Phonak Sphere Infinio Bluetooth Connectivity Failures – Who Else Is Affected?

I've not read this entire thread, but I may have something to add (or apologies if this is a duplication of info...). Not Sphere, but I'm guessing that's nothing to do with the bluetooth connection topic here.

I'm currently trialing Sennheiser Sonite Rise aids form costco (= phonak's I-90R), for a couple of months I was using them with a 5 year old OnePlus android phone. Pretty solid connection comparable to my over 7 years wearing Phonak Marvels.

My experience suggests that it might be the phone and not the aids.

I upgraded to a newer android phone, a Pixel 11. Connectivity went into the gutter. Mostly for phone calls but generally just not great. Dropping signals during the call was my biggest issue. Sometimes one side would drop out. Sometimes it would come back after a time, sometimes one side would drop and then a minute or so later the other side would drop and the call would revert to the phone's earpiece. Other times I'd get static, sort of like I'd get with the old Marvel aids when the phone would be in my opposite pocket or would otherwise just be too far away... except this time the phone would be in my hand no more than 16 inches in front of my face. Still, other times both aids would drop simultaneously without warning and the call would switch to the phone's earpiece.

It was basically unusable. I've been in contact with Phonak's tech support. No help. I've been going back and forth with Google's disability support team (for the phone) for nearly a month. I've sent them several debug reports.

At one point they suggested that I try some aids that use LE bluetooth. (which, incidentally, I'm doing now, in part for this issue, but more so because I've become less excited about phonak's noise suppression turning down the rest of the room and inadvertently turning down my daughter's voice that I'm trying to hear.) Anyway, I found that suggestion to be oddly funny. I basically asked them if they had broken their bluetooth classic support. That's the baseline old tech that they've had for very many years and I have used successfully, so I would think that they really should have that dialed in very well.

@RSmithBothell said:

jostle your glasses and not hang up a call that you've been waiting for for 20 minutes?

It happens. I try to be really careful not to bump sunglasses or hat into HAs when on a call. I have sensitivity set to lowest and it still happens by accident. I live with the risk.

WH

@bradw said:

Dropping signals during the call was my biggest issue

I have also had this with the Sonite Rise. The issue seems to be loss of the Bluetooth Classic connection (which I also saw on occassions with my Win11 laptop).

@bradw said:

I've been going back and forth with Google's disability support team (for the phone)

Ditto, with no resolution. I have a suspicion that the problem might be with the app or the Sonite/app connection, causing the app to disconnect the Bluetooth Classic connection to the phone, as the solution generally involves re-connecting the master HA directly to the phone.

The app isn’t really involved in a call. You can eliminate the app and forget all the BT pairings, then create a pairing with just the master (no app involved at all) and make calls, stream music etc just fine.

WH

I don't think that it has anything to do with the app because it worked fine for quite some time with my old android phone that did not have any of the new LE Bluetooth or ASHA or any of this new fangled stuff. It was an old android that had Bluetooth...and it worked fine. Same aids, same app.

some of my many hours spent troubleshooting envolved doing things like deleting the app. That wasn't a fix in my case.

Like I have said I have had my Spheres i90 for almost a year. I have had them paired to my Samsung S25FE, several Kindles, a Fire Tablet and Android tablets. Never had an issue with connectivity. The only issues I have heard of with the Spheres and connectivity has been with a few newer IPhones just after updating the phone. One thing that I know is sometimes WiFi routers can cause issues with Bluetooth connectivity. Also being too close to cellular tower or say a police ratio station can cause issues. I would say to have your Spheres checked

The following may be of interest to those experiencing Bluetooth instability.

I have been trialling the Specsaver Advance Elite 73 hearing aids which are actually the Unitron Moxi SRX9 aids (When Phonak were bringing out the EON they produced the Phonak Infinio Sphere Ultra under the Unitron Moxi SRX9 label) . From 26th July Sonova made the Unitron Moxi SRX9 available to Specsavers and it is badged as the Specsaver Advance Elite 73. The App is the full Unitron/Sonova App and the programmes/specification are the same as the Moxi SRX9.

I have the Samsung Galaxy S25 and have the Unitron 'Hearing Remote' App on the phone. I was getting a lot of problems with Bluetooth dropouts, missing phone calls and also disconnections between the aids. The left aid has the Bluetooth connection to the phone.

Samsung has very aggressive battery saving features and I did three things which has seemingly cured my Bluetooth problems.

On the S25 I went into Settings > Apps > Hearing Aid App (Hearing Remote (Unitron) or MyPhonak (Phonak) and 1) Ensure that 'Manage App if Unused' is turned 'OFF' .

2) Click on 'Battery' and ensure that 'Unrestricted' is selected.

3) Phonak/Unitron have the capability of 'Hands Free Calls' which can use 'Adaptive Bluetooth'. The Unitron/Sonova manual for the 'Hearing Remote' App suggests turning off 'Adaptive Bluetooth' if there are stability problems with Bluetooth. In the App select ‘Devices’ > ‘Hands Free Calls’ and ensure ‘Adaptive Bluetooth’ is turned off. Since doing those three changes I had no further problems with hearing aids disconnecting / Bluetooth instability.

Interestingly a couple of weeks ago I had an appointment with my Audiologist and because I don’t use ‘Hands Free Calls’ I asked him to turn it Off which he did…….BIG MISTAKE !! That evening and the next day I experienced the very same instability problems that I had previously; the right hearing aid dropping out ; unresponsive in the App. Having to reboot the aid etc.

I checked the ‘Hands Free Calls’ and it was greyed out (as expected) but there was no way of knowing if ‘Adaptive Bluetooth’ was in use – I suspect it was without my being able to disconnect it. I phoned the Audi’ and he remotely reactivated ‘Hands Free Calls’ and ensured ‘Adaptive Bluetooth’ was turned ‘OFF’……..since then I have had no further problems and sanity has been restored !!

The above comments of Bluetooth problems when in areas of interference are I believe valid also. My son travels by train into London Waterloo ( a Very Big and busy station). He listens to music streamed from his iphone to his Bluetooth headphones. Once he gets to Waterloo the headphones will not stream until he leaves the station – there are too many strong signals competing around him whilst in the station. Fortunately living in a more rural area I do not experience that problem.

I hope the above is useful.