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Hearing Aids and Android

olbriar

olbriar

 
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After ignoring my hearing deficit and putting off seeking an aid for the past five years or so I've reached the point it's time to do something. I spent the past couple of weeks doing some online research. I was exploring my options for care and device. I ran across something that disturbs me. The Cadillac, does it all, hearing aid that I desire is compatible with most all iProducts but not so for Android. Most share the ability to manage your hearing from a smartphone across both platforms but streaming tunes and phone conversations was an exclusive apple feature until just recently. It is supposedly under development for Android but from what I understand has just recently been made available to the Google Pixel line only at this time. What's up with that? There is no doubt that I need help in my hearing but I'll need help with my sanity if I can no longer stream tunes. I'm struggling to understand why the majority of smartphone users are on the back burner. And why just the Google lineup and not the Sammy, HTC, LG, etc? My Note 10+ clearly has something in place within settings>Accessibility>Hearing Enhancements>Hearing Aid Support>Bluetooth hearing aid. Clicking on the option opens a window to pair phone with aids. I guess I'll know more once I have my aids. I just don't know for certain what to buy and don't want to drop K's on something that isn't or won't be compatible.

Thanks for listening to my complaints. If you have anything to add that might be enlightening, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm without a clue basically and my appointment and fitting is next week. I long to be an educated consumer.

I found the following interesting as well:

American data
Kochkin's 2008 survey (MarkeTrak VIII) found that

  • 35 million Americans were hearing impaired, corresponding to 11.3 percent of the US population.
  • More than 25 million of them did not have a hearing aid.
  • Just 28.5 percent of hearing impaired Americans use hearing aids.
It strikes me as a potentially lucrative market to explore.
 
You have to be correct. I'm targeting a Resound Linx Quattro 9 aid that seems to be on the leading edge of Android development. My Note 10+ is on their list of devices soon to be compatible with. It seems like the best unit at this time with the hopes that it will be a software and not a hardware update to complete the marriage between phone and device. Compatibility was to be achieved in the fourth quarter of 2019 but has yet to be realized. Perhaps tomorrow lol.
 
olbriar said:
After ignoring my hearing deficit and putting off seeking an aid for the past five years or so I've reached the point it's time to do something. I spent the past couple of weeks doing some online research. I was exploring my options for care and device. I ran across something that disturbs me. The Cadillac, does it all, hearing aid that I desire is compatible with most all iProducts but not so for Android. Most share the ability to manage your hearing from a smartphone across both platforms but streaming tunes and phone conversations was an exclusive apple feature until just recently. It is supposedly under development for Android but from what I understand has just recently been made available to the Google Pixel line only at this time. What's up with that? There is no doubt that I need help in my hearing but I'll need help with my sanity if I can no longer stream tunes. I'm struggling to understand why the majority of smartphone users are on the back burner. And why just the Google lineup and not the Sammy, HTC, LG, etc? My Note 10+ clearly has something in place within settings>Accessibility>Hearing Enhancements>Hearing Aid Support>Bluetooth hearing aid. Clicking on the option opens a window to pair phone with aids. I guess I'll know more once I have my aids. I just don't know for certain what to buy and don't want to drop K's on something that isn't or won't be compatible.

Thanks for listening to my complaints. If you have anything to add that might be enlightening, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm without a clue basically and my appointment and fitting is next week. I long to be an educated consumer.

I found the following interesting as well:

American data
Kochkin's 2008 survey (MarkeTrak VIII) found that

  • 35 million Americans were hearing impaired, corresponding to 11.3 percent of the US population.
  • More than 25 million of them did not have a hearing aid.
  • Just 28.5 percent of hearing impaired Americans use hearing aids.
It strikes me as a potentially lucrative market to explore.
Click to expand...

This has come up before in a few threads. And apparently it's some sort of proprietary thing, that certain hearing aid makers and only Apple had, effectively forming a cartel. And probably costs a lots and lots of $$$$$ to get in, with licensing, device approvals, nasty NDAs, etc. etc.
 
