Phonak Audeo M (Marvel) Bluetooth Hearing Aid Review

Audeo M (Marvel) Bluetooth Hearing Aid Review | Made for Android & iPhone. Dr. Cliff Olson, Audiologist and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Anthem Arizona, reviews the NEW Phonak Audeo Marvel hearing Aid.

Apparently, Phonak has been lying in the weeds because they just announced the release of their newest hearing aid the, The Audeo Marvel, other wise known as the Audeo M hearing aid. Which will be available on November 30th.

The Audeo M will have an impressive lineup which includes a Size 312 disposable battery version, Lithium Rechargeable, Size 312 battery with Telecoil, Size 13 battery with Telecoil, and Lithium Rechargeable with Telecoil.

New Audeo M Features:

1. Connectivity – These devices will connect with any Bluetooth device including Apple, Android, brick phones, or anything else you can think of. This is because it uses Bluetooth Classic not Bluetooth Low Energy.

They also fixed the major flaw with the Audeo B-Direct. It can stream phone calls to both ears, and it can even use the microphones on the hearing aids to send your voice to the caller. This means you can walk away from the phone and still have a clear conversation. You can even answer, hang-up, or reject a phone call with the hearing aids themselves.

When I say you can stream to both ears, I mean anything from phone calls, music, podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube videos, and even the Television.

They also have a Roger receiver built into the devices which is comical since the devices are so small. If you don’t know what an integrated receiver is, it is how you connect to a Roger device. If you don’t know what a Roger device is, you need to Google it because they can help you hear significantly better in background noise.

2. Rechargeability – The Audeo MR and M RT gives you 24 hours of battery life. This drops to 16 hours of life if you stream 4 hours per day. They also have a new mini charger with a lid and will use the same charger as the Audeo BR devices. However, these devices will turn on immediately after removing them from the charger case which is a major improvement.

3. The Audeo M will also have access to Several Different Apps including:

The Remote App will control Program and volume changes, allow you to adjust the environmental balance when streaming, and give you battery readout for rechargeable models.

The myPhonak App will give you access to a patient portal for eSolutions. This will contain a hearing diary, and access to Remote Support with your hearing care professional.

The Call to Text feature will turn your smartphone into a captioned telephone so you can read conversations as you hear them.

The Tinnitus app will let you control tinnitus masking sounds as well.

4. Binaural VoiceStream Technology – This is great news for Phonak and their users. This allows for features like StereoZoom and Speech in Loud Noise programs in their devices. Phonak claims that the StereoZoom feature alone improves speech understanding in background noise by 60%.

5. New AutoSenseOS 3.0
If you watched my video on the best hearing aid features in 2018 https://youtu.be/-9eNd85_bEg , you would have seen Phonak’s previous generation of AutoSenseOS ranked as #1. This is because Phonak’s Operating System can automatically switch between different programs based on your environment, and it does this more accurately than a human can.

Phonak has made a huge leap forward with the Audeo M Hearing aids. However, there are still a few things that it can’t do
It isn’t CROS compatible – If you have Single Sided Deafness, the Audeo M won’t be the devices for you.

While the Audeo MR rechargeable devices now turn on upon removal, they can be difficult to remove from the charger if you have finger dexterity issues.

Also, Battery life for rechargeable isn’t as good as some other products on the market.

They have changed their First Fit algorithm, aka Auto programming, to decrease high frequency amplification, in an attempt to improve sound quality to a new user.

In my opinion, this is catering to professionals who do not use Real Ear Measurement during their hearing aid fittings. Yes, it may make amplification more natural to an individual with a hearing loss in the high-frequencies, it may even be preferred by a new user at their fitting appointment, but it doesn’t change the fact that high-frequency is needed to maximize speech clarity.

Adapting to High-Frequency amplification is critical to maximizing performance with hearing aids. If you want to learn more about REM and why it is so critical for success with hearing treatment, check out my video here: https://youtu.be/cHR0Oa6I-wY

This video was originally posted on Doctor Cliff, AuD