I have to say that it is a smart move by Signia. For many hearing aid users, the hearing aid connectivity is as important as the sound and capability. So here we go, now you have more options for connectivity through Classic Bluetooth.
Up until today if you wanted a pair of hearing aids which could connect to multiple devices through classic Bluetooth your options were limited to Phonak and Unitron. not anymore. Signia just released two new versions of its famous and popular Signia Pure Charge&Go, the T IX and BCT IX.
Here is the difference between the 3 models of the Pure Charge&Go:
Signia Pure Charge&Go IX - This is the model that has already been available since 2014. It uses MFI (Made for iPhone), has LE Audio Bluetooth and comes in a CROS model too. It is the smallest size of the three models. It does not have a telecoil.
Signia Pure Charge&Go T IX - This model is the same as the IX model, but with a telecoil and longer battery life (36 hours). It is a tad bigger than the IX model.
Signia Pure Charge&Go BCT IX - It is the same as the T IX, but also universally connects to any device with classic Bluetooth such as laptops, computers, iPhones, Android mobile phones, and TVs. It has a longer battery life (36 hours) and has a telecoil and it comes in a CROS model.
Other highlights of the Signia Pure Charge&Go IX platform are:
Multi-conversation focus (same as IX and T IX models)
Signia Assist artificial Intelligence allows the user to fine and tune the sound on a go
Smallest mini RIC hearing aid
Portable power pack charger
The impressive highlight of the BCT IX model is that at the release of this post, the 36-hour battery run time with 5 hours of streaming budget is the best record for a rechargeable hearing aid with classic Bluetooth.
The above single point is good news for people who wish to get CROS or biCROS on rechargeable hearing aids.
Who might benefit from the Signia Pure Charge&Go BCT IX model?
I reflected on this in a separate article, The best hearing aids for people working from home. But generally speaking, multiple groups can benefit from a small hearing aid with classic Bluetooth connectivity:
People working from home need to connect their hearing aids directly to their laptop or a PC for several Zoom or Teams meetings.
Patients with Android devices could benefit from a hearing aid with classic Bluetooth as connecting to Android devices via MFI is often unstable and sketchy.
Patients who are in the market for a pair of rechargeable CROS or biCROS hearing aids as the battery run time of the BCT IX is the longest for any hearing aid with classic Bluetooth in the market.
What other hearing aids have classic Bluetooth?
Up until now only Phonak and Unitron hearing aids could offer connectivity through classic Bluetooth.
Where can I learn more about Signia Pure Charge&Go IX technology?
You can learn more about the Signia Pure Charge&Go IX platform in this article.
How good is Signia Pure Charge&Go in speech understanding?
According to Signia's in-house test, the IX platform can improve speech understanding by up to about 22% better than their rival with a co-processor. Since there is only one hearing aid with a co-processor at the time of publishing this article, I think it is safe to assume that they have compared Signia Pure Charge&Go IX performance in a noisy environment with Phonak Infinio Sphere i90.
What are the available technology levels of Signia Pure Charge&Go?
Signia Pure Charge&Go comes in 5 technology levels, 7IX, 5IX, 3IX, 2IX and 1IX. The 7IX is the highest level technology. Please see the full feature overview of different technology levels of Signia Pure