Rechargable HA daily useable life

Posted by justtodd @justtodd, Nov 21 8:17pm

Hi, all.
Was fitted with Phonak Lumity Life R90 BTE hearing aids with "P" receivers. The HAs, which were alleged to last "up to" 24 hours before needing a recharge, don't seem to last for me. At seven months in, I'm finding about 12 hours total usable time and they reach high-30s percentage after 11 or 12 hours. If you search the discharge curves on lithium batteries, you'll see the steep decline near the end of their usable life, so I usually end up throwing them in the charger for 30-60 minutes at the end of my professional (office) day to carry me through the additional 2-4 hours without 'battery anxiety'.

6am start, streaming meetings (~2-4 hours total) + regular use throughout the 8-9 hour work day. Recharge for 30-60 minutes. Remaining time watching TV via Phonak TV connector (which performs wonderfully).

It seems like their battery performance falls far short of that which is advertised. I do have severe to profound loss at greater than one or two kilo Hertz, and "P" receivers.

Could it be because of my severe to profound hearing loss and greater amplification needs?

JustTodd

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arrowshooter | @arrowshooter | Nov 22 6:16am

I had the same experience a few years ago with Phonak HAs. After a month with them I returned them and got Oticons for some reasons unrelated to battery life. I have severe to profound sensorial hearing loss. I think the Oticon battery life is better than Phonak. I also think the advertising always overstates the real life performance of almost everything. The reasons I returned the Phonaks is that they randomly and repeatedly dropped connections, changed programs, changed settings, and changed volume, and the phone app controller was awful. I believe Phonak has fixed those issues for the most part but at the time the Oticons were dependable and connected seamlessly.

gfabricant | @gfabricant | Nov 22 6:25am

I found the Phonak TV connector drains the battery. When I don’t use it , it the battery lasts hours longer.

charlaine | @charlaine | Nov 22 7:29am

I have the same experience with the Phonak Lumity R90s. My hearing loss is also severe to profound so I often turn up the volume which drains the battery faster. I am retired so I don’t usually put them on until after 8am - and I can recharge them later in the day if needed. This clearly is not as advertised.
I am having connection issues with phone calls lately. I am going to get an appointment to address that. Glad to hear about that issue with the Phonaks.