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Oticon Opn S 1 MiniRITE Battery Life

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Edited

I got my new OPN1 S hearing aids on Wednesday. The left battery ran out a few minutes ago. That seems pretty quick given that I’ve streamed only 2 hours of TV since Wednesday, used the for less than 2 minutes, and have been connected to my iPhone, but only actually used the phone twice for less than 5 minutes each. I would have expected much better battery life given that my hearing loss is mild-moderate. I’ve been rotating the batteries from one to another each night, which I was told should prolong their usefulness. Maybe this is just a one-off thing. It’s my left battery that died, and that’s my better ear. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why this might be happening? Just a bad batch of batteries? I put my hearing aids in the Phonak D-dry Hearing Aid Dryer each night. They haven’t really been exposed to any humidity this week. The batteries aren’t close to their expiration date (March 2020). Rapid battery death is a huge part of the reason why I purchased new hearing aids. My other aids (Oticon Alta 2s - NOT the Pro version) were working just fine, but the battery life was getting shorter and shorter and I was getting tired of having to change them every 3-4 days. I’d love to hear your thoughts as to what might be going on with my new aids. Thanks!

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I only get 4 day from my batteries or between 45 - 60 hours. That is about it it is due to the Bluetooth connectivity.

Four days seems too short. The spec sheet said to expect around 120 hours for battery life. I realize the 120 hours is likely an approximation with just the aids alone, with no streaming. But I still would have thought with the limited amount of streaming I’ve done, less than 5 hours total, I would have gotten closer to 100 hours of battery life. Perhaps I will turn off the cell phone direct connectivity as I am still easily able to use my phone without it. It’s nice to have a constant hands-free option, but I’m not willing to sacrifice so much battery life for a function I don’t yet require.

@KerBear, Did you audiologist program the hearing aids with those batteries in? Sometimes that draws a lot of power. Did you remove the batteries before you put the hearing aids in a dryer? I have the rechargeable OPN-S1, and I can do lots of streaming and phone calls before the batteries drain. Maybe try another brand of batteries?

Yes, he performed the fitting with those batteries. Perhaps that is part of the issue. I will try new batteries, but also turn off as I don’t really need my phone directly linked to my at this point, and I think the constant accessibility may be draining the battery quickly.

I don’t wear Oticons but with my Phonaks my better ear always dies first. I sent my aids for a clean and check service and was told they were working fine so I don’t know why this happens.

In reply to @KerBear

If you have 312 batteries you are not going to get 120 hours out of them with Bluetooth. Also if they were programmed with the batteries that you have been using that is also part of the answer my first batteries didn’t even make that first day. See what your next set of batteries does.

I have OPN S 1’s with 312 batteries. I’m now on my 5th pair of batteries since receiving them in early May.
1st pair lasted 6 days
2nd pair lasted 7 days
3rd pair lasted 7 days
4th pair lasted 6 days

I have them constantly paired with iPhone 7Plus.
I also have and use ConnectClip when at work (every day) for Skype calls.
I have a NoahLink and do my own programming, and I do not notice any significant difference in battery life related to programming activity. I also added the TV Adapter 3.0 and programmed for that today, so I will be watching for the impact of this change. One other observation - I always change both batteries at the same time once they both start chiming near end of life. They both always start chiming within 1-2 hours of each other.

Additionally, I put them in at ~6am each morning and remove and put in dryer at ~11pm each night. The battery doors are open when in the dryer.

Edited

I remain frustrated with my astonishingly short battery life. I have turned off Bluetooth. I have ensured the ConnectClip is off. I haven’t done any streaming at all since before my last post. But I’m still only getting 3-ish days of battery life with these hearing aids. Here’s the battery life history in case this helps anyone make sense of what is going on:
I received these June 5 @ 1:00 p.m. My audi connected them directly to my cell phone at that time. The batteries that were used during programing lasted until June 9 at 7:05 p.m. with less than 5 hours of direct streaming and no volume adjustments.
I replaced the batteries when I woke up June 10 at 8:05 a.m. I did no streaming at all, didn’t use my Connect Clip at all, and didn’t adjust the volume at all, yet those batteries - the second set - died June 13 at 5:15 p.m. Just over 3 days of battery life.
I replaced the second set of batteries June 13 at 5:35 p.m. They died tonight at 7:40, with no streaming, no use of the Connect Clip, and no volume adjustments since inserting this set of batteries. This seems ridiculous! I would understand shortened battery life if I was still streaming to my iPhone constantly, but I have and my Connect Clip turned off on my iPhone.
Then tonight, my right HA randomly started streaming to my iPad when my daughter was using it in another area of the house. She’d literally been using my iPad for about 30 minutes, and suddenly, her game started streaming to my right HA while I was putting my son to bed at the other end of the house. When I checked my iPad, my Bluetooth was off. And my Connect Clip was also off.
What the heck? She’d been playing her game for half an hour at that point, 15 minutes of which I’d been in the same room as her with no random streaming to my right HA. Then, out of the blue as I’m tucking my son in, her game sounds are coming into my right hearing aid. I’m at a loss.
A typical day of use involves me putting in my hearing aids somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m, and removing them by 10:00 p.m…
Are these faulty HAs? Faulty batteries? I’m using Power One brand. They’re well within the expiration date. I’m letting them “air out” for 5 minutes after removing the sticker from them prior to putting them in my HAs. I use the electric dry and store every night.
I’m seriously thinking of returning these. I love how they sound, and I love that I don’t need to use TV streaming anymore, but this incredibly short, and random battery life is driving me crazy!
What am I missing? Anyone?

