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Phonak Audeo Life hearing aids

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Edited

Has anyone gotten these?
I’m approaching 3 years with my Marvel’s. They’ll be sent out for the 3 year maintenance. But each aid has been sent back for repairs 2-3 times due to problems associated with my jogging routine.

So, I’m looking at these as a more durable option.

Here’s Dr. Cliffs video

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New to the forum. I did recently purchase the Phonak Audeo Life. They are my first pair of hearing aids. I have a mild hearing loss in the upper frequencies, but decided it was time to quit saying “huh” to my wife and struggling to hear when in crowds and noisy environments. So far…I like them. They ticked all the boxes I wanted in a hearing aid.

  1. Connects to Android phone
  2. Connects to Windows laptop with Bluetooth (for work)
  3. Connects to TV (this works with the TV Connector accessory)
  4. Waterproof or IP68 Water-resistant
  5. Rechargeable battery
  6. Works all day…so far
@jwdean26 said:

Waterproof or IP68 Water-resistant

My hearing aids, Phonak Sky V70 which came out in 2016, Altho I didn’t get them until 2020, have an rating of IP68 also.

Dare I ask … has anyone SWAM in them? I am very intrigued if these could be an upgrade to my Phonak Marvel aids but waterproofish? Call me sceptical till I find out.

So the link here describing these2 aids as “first waterproof, rechargeable” is … um … how shall I put it … BS?

I’m gonna have to get my meter out and measure it right now!

bullshitmeter

They’re supposed to be ok submerged up to 19". Of course the Phonak site doesn’t come out and say: “GO SWIM IN 'EM!” So maybe they only mean if you accidentally drop one aid in the toilet, you should fish it out PDQ.

@1Bluejay

I personally think the whole thing is confusing as my Aids are rated IP68 and can be submerged to 1 metre. Despite the Audeo Life having the same rating, they can only go to 50cm and the receivers are not waterproof.

It’s all weird, really.

Here’s what my website says about my NHS Phonak Aids.

IP68 indicates that the hearing aid is water resistant and dust tight. It survived continuous immersion in 1m of water for 60 minutes and 8 hours in a dust chamber as per the IEC60529 standard, no traces of dust were evident within the housing.

https://www.phonaknhs.co.uk/hearing-aid/sky-v/2

EDIT - I’ve just googled and 100cm is 1 metre.

OK! Update! I am so excited I may even have a typo or two in this post! I just got back from my new audi gal. While I’m super happy with my Phonak Marvel aids, I’ve SO LONGED for aids that would allow me to jump in the water like a 7-yr-old and squeal with FUN!

So! I am going to be the new “guinea pig” at this clinic and get the Phonak Audeo Life aids! They’re due in on 7th July, and knowing my discriminatory hearing, I bet in I’ll either LOVE them or RETURN them in 6 hours. I’m excited that these aids are built on the newer Paradise platform, but they are only available in the rechargeable format (which I’m not really a fan of).

I was told that while the behind-ear piece is very water resistant (sealed, coated, just about impossible to soak as even Dr Cliff reports), even the speaker has been coated, so IN THEORY I should not have any trouble if I swim for half an hour with them on, or jump in the ocean for a bit, or even do a canonball into my pool IF it’s ever finished and filled with water. So it’s this SUPER DUPER water-repellant/resistant coating and care that boost the typical IP68 rating on these aids. We shall see!

I will report back here on the performance of these aids. If they work out, I’ll keep the battery-operated Marvels for daily use and use the rechargeable Audeo Life for water sports and/or non-travel use when recharging wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t know if I’d ever feel comfy relying on rechargeable aids for long trips, and I’d certainly have my battery-operated Marvels for backup in my purse at all times.

STAY TUNED!!!

@1Bluejay

I wouldn’t jump in so much that you end up going real deep because they are only waterproof to 50cm.

Also the receivers are not waterproof.

I hope you like them.

image

Yeah, I will make sure my canonball stops exactly 18.5" under the water (just to be safe) ; - )

I hope to put these puppies through the wringer like Dr Cliff did. And I am an honest USER, so if I report back about the issues, others can decide if the Audeo Life is just “promises! promises!” or the genuine article.

Can’t WAIT to get them. My audi tells me that the speakers are supposedly coated with some kind of water-resistant material but then I’d be asking what about the very tip of them that’s under the dome? We shall see. It seems water would find it’s way in somehow.

