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Oticon OPN: Bluetooth compatibility - Blackberry & Android

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Edited

As we already know, the Velox platform looks well and apparently becomes a highest standard in sound processing.

I read of course this post: "Do OPN 1 connect to any bluetooth? "
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/do-opn-1-connect-to-any-bluetooth/32829 (member archive)

and I see one thing which is not clear at all: Bluetooth / OS / hardware compatibility of the OPN line.

Yes, I can complain about the quality of information given in OPN datasheets.
It is not very professional today not to specify Bluetooth standard / class & list of codecs implemented in a gear. Remember, this is the newest and most developed stuff(!) of this manufacturer.
We have then encore one mystery in the hearing industry :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Look: ‘Oticon | OPN Product Guide 2017’ (page 21 in browser, wchich is page 40 printed in doc)
https://www.oticon.co.za/-/media/oticon/main/pdf/master/opn/pbr/177406uk_pbr_opn_product_guide_17_1.pdf58

I understand “made for iPhone” (which I’ll never use, until it gets a physical keyboard) but there is plenty of other smartphone brands than Apple.

Relatively newer BlackBerry smartphones (Classic, Z30, Passport, Priv) are compatible with Android OS and equipped with LE / low energy Bluetooth 4.0, 4.1 and with communication standards as Headset Profile (HSP), Hands-Free Profile (HFP), Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), Enhanced Data Rate (EDR).
So in theory, we shouldn’t have any problem to pair OPNs with Blackberry for calls. No?

If anybody tested or could test how OPN work with Blackberry, please post your observations here.
(with other quality Android device too)

Thanks

6 people in this conversation7 min readJump to latest

In about a month, Oticon will release the ConnectClip intermediate streaming device which will let you connect the OPN with devices that has standard Bluetooth support. For PC that doesn’t support , you can get a USB dongle for it that will work with the ConnectClip.

Right now only iOS devices can be paired directly with the OPN without the ConnectClip.

For watching TV with either audio input or optical Toslink inputs, the Oticon TV Adapter 3.0 is already available and it’ll stream directly into the OPN. Of course if you have a smart TV that has BT support, it should work with the ConnectClip, too, just like your BlackBerry or Android phones.

Edited

OK but here we are talking about direct connection.
Streamers, clips and other gizmos begin to be obsolete today.
Functionally, this direct connectivity is one of the key new features brought with products like Oticon OPN or Phonak Audeo B-Direct.
How do you know that OPN do not allow direct wireless calls with 'no iPhone" smartphones?
In above mentionned specs I see only:

  • “iPhone or the Android smartphone
    is connected directly to the hearing aids using
    Bluetooth 4.0/Bluetooth SMART.”
  • “Please note that direct audio streaming is
    currently not supported by Android”
  • “ConnectClip is used with mobile phones and
    other audio devices not supporting direct
    wireless connectivity (or streaming) to the
    hearing aids”

Blackberry models I listed ARE supporting ‘direct wireless connectivity (or streaming)’ and ARE BT 4.0.

As for the 2nd statement: I can agree that ‘direct audio streaming’ is part of a BT transmitted phone call but I understand Oticon refers to streaming of music and not calls.
In other way all these statements could be tricky and misleading, to hide the truth: no iPhone - no way.

This (if true) and lack of option could keep me strongly off of OPN line.
I’d stay with Inium / Inium Sense generation.

Ok. I’m a Blackberry fanboy. They lost. Big. Yes they have an Android runtime and they can run many Android programs. The streaming thing would be interesting and useful with compatible aids but pretty much no one is interested in writing programs for the Blackberry. Maybe there’s a possibility that an Android program wouldn’t be able to reach that hardware feature on a BB OS 10. I don’t know. The Priv you mention is actually running Android. Not BBOS10 with the Android runtime in the others you list.
But I’m still running a Z30 and still have a perfectly functional Z10. They do what I need them to do. The browser’s getting a little behind in capability now though. I don’t do anything Apple. It would be nice if these manufacturers would make products that use the #1 most used OS on anything and not just Apple. (I get that from Wikipedia and the chart that shows browser/OS usage. It has it’s own accuracy issues but whatever.)

