[Athen] MFI hearing aids

[Rovner, Amy]

I have a pair made by Widex that work with my iphone and I love them for all the reasons Deborah stated below.  I particularly appreciate that my phone call stream directly into my ears!  I can hear almost everything the person on the other end is saying and without having to strain to hear.

☺

Amy

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Doug Hayman
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2019 3:38 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] MFI hearing aids

Thanks Deborah,

I'm going to suggest those to my dad.  His hearing aids are about $6k a pair.  These are about $1600/pair at Costco and could be used with his iPad, if I understand correctly.

Doug Hayman

On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 11:48 AM Deborah Armstrong <armstrongdeborah at fhda.edu<mailto:armstrongdeborah at fhda.edu>> wrote:
In case your hearing aid students don’t know this, the MFI (made for iPHONE) hearing aids are truly awesome.

Over Xmas I purchased the KS8 hearing aids from Costco and not only do they pair with my phone, but I can control them with my phone. I have garden-variety age-related hearing loss and these are my first aids.

Under settings-general-accessibility-hearing-MFI hearing devices, I tap on my aids and there is a whole screen full of settings. I can adjust the volume, the program and the mic pattern for the right and left independently. I can check the battery status. And I can turn on “live listen” which lets the iPHONE mic act as a remote mic.

Apparently this is true for all the MFI hearing aids. Plus any calls, or items I stream with the phone can be heard through the aids.

Voiceover, of course can be heard through the aids, and you can set it so that audio from the phone comes only through one ear so you can continue to hear other stuff with the other ear.

Depending on what is set up by the audiologist, multiple programs can be turned on using the phone. Though hearing aid manufacturers have their own apps, with current iOS versions, the apps are mostly unnecessary. I have found it particularly useful to have iOS act as a poor man’s assistive listening device, since my hearing loss is still mild.

MFI is a low-energy  bluetooth protocol that is specific to Apple; it’s different and far more efficient than the headset or the A2DP protocol that other audio devices use. In my house, it seems to work up to about forty feet, unlike the other audio protocols which die at around 33 feet. It’s nice to be able to wander around doing housework and not have to turn the TV up loud.

--Debee

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--
Doug Hayman <dhayman at u<mailto:dhayman at u.washington.edu>w.edu<http://w.edu>>
Senior Computer Specialist
DO-IT Program (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, Technology)
UW Technology Services
Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 221-4165
http://www.washington.edu/doit
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