slightly different. Pick the hearing aid that allows you to hear the best. I’m confident Phonak will implement LE and Auracast when the tech is ready and can be implemented without causing new issues like reduced battery life or drop offs.

Jordan

@cvkemp said:

I agree way too many put connectivity first instead of being able to properly hear in the most important environments, and that is the unconnected world.

It varies with situation and lifestyle. Although I’m probably an outlier in this regard, for me the Phonaks’ Bluetooth capabilities were a near-absolute must, since my work involves lots of Zoom/Teams meetings through desktop computers, as well as phone calls. (I’ve got a phone I bought only back in June, and it’s still not clear if it supports LE Audio; it’s not available in the States, so it’s more difficult to find out one way or another without having an LE Audio device to try to pair with it.)

So I had to pay almost three times as much for the Phonaks as I would have paid for top-end Oticons or another top competitor, with connectivity as the only real reason. The Spheric capabilities are a nice-to-have, but I’m actually much happier not being in places where I need them. (The non-Spheres aren’t available here - and if they were available, they wouldn’t be any cheaper than the Spheres.)

I have the Oticon INTENT1 aids with my Samsung S25FE and it is very solid connectivity. I am actually getting the Phonak Spheres with the Roger ON microphone the first Friday of December. I am a veteran with service related hearing loss and my aids are from the VA. My audiologist of 7 years decide which aids I get for my hearing loss needs. I am a retired IT professional and did phone support for Dell and Microsoft, I wore ITE aids and used headphones over my ears to hear on the business phones. I used external streamers to connect to the old fashioned cell phones. I depend on my aids connected to my cellphone for calls. I still have to have external devices to connect to tablets. No I don’t do Ipads or IPhone as I found the connectivity to the Samsung so much better. I did IPhone for 9 years eith mixed results. I haven’t had issues with the Samsung S23 that I traded for the S25FE that I know have. I needed a larger screen. The Phonak Spheres will connect to more of my devices and even allow 2 connects at once. I am actually more connected now in retirement than I was when working. I live in a rural area and state and auracast isn’t a thing out here. And the only thing with le audio is my android phone. With my Oticon INTENT1 aids I need the extra devices to connect my tablet and Kindle. With the Phonak Spheres I will mot need the extra devices. The Roger ON will function ss my TV adapter and a remote microphone that has many functional capabilities.

@JordanK said:

I’m confident Phonak will implement LE and Auracast when the tech is ready and can be implemented without causing new issues like reduced battery life or drop offs.

Battery life should be much better with LE audio and the Auracast section. Bluetooth connectivity should be better too.

It would be if all phones, tablets etc were le audio which they aren’t at this time. But Bluetooth classic is pretty universal at this time.