But it would seem that Apple has been amenable to the needs of accessibility issues and Android devices have not yet followed.

In reply to @Slovsky

@Slovsky said:

How do you know that OPN do not allow direct wireless calls with 'no iPhone" smartphones?

Because otherwise Oticon would have advertised the heck out of it and scream to the world like Phonak did with their Audeo-B Direct. But they didn’t and they simply said that their OPN is only MFI, not Made for Everything.

You can derive all you want from reading in between the lines in whatever spec or literature you can find, the fact today is that only the Phonak Audeo-B Direct can stream directly to Android phones, albeit with major limitations like monoraul streaming and lower quality sound.

Volusiano: Phonak: Really? Well heck I can get mono from my homemade and my aids with that sounds like a tinny old transistor radio of yore. They made a big deal about that?

@z10user2 said:

They made a big deal about that?

They made a whole big announcement about being the first Made for Every Cell Phone. I’m sure you can search this forum for that announcement.

Edited

Thank you guys for your answers.
So, we have another ‘made for iphone’ wonder.
An exemplary case that unveils how backward and inert can be all this H industry in terms of implementation of commonly accepted, proven and widespread technology.
There is more of weird logic. manufacturers try to make their products apealing to young generation as cool stuff but at the same time they apparently ignore the structure of the related market.
If they continue this and maintain their very high pricing, they’ll soon find themselvs far behind manufacturers in every aspect, as many predict.
Here you can see a very detailed stats for every brand and OS, globally and by country:

Mobile Operating System Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of mobile operating systems worldwide based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

z10user2 - Yes, we are loosers with our BBs :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: If BB abandonned its own OS in newer models, that means BB is already a dead company. I didn’t know about this fact as I still use BB OS v10.
I dare say that Microsoft driven Nokia big fall was even worse. Nokia smartphones were absolutely the best IMHO (Symbian OS is another story).
Crap sells better and we can’t change this old rule.

I just have to say that  has been out in front in making accessibility and technology universal to the blind, deaf, hearing impaired, handicapped and the technically handicapped people of Earth before thinking about profit.  started working with original hardware & software manufacturers long before developing the protocol that made MFI possible and efficient. If one has a bias toward a particular smart phone its your problem to consider. But understandable since Microsoft had such a stranglehold with the Windows OS for the decade before smart phones became popular and particularly popular to bash anything Apple.

In reply to @Slovsky

Well…I don’t think I’m a loser. I would still say that BBOS10 and devices running it is/are superior technology…still.
But the marketplace didn’t agree. We’re losers to the masses and backed the wrong horse …but not losers as far as the tech. But few to no one is writing programs for it. Updates from BB are pretty much done now these years later after the collapse. The only issue that I’m aware of now that could use an update is the built-in browser. But it still mostly works.
BB is now barely making Android phones. Even that will probably fall off.

So this is a huge oversimplification but the reason all the hearing aids are apple only is bc Apple worked with the companies to essentially hack 4.0 to allow for the HA audio streaming. (Also while total market share is dominated by Android there’s so many different manufacturers running android and various skins/custom OS versions of Android that it’s way harder to standardize.) That’s also why you still need a streamer or clip on mic to use for talking on the phone. Phonak’s B-direct connects to anything but limits to monaural streaming.

@Slovsky said:

I understand “made for iPhone” (which I’ll never use, until it gets a physical keyboard) but there is plenty of other smartphone brands than Apple.

Anything that is has the capability to use a keyboard.

Edited

In reply to @mstrmac

Summarizing this thread:
Wait one year (or more) for the luxury. In the meanwhile have a fancy pleasure of showing off with grandma’s streamer :smiley: And think about some trolley to carry all your gadgets.
“Apple first” -Oticon

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