My old Starkey hearing aids required purchasing additional component to stream Bluetooth with my Android device. All for just $300 extra out of pocket. LoL but not funny. Its also a pain in the ace and breaks easily.
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If one hearing aid turn up the volume and the other lowers the volume what happens if one breaks? Just something to be aware of before purchasing.

Best of luck
I
 

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It seems I will have done my part with a compatible aid and running Android 10. The communication between smartphone and aid is though BLE (bluetooth low energy) which my Note 10+ is capable of. I see the ability in my settings to establish that BLE connection.
All I can do now is hope and likely wait. I read a 4 hour old post on another forum where a S10e owner wearing the same aids I'm after could connect the aids with his phone but streaming was not available. I fear I'm going to be in the same boat. Just being able to hear again will be sweet.
 
Okay full message, when my Phonax hearing aids do connect, they use blue tooth, but really close distances I can only hear my media, phone calls can come clear as a bell even when in my backpack on my moto z2 Force, I test it a few times over and over, so yeah they do come out staticy too So I have to bring the moto really close to listen to my jams.
 
I'm guessing that's caused by the use of BLE which was intended for data only transfer in it's origin. From what I gather the BLE is used to lessen battery consumption for both phone and aids. My Bose buds that I currently use to stream tunes last around four hours on a charge. The carrying case holds three additional charges. No biggie to let them charge across lunch.... I'm not using them then anyway. After lunch they are good to go until quitting time. I use a second set of Bose to stream tunes at night on my second job. I charge both over night and I'm ready for the next day. That will not work for hearing aids. I need to hear across lunch and between jobs. I'm okay with using BLE to communicate between phone and aids as long as I can go an entire day without charging and the distance between my pocket and aids is close enough for BLE to hold a connection.

I'm very spoiled to a quality stream with full range response. Bose is very good about delivering a rich listening experience. I know that I will not enjoy that quality through the aids for that is not their primary mission. I've put hearing assistance off for that very reason. But it is time to address my deficit. Sacrificing quality to hear conversation seems like a fair trade. I just need my tunes. I've streamed tunes daily for a couple of decades. It is really going to bother me if I have to do without. Perhaps I'm the minority consumer here but in the tech driven world we live in, I'm shocked to find that the hearing impaired have been so neglected.
 
I had my first hearing test ever today. Quite painless and I recommend the test to anyone suffering a hearing loss. The bad news is that I have substantial damage / loss and it will take an average of 70db to bring what hearing I have left into the normal range. The good news is the aids I had my eye on, the ReSound Quattro or Preza, is fully compatible with my Note 10+. That will give me the ability to manipulate my aids from my phone as well as stream tunes. I got to test drive the aids for an hour before I purchased which was an awesome experience to someone short on hearing for many years. Mine should be available for fitting sometime within a week to two. I'm way excited.

I'm still disappointed that Android communication is the Johnny come lately to the phone / aid technology.
 
olbriar said:
I had my first hearing test ever today. Quite painless and I recommend the test to anyone suffering a hearing loss. The bad news is that I have substantial damage / loss and it will take an average of 70db to bring what hearing I have left into the normal range. The good news is the aids I had my eye on, the ReSound Quattro or Preza, is fully compatible with my Note 10+. That will give me the ability to manipulate my aids from my phone as well as stream tunes. I got to test drive the aids for an hour before I purchased which was an awesome experience to someone short on hearing for many years. Mine should be available for fitting sometime within a week to two. I'm way excited.

I'm still disappointed that Android communication is the Johnny come lately to the phone / aid technology.
Click to expand...
I am glad I got my hearing test done last December, It was based on a few or so days on the appoitments too.
Glad I paid around 5,000$ for my rechargable ones, that ones I can easily change the wax guard build up too.
Still sometimes have to hold my Moto z2 pretty close to my chest for google play though... Something must of been odd with the blue tooth connection though.
 
I thought rechargeable would work better for me. I'm glad to hear that you like yours. I can't speak for the BT ability or range until I get mine. I hope it will work from pant pocket to ear or it won't work well for me. I guess I'll be testing the feature on day one. My audiologist advocated establishing the connection and setting up the streaming but wanted me to keep my hands off the app for a couple of weeks. She wants me to get accustomed to the set values of the aids before she custom tailors the app settings to set environment situations.
 
