Phonak promises a piece of Paradise for everyone

Advances in technology

Despite working with hearing aids for so many years now, it never fails to surprise me how technology continues to advance. Many of the new products I could never have imagined just a few years ago!

One of the latest products to market is the Audeo Paradise from Phonak. With this product launch they promise ‘unrivalled sound quality’ and a ‘piece of paradise for everyone’. Since I have a mild hearing loss myself, I have been getting to grips with this latest hearing aid and putting it to the test…

It’s what’s inside that counts

You probably think that hearing aids are all much of a muchness and certainly when it comes to looks, that can often be the case. However, it really is what’s inside that counts; if you think of your hearing aid like a mini computer, then the new Audeo Paradise features a chip with double the memory of its predecessor. Why is that important? Because it means it can handle a lot more… particularly when it comes to being connected to your other devices (phone, iPad, etc) as well as being able to cope with demanding sound environments.

Bluetooth connectivity

The Bluetooth capabilities of this hearing aid really impress me; I regularly leave my phone upstairs in the clinic room to go down to reception but I can still pick up a phone call. You don’t need your phone to answer the call, just answer via the aid!

What’s more, you can connect up to 8 different devices regardless of whether they are Android or Apple technology, meaning you can stream all sorts of audio – music, audiobooks, phone calls – with ease. When at home, you can also connect Phonak’s TV Streamer to your TV and stream the sound directly to your hearing aids. This means you choose the volume you like without it changing the volume for everyone else in the room.

Continuing on with the hands-free theme, you can now double tap the hearing aid to access the voice assistant (Siri, Google Assistant etc), start/stop your streaming and accept/end calls. Again, all of this is through the hearing aid itself.

Motion sensors in a hearing aid?

The double tap function is possible due to another new feature: motion sensors, which can also detect if you are sat still or on the move. This is a great new addition because if you’re sat down in a noisy café environment with a friend, then the motion sensors detect this and tell the microphones to be more ‘directional’ to help you focus on your companion and reduce the background noise. Once on the move again, the microphones can open up to allow you to continue your conversation but with consideration to the new sounds around you. All of this is completely automatic and you probably wouldn’t even notice it happening, it is so seamless.

What else is new?

Other new features include improvements include ‘Dynamic Noise Cancellation’ for a better listening experience in very noisy situations, and Speech Enhancer which gives greater clarity when you are listening to someone with a particularly soft voice.

There is a lot packed in to the Audeo Paradise and I have barely scratched the surface here but above all, what has impressed me most has been the ease of use. This is a lot of technology in a sleek hearing aid and it all results in a fantastic experience.

Do let me know if you would like to give them a try, the Audeo is a receiver-in-canal style hearing aid that also comes as a rechargeable option (no more batteries!) and is suitable for all hearing losses.

I look forward to hearing from you and in the meantime, I’m going to carry on enjoying the Audeo Paradise!

Peter