First battery life is shorter due to how much processing is happening. But my aids are connected all of the time I am wearing them and I am getting 4 days at least out of my batteries. I have experimented with different brands of batteries and life does vary by brand. I wear my aids 12 to 16 hours a day. And get from 50 to 70 total hours out of my batteries. I do stream on average 2 hours a day.

The Oticon MiniRites using 312 batteries specifications call for an average battery life of 60 hours. I generally get 3 days of 14 to 18 hour days with perhaps a 30% reserve before replacing the batteries. I have found that when the reserve gets to 30% you will be lucky if you get 4 hours of life from the batteries. I use PowerOne batteries.

Power one batteries are the worse for battery life, followed by Duracell. I get the best battery life out of rayovac. And if you are like me the provides the power one batteries to you. I have talked to my Audi about the poor performance of the power one batteries and he did say they are not the best batteries for Bluetooth hearing aids.

The supplies my PowerOnes. I am averaging about 60 hours usage per battery which agrees with the specifications from Oticon for my . I really don’t mind replacing the batteries every three days, and the price is right.

I must have gotten a bad batch of power one batteries I am lucky to get 50 hours out of them.

I get about 4 days out of mine with about about 15 hours daily use and maybe a few hours streaming everyday. I guess that’s consistent of the 60 hours spec as well.

OPN 1’s - I get about 3.5 days of Duracell battery life, average 16 hours a day which includes 5-6 hours(?) streaming (maybe more).
I have never found Power One Batteries to last in previous Oticon aids, so I stick with the Duracells, which have proven to be very dependable.
You can eek out a few hours more, if you stick the batteries - holes side down - on a piece of tape (painters tape works great) at night when you remove them from your aids.
I had Alta Pros prior to the OPN’s and got 7 days easy with no streaming.

My audiologist has contacted the local Oticon rep and we are awaiting a response. This is only the second pair of OPN S1s my audiologist has set up. The other user has a bilateral severe hearing loss, and is getting at least 4 days out of her batteries, wearing them 15-18 hours a day and streaming for up to 5 hours a day. My audi’s best guess is that there is something draining the battery life far too quickly. Or there is a physical problem with the themselves. When I’m at work Thursday, he is going to check the battery drain. Hopefully he will have heard back from the Oticon rep by then, and we can collectively figure something out. In the meantime, I will continue to keep Bluetooth turned off and avoid streaming.

I’m surprised about people’s experience with Power One batteries. My former audiologist, who was also a hearing aid user and has a severe loss in both ears, swore by Power One batteries. She only wears Oticon hearing aids and alleged that she only used Power One batteries. But maybe I will try a different type of battery altogether to see if that helps. I really do like the convenience of not needing different programs with these hearing aids, so I have to find a way to make these work.

Looking at your audigram you shouldn’t be using up the batteries with amplification. I have a lot more need for volume and I have my aids connected all the time. And I stream at least 2 hours a day. And due to my aids being I don’t have an airport mode. But I also don’t have tinnitus support or t-coil. And I am getting between 50 and 70 hours out my my batteries, depending on which brand of batteries I am using.

In reply to @KerBear

@KerBear said:

I’m surprised about people’s experience with Power One batteries. My former audiologist, who was also a hearing aid user and has a severe loss in both ears, swore by Power One batteries. She only wears Oticon hearing aids and alleged that she only used Power One batteries. But maybe I will try a different type of battery altogether to see if that helps.

I’ve tried to use Power One batteries and compared them with Kirkland brand batteries I bought from Costco and there’s really no difference in how long they last compared to each other.

I get very poor battery life from power one and duracell batterires, and I get very good life out of rayovac.

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