While the audio world might be obsessing over noise-canceling earbuds, Phonak just unveiled what could well be one of the most advanced medical hearables so far. The next-generation Paradise hearing technology is the heart of the company's new Audéo Paradise hearing aids, complete with a whole new chipset, motion sensor, speech enhancer, tap control, personalization, and last but by no means least, true multi-device connection to any Bluetooth enabled devices. These are about as far from your grandparents' hearing aids as you can imagine.
Before we get started, if you're reading this review, there's a good chance that you fall somewhere in the seven year-denial range. Maybe you've noticed some hearing degradation – whether or not you've admitted it to yourself fully – or your friends and family might have told you to get your hearing checked because of how many times you ask, "I'm sorry, say again?"
Fret not; you're not alone, and you're in good company. There's a significant negative stigma for hearing loss, so I'm here to reassure you that it's normal. I'm not a physician, but even my time studying pre-med was enough to know that ignoring medical issues only leads to other medical-related problems manifesting down the road.
Many of us have our eyes examined and get fitted with glasses at some point in our lives, which we're fine with. Why, then, is it that we're all so terrified of wearing hearing aids? Even people who have taken steps to get fitted for hearing aids often avoid wearing them, even though it's clear that their daily lives should improve immensely.
Perception is reality
Studies have shown that people with hearing loss avoid hearing aids because wearing them means that they've admitted to looking old, feeling old, weak, or even feeble. That's despite wearing glasses, to address another of the five basic senses, being deemed acceptable.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Margaret Wallhagen, Ph.D., published a study that supported the negative stigma associated with hearing loss. It boils down to the sense of feelings of altered self-perception, such as being "abled" versus disabled, and smart versus cognitively impaired. In the end, vanity wins, because people don't want to look like, or be viewed as, old.
Hearing aids and the technologies powering them
Some people, who not only require hearing aids but have looked past the negative stigma, still aren't wearing them. Turns out, not all hearing aids are the same. At the core – and at the risk of oversimplifying things – their essential function is to amplify sound. However, the reality is that a simple idea covers a whole lot in practice.
I've tested and reviewed hearing aids from all the major manufacturers, and sure enough, they do offer the essential functions such as "making sound louder," but that's still perhaps just 5% of the overall list of features and functionalities. It's 2020, and I'm delighted to share that hearing aids no longer just turn up the volume. They're rich in features and are far more advanced than you might be aware of: indeed, they've morphed into "hearables" the way cellphones are now smartphones.
I started reviewing Phonak hearing aids more than four years now, back with the company's first product with universal Bluetooth connectivity, the Audeo B-Direct. If I'm blunt, all I can really remember was that it was downright awful. Rather than connect directly to devices like your iPhone, the hearing aids paired up with a Bluetooth dongle, and then the dongle connected to your phone, laptop, or television. This meant having the additional cost and the inconvenience of wearing the dongle somewhere on your person, not to mention another thing to keep charged.
While the audio world might be obsessing over noise-canceling earbuds, Phonak just unveiled what could well be one of the most advanced medical hearables so far. The next-generation Paradise hearing technology is the heart of the company's new Audéo Paradise hearing aids, complete with a whole new chipset, motion sensor, speech enhancer, tap control, personalization, and last but by no means least, true multi-device connection to any Bluetooth enabled devices. These are about as far from your grandparents' hearing aids as you can imagine.
Before we get started, if you're reading this review, there's a good chance that you fall somewhere in the seven year-denial range. Maybe you've noticed some hearing degradation – whether or not you've admitted it to yourself fully – or your friends and family might have told you to get your hearing checked because of how many times you ask, "I'm sorry, say again?"
Fret not; you're not alone, and you're in good company. There's a significant negative stigma for hearing loss, so I'm here to reassure you that it's normal. I'm not a physician, but even my time studying pre-med was enough to know that ignoring medical issues only leads to other medical-related problems manifesting down the road.
Many of us have our eyes examined and get fitted with glasses at some point in our lives, which we're fine with. Why, then, is it that we're all so terrified of wearing hearing aids? Even people who have taken steps to get fitted for hearing aids often avoid wearing them, even though it's clear that their daily lives should improve immensely.
Perception is reality
Studies have shown that people with hearing loss avoid hearing aids because wearing them means that they've admitted to looking old, feeling old, weak, or even feeble. That's despite wearing glasses, to address another of the five basic senses, being deemed acceptable.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Margaret Wallhagen, Ph.D., published a study that supported the negative stigma associated with hearing loss. It boils down to the sense of feelings of altered self-perception, such as being "abled" versus disabled, and smart versus cognitively impaired. In the end, vanity wins, because people don't want to look like, or be viewed as, old.
Hearing aids and the technologies powering them
Some people, who not only require hearing aids but have looked past the negative stigma, still aren't wearing them. Turns out, not all hearing aids are the same. At the core – and at the risk of oversimplifying things – their essential function is to amplify sound. However, the reality is that a simple idea covers a whole lot in practice.
I've tested and reviewed hearing aids from all the major manufacturers, and sure enough, they do offer the essential functions such as "making sound louder," but that's still perhaps just 5% of the overall list of features and functionalities. It's 2020, and I'm delighted to share that hearing aids no longer just turn up the volume. They're rich in features and are far more advanced than you might be aware of: indeed, they've morphed into "hearables" the way cellphones are now smartphones.
I started reviewing Phonak hearing aids more than four years now, back with the company's first product with universal Bluetooth connectivity, the Audeo B-Direct. If I'm blunt, all I can really remember was that it was downright awful. Rather than connect directly to devices like your iPhone, the hearing aids paired up with a Bluetooth dongle, and then the dongle connected to your phone, laptop, or television. This meant having the additional cost and the inconvenience of wearing the dongle somewhere on your person, not to mention another thing to keep charged.
I did say that that first release, powered by Sonova's SWORD chipset, was more like a beta. Initially, for example, audio streaming from your device went to only one ear. Not a big deal for phone calls, sure, but imagine watching a movie on your iPad with audio streamed only to one side. Phonak remedied that with Marvel, its next-generation platform in late 2018, and it fixed other problems along the way. Still, it was limited in pairing to just two devices, and you could only connect to one device at once. Switching devices was, to say the least, a nightmare.
It's Paradise, I'm in paradise!
Like others, I made my frustrations known loud and clear to Phonak. Now, two years after Marvel, the company has its latest – and greatest – version, Paradise. At the risk of spoiling my own review, I can say now that it checks off everything on my wish-list.
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