The world of hearing aids has many brands. What are the biggest differences between them? Are there any differences? We explain the differences between the major brands Phonak and Starkey.
The two hearing aid markets
As most people will know, there is a private market for hearing aids and a health insurance market. One of the major differences between these two markets is that in the health insurance market a kind of database is used in which hearing aids are classified in categories 1 to 5. Which category applies to a customer is determined by means of a questionnaire.
Both Phonak and Starkey offer hearing aids on both the private and the health insurance market. But what are the differences between the Phonak and Starkey brands?
Starkey Livio Edge and Phonak Paradise
Looking at the flagship hearing aids of both Starkey and Phonak (i.e. the Starkey Livio Edge range and the Phonak Paradise range), we notice that both brands can be linked to a mobile phone. In addition, both brands provide an app enabling you to fine-tune your hearing aids.
Starkey hearing aids are designed for the iPhone, while Phonak hearing aids can be linked to both iPhone and Android phones. The app accompanying the Starkey Livio Edge AI, however, has many more functions than the Phonak app. For example, the app can understand 27 languages, provide live translations, monitor your heart rate and give health advice. The smart hearing aid even has Thrive voice control, enabling you to ask for weather forecasts and the shortest route home. This makes Starkey hearing aids genuine gadgets that are of interest to everyone.
In its turn, the Phonak Paradise has a superb and very stable Bluetooth link to your phone. You can answer your phone by tapping on the hearing aid twice. Both hearing aids are available in various models, each with its own specifications. You can trust the top-of-the-range models – the Starkey Livio Edge AI 2400 and the Phonak Paradise 90 – to provide good hearing quality even in challenging listening environments.