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Widex hearing aids: Feedback sought on bluetooth connectivity

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Can anyone corroborate my experience with the bluetooth functionality of the Widex SmartRIC? Widex SmartRIC hearing aids - All models, features and benefits | Widex5

The phone these are connected to is an Apple iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 18.1 but I previously had an iPhone 13 with iOS 17 and the experience was the same.

The problems I am experiencing are as follows:

  • The range between the phone and the hearing aids is minimal (literally 50cm tops). If I don’t have the phone at chest level then one or other ear disconnects. If I move the phone to my left trouser back pocket then the right ear disconnects, if I put it in the right, then the left ear disconnects.
  • The quality of audio is poor, low volume and very difficult to have a phone conversation when standing on a street

For clarity, I am not talking about streaming music. I am talking about using the hearing aids for voice call use. However, streaming music is much the same experience. My previous hearing aids (Bernafon Zerena 9s) were great in this respect.The range was perfectly acceptable and the quality good.

I bought these on the understanding that they were top-of-the-line hearing aids and this is really disappointing. I’m trying to understand whether this is a failing of my units (possibly unlikely because both exhibit the same behaviour) or a failing of the design itself.

Thanks for any comments you can offer.

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I use my COM-DEX to stream to Widex Moment customs and the RICS. The range is much greater and there’s no disruption to the signal. I believe all models of hearing aids vary in streaming ability and I prefer the signal alongside being able to mute or switch off streaming without having to get my phone out. My son eventually worked out the best place to have the phone for his signal, he has the MRICs.

Since 10 days I’m in a trial for the Widex 440 Smart . The has connected my Samsung S22 phone (Android 14).
The streaming of both music and speech is working technically correct. But I don’t like the sound so much. I’m too much aware that the sound is coming from a tiny loudspeaker in my ear. Holding the telephone to my ear in the old way is good enough. Almost all my telephone calls are in a quiet situation, so I can’t judge louder circumstances.
My HCP told me beforehand that I shouldn’t expect too much from the quality of the music streaming sound. I don’t know if he meant this specific or HA’s in general.
So far I haven’t experienced the range problems, you’ve described.
Let me end positively. My HCP did advice the Widex 440 Smart RIC, because my love for listening to music. In this respect the Widex makes it certainly happen. Listening through high end headphones music is sounding still more beautiful than it already was with my current Signia Pure 7 (bought in 2017).

@Crom Widex, but not the same model as yourself. Widex Moment 440’s version. I tried streaming music to find the limits on my iPhone 16 Pro. Thigh pocket no problem, and sound started to degrade when I was around 7 metres from the phone in line of sight

@Crom said:

The quality of audio is poor, low volume and very difficult to have a phone conversation when standing on a street

You can go to the Widex Moment app and adjust the mixer setting s for streaming to enhance the streaming sound and reduce the ambient sound.
If you go to the app and switch from speech streaming to music streaming, you will get better streaming quality.
The above settings require you to go to the app wihile the smart phone is playing streaming in the background.

@Crom @WhiteHat I have repeated my testing on my Widex moment 440 and iPhone 16 Pro, and have to report different results. Again, all with streaming music.
Firstly I turned off the WiFi in case WiFi call was helping (I don’t think it was)
Secondly, I found negligible difference inside and outside regarding reception
What I did find was that the left aid was extremely good as regards range etc at all times
The right aid was picky in its reception preferences.
If the phone was behind me, then I could go up to about 7 metres or so away
If I was facing the phone then (near enough perfect) reception was down to about 2 metres, and sometimes 1 metre
If my head was between the phone and my right ear, then reception was 1 - 2 metres
The reception to my left ear was fine almost all the time.
If the phone was in my right hand thigh pocket then it was perfect for both ears if the phone was upside down, and about 85% for the right ear if the phone was the right way up.
I will only buy shirts that have a breast pocket as originally i needed the phone closer to my ear to hear it ringing. Now with blue tooth it is less important but I think the phone is usually safer there.
Apologies for the original over optimistic results. The above is a generalisation but reception did tend to vary, even when I thought I was doing the same thing in the same place.

Edited

50cm is far too short for connectivity, so that is not normal. One of the significant lapses in Widex wireless capability, a dealbreaker for many patients, is that hands-free calls are currently not supported, even with iPhone. This means that your voice still needs to be picked up by the phone microphone itself. In order to do true hands free calls with Widex you need either a Com-DEX or the newer Sound Assist. I find Widex’s phone app to be one of the more intuitive remote control apps, but the lack of hands-free is something that comes up regularly in my consultations.

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