I had my fitting and received my ReSound Preza hearing aids today. Man I've been missing out on a lot. It's something I should have addressed many years ago. Loosing one's hearing is no different than loosing good eyesight. Better late than never but if you feel you might be short on the ability to hear well... GET TESTED.

My new hearing aids paired with my Note 10+ with no problems at all. The ReSound app is cool. It lets you set environments with presets and you can adjust the volume level to suit your desire as well. There is noise cancellation slider as well as bass, mid range, and treble slider. You can limit wind noise with a slider too. I can make and receive calls through my aids as well as stream tunes. All of my notification are received through my aids. The connection between phone and aids is through BLE (bluetooth low energy) so the range is limited. It uses BLE to limit battery usage of the hearing aids. I'm still able to put around twenty feet between phone and aids without losing the connection. The ReSound app allows me to choose mostly streamed media or a balanced mix of stream and world sounds. The fidelity of my streamed tunes is not as robust as the Bose SoundSport Free that I'm accustomed to but it's plenty good.

I just wanted to bring awareness that the hearing aid industry has finally answered the call to allow Android users to enjoy the benefits that the "I" community has been enjoying for a number of years. It is still limited to a select few hearing aid models and most Android 10 based phones but it's a start. Do your research if you are in the market.
 
Glad they are working for you Milo. I just had a firmware update on my aids. I was experiencing lousy battery life which the update fixed. I still have a problem and have a call in for help as I type. My aids are supposed to shut off when you put them in the charger but they stay connected to my phone. I can turn them off and put them in the charger but they turn back on and are still connected to my phone. The bummer is that I miss all my calls and texts while they are charging. I can turn off BT as a work-a-round but that also renders my watch useless. I hope there is a fix because it's a problem for me and my use of the aids.

My aids work well for streaming. The quality of sound is not stellar but good enough. I can mute the tunes with my watch when I need to converse with someone. It is a substantial battery drain to stream tunes but it sure makes life easier to digest with some music going on. I hope that your problem of the tunes dropping out leaving speech too loud has a solution.
 
With the new speakers connected automatically, the sound it is amazing, no matter what gandera I listen to, it keeps getting better, there is no negitive thing, as I did mentioned with my old phone I had to hold it up close, but not any more, this can stream up to around sixteen feet without shutting it off, I can walk down the hallway and still hear the piano play :)
 
I'm happy that your BT stream is now working satisfactory for you Milo. It is a great feature and enhances the hearing aid experience a great deal. I finally reached a tech in hopes that there was a fix for my BT problem but alas, there is no fix. The problem that I have is the BT stays connected to my phone while they are in the charger as I mentioned before. There is no work-a-round for this. The aids go into a standby mode while charging that keep the BT connection open. Turning off BT from the phone disables my watch and eliminates streaming tunes to another device. They are aware of the problem but have no idea when a firmware update to address the problem might be released.
 
So to make an unique story about my phonax: A while ago, my right hearing aid got so acoustical insanity tumultuous I could not bear of putting it in for a spell or two over at my side occupation, as soon I picked them out of the cradle charging case I have, they would go either tumultuous from time to time, when having it staying in my ears forever, as soon hit the six hour wall of having them in, they would not hush down without the app, the little modulator I just on accidently stuck the cleaning part, that is a very narrow straw, and just try to see if it can cool down.not a chance in a snowball in the tropical beaches. So I went to the hearing factory down here, to see if they would fix it, basically got a few days until I get Paradise from Phonax, I still have my molds that is surprisingly well.
 
I hope they get you fixed up. I have a strange quirk with my Resound aids. For no known reason, they increase the volume when I'm texting. I don't text that much so it isn't a big problem but it shouldn't do that.