On top of which, I’m buying a professional, clinic-level dehumidifier: the ReDux. Not only do I live in a very humid place, but if I do regular water sports, it’ll be worth the investment. I’m going to post a review of that up here after I’ve used it, too.

HEY! I finally got my Phonak Audeo Life AIDS yesterday!!! They were a couple weeks late due to the silicone custom molds I had put on over the speakers. Well worth the wait!

Today I took a SHOWER with these aids ON!!! This is the first time I’ve heard running water gushing over my head since I was like … 14? I dunno. It’s been DECADES!!!

The aids didn’t even sound a bit different as I lathered up my hair, washed the suds off, took my time, LAH-DI-DAH!

Got out of the shower, aids still ROCK STEADY, you betcha! For good measure, tho, I put them in my new ReDux hearing aid dehumidifier. To my surprise, it took almost 18 minutes in the ReDux to pull 4.9 uL of moisture out of the aids. WOW.

That intrigued me cuz I was wondering if these Audeo Life aids are “waterproof” does that mean you can’t pull water out of them either? It appears you can! I’ll pop 'em in the ReDux again tomorrow BEFORE taking the shower just to see what the reading is.

Main thing is… OMG! Can these aids be the answer to my prayers? To HEAR in WATER? If so, my next test is to take a swim in the pool - but that has to wait another few weeks till the 9-month long pool remodeling project from HE!! is over. I still can’t use the pool. After which I’ll jump in the ocean here - why not?

I have a 60-day trial on the aids, so I want to do everything Dr Cliff did to see if I can BUST 'EM before I decide to keep 'em. I am ecstatic so far tho!

Hi,

Quick question - Has the clinician discussed the waterproof capabilities of the receivers (earwires) on the hearing aids? I havent had annything to do with the new phonak life product yet and very happy to be proven wrong but I worry that this part of the hearing aid is not waterproof and prone to failure if they get wet.

In reply to @1Bluejay

Don’t get me wrong, I would now look at the water resistance as “if that happens” and not, “let’s go swimming”.

A long time ago, Sony had a smartphone model, I forgot the name, sold it as waterproof.
At that time, people often bragged about how they could swim with it, etc., but it still didn’t manage to be fully waterproof. This water resistance depends on seals that tend to deteriorate over time. The cause can be, for example, salt water, there are also other causes, such as sunscreen, sweat, which can also affect the seal that protects against water penetration.

At the time, smartphone maker Xiaomi said it would not develop a waterproof smartphone. Because it cannot completely guarantee that the seals that protect against water will last.
Some manufacturers still sold such smartphones, but at the same time ensured through a warranty contract that they cannot in any case be responsible if there is water penetration, which means that if this happens, the customer will eventually bear the costs of repairs and replacement of parts .

In reply to @MFAUD

@MFAUD said:

Has the clinician discussed the waterproof capabilities of the receivers (earwires) on the hearing aids?

My audi said that the Phonak Audeo Life aids receivers (aka speakers) were also encased in some kind of protective coating … BUT! I can not comment on that cuz I got custom-molded silicone tips in which that receiver/speaker is embedded. So I’m thinking that may be a KEY factor to my own VERY successful head dunking last night. :smile:

I may not have had the courage to jump in the shower with aids ON if the receivers had my generic, silicone double domes on them, that’s for sure!

Edited

In reply to @sterei

@sterei said:

Here is an interesting blog regarding the measures taken by phonak to improve water protection for the Audeo Life HAs.

Thanks for posting that! Indeed, it mostly talks about the better, newer protection on the actual behind-the-ear unit - which is NOT the receiver/speaker that goes in the canal.

On that topic the blog says:

“The receivers that attach to the hearing aids also have some protection through their encapsulation within plastic polymer, however water can still enter through the sound spout so wearers should avoid submerging this part in water.”

I can totally get that if I had the typical silicone double-dome tips on my receivers I could’ve had some issues wearing these aids in the shower. On my Phonak Marvel aids, that bare matchstick receiver has just the simple domes and even the on top is a point of water entry - especially if water really gets into the ear canal say, if I was swimming?

Even so, while these aids are under the 60 day trial, I am GONNA get in a pool even if it means jumping over a fence and using a neighbor’s. I really want to see if the custom-molded silicone tips (that fit SO tight in my ear canal that I’m aching out to my temples!) can survive a proper dunking. We shall see!!!

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