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Hearing aid brands that are made specifically for the iphone
I was told by a major well known HA brand support person that the brand I am trying out is not made specifically for the iphone (IPHONE SE in this case), that my brand is more generic for all cell phones. I'm having problems with bluetooth connectivity constantly and it never goes away. I was told of two brands of HAs that are specifically made for iphone compatability, and they are Oticon and Starkey. Does anyone out there know anything about HA brands that are made specifically for compatability with the iphones?
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@raykraemer I have a Starkey from the VA... I do not have an Iphone.. and the Starkey remote mic (bluetooth) works very well with my Starkey HA on a call.... My present phone is a Moto G7. the VA Audiologist said that an Iphone and most others work better with my hearing aid than with my phone.. I am going to get a new phone soon.. as soon as the price calms down a bit... During this isolation the phone hearing aid connection has made all the difference in feelings of isolation.. Ken
Hi, I have Widex aids that are iPhone only compatible and the bluetooth works well. Newer models will br Android compatible going forwards I am told, That said they do occasionally drop connection. You should get someone to show you how to reconnect if the connections go wrong. It will happen at some point. You also may need to refresh the connection if things are going strangely.
@raykraemer My 2 year old Resound hearing aids are Made for iPhone. My phone is the iPhone 6S plus and I do not have connectivity problems.
Tony in Michigan
My Resound Hearing aids are 5+ years old and I have an iPhone 8 that streams right into both of my aids. I have four programs and use all of them for different reasons and environments. Streaming is the way to go.
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1 ReactionMy Rexon's were bought 3 years ago. They worked great with my iPhone. Just switched to an android and no connection. No warning from provider (Costco). Bluetooth support supposed to be coming.
I have Oticon OPN and they work well with my iPhone 6. Both are due for replacement next month so I'm paying attention to this thread.
I'm also wondering when LP Audio (low power audio bluetooth) will be available and on which brands of hearing aids. LP Audio will allow a bluetooth connection to multiple devices at the same time and with better sound quality.
@arrowshooter I think you mean LE Audio. This is a Bluetooth specification that is in development. I will be following this also. It will most likely determine my next hearing aid purchase. I'm hoping it can make a noticeable improvement on speech from the smartphone. Here's a link that explains the Bluetooth specification with some video's https://www.bluetooth.com/learn-about-bluetooth/recent-enhancements/le-audio/
Note that the video's are captioned but they are OFF by default. Click the CC button to turn them on.
Tony in Michigan
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1 ReactionYes, it is LE Audio that I was referring to. I think it is the same thing as I heard about (LP Audio). And what I read implied that it would be available in 2021 in hearing aids. However that doesn't mean they will be on the market or that they will be trouble free. I might put off getting my new hearing aids until this is available. It is certainly worth watching.
@artdel My android phone (a MotoG7) works with my Starkey Hearing Aids by using an APP called "Thrive" ... When I first was fitted and programmed for my HA, the audiologist said that for some reason many facets of the connection between phone and hearing aids would not be available.. I intend to get a new smart phone soon.. What other APPs are used with various brands of phones?
@ken82 Many years ago, when I still had a flip phone, I learned that the hearing aid manufacturers were targeting compatibility with the iPhone platform first. The reasoning was simplicity. There were not a lot of variants of Apple phones as there are with Androids, which are made by many different companies. The "Made for iPhone" hearing aids came out first. They used Bluetooth Low Energy, which was an Apple proprietary system (from what I understood). Standard Bluetooth uses a lot of power. At the time, I bought an iPhone knowing that the hearing aid manufacturers were going to make their products compatible. I always preferred to go the cheaper route and would have bought an Android. I'm glad I made the investment. There have been a lot of changes but the feature that you may want to look for, if you wear two aids, are Streaming to BOTH hearing aids. The newer aids can do this but I'm not sure how much these drain the battery when using the phone.
Tony in Michigan