I had a failure with my right aid about a month back. I removed the aids to shower and when I put them back in the right aid was dead. I rebooted it. I cleaned it. I replaced the wax guard. Nothing fixed the problem. I took them back to my audiologist and they replaced the wire from the receiver to the speaker. It was under warranty so no charge but it was terrible not having the aids functional for a day.
 
olbriar said:
I hope they get you fixed up. I have a strange quirk with my Resound aids. For no known reason, they increase the volume when I'm texting. I don't text that much so it isn't a big problem but it shouldn't do that.
Click to expand...
I've notices a weird bluetooth quirk with my phone. If I use the volume buttons on the phone to control the volume of a speaker, I get 10 or so volume levels. If I use the volume buttons on the speaker, I get half increments (so ~20) of what I get using the phone volume buttons. It even shows the halv increment on the volume bar on the phone when I press the volume button on the speaker. That's annoying enough, but where this may relate to you, is that whenever I get a phone call the volume bumps up to the next full increment (so increasing the volume). I wonder if you are experiencing something similar.
 
Unforgiven said:
I've notices a weird bluetooth quirk with my phone. If I use the volume buttons on the phone to control the volume of a speaker, I get 10 or so volume levels. If I use the volume buttons on the speaker, I get half increments (so ~20) of what I get using the phone volume buttons. It even shows the halv increment on the volume bar on the phone when I press the volume button on the speaker. That's annoying enough, but where this may relate to you, is that whenever I get a phone call the volume bumps up to the next full increment (so increasing the volume). I wonder if you are experiencing something similar.
Click to expand...

It is something similar. I haven't noticed the increase in volume when receiving a call. I think it must be predetermined and set at whatever Sammy thinks is comfortable for a conversation. I don't need the volume ramped up when I'm texting. :) The volume doesn't increase until I start typing and stays at that increased level for a few seconds after the text app is closed. It's very consistent in behavior and is only annoying while texting and watching TV.

Aids are a wonderful tool and I'm sorry I went so long without any hearing correction. I waited out the industry until they were readily incorporated with smart phones. I can't say just how functional or if they had quirks prior. I do think they have a ways to go before they are seamlessly married to modern tech. They work great, don't get me wrong. But there are quirks that one has to live with. No deal breakers but annoying little problems that should be addressed.

We had a pizza party a month back for a high school classmate that was visiting the area. There were twelve in attendance and four with aids. Each had a different aid manufacturer or model and we all had different cell phones. All aids were BT connected to the phones. It became a topic (of the old folks) of the different nuances each of us are dealing with. It didn't seem to matter make or model of aid or phone, we all had less than stellar tales to tell. It shouldn't be that way. I have no numbers to quote but there is a sizeable percentage of people that have or need hearing assistance. Perhaps not a large enough number for a concentrated effort to accommodate them fully by the cell phone industry. :(
 
olbriar said:
I hope they get you fixed up. I have a strange quirk with my Resound aids. For no known reason, they increase the volume when I'm texting. I don't text that much so it isn't a big problem but it shouldn't do that.

I had a failure with my right aid about a month back. I removed the aids to shower and when I put them back in the right aid was dead. I rebooted it. I cleaned it. I replaced the wax guard. Nothing fixed the problem. I took them back to my audiologist and they replaced the wire from the receiver to the speaker. It was under warranty so no charge but it was terrible not having the aids functional for a day.
Click to expand...
Yeah it is a local person,i looked into it, and the charge for both of the appointments are free, thanks for the health care. Mine where not underneath warranty, just kept doing the same cycle over and over..
 
singingamy said:
We are just looking for hearing aids for my aunt and i am curious what is the big difference between $2000 and $6-9000. Is it really necessary to get those super expensive ones like audiology center recommends?
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Not really unless your Aunt is deaf tone completely, my Phonax is amazing devices and I can adjust them via remote any time I feel like it, I always have a rule of thumb when charging electronics, 70% is the time to charge it, and besides it takes them forever and ever to charge until it gets up to around 90%, depending on where you roam on the earth itself.
 
*another rule of thumb of buying them @singingamy Keep in mind, does your Aunt want to wear them all the time, and cause her ears will burn. Help her of disconnecting them from her ears, alright? Mine is a numb feeling, even when working out, I make sure mine stay on when I really need them, and at night I take them off around ten in the evening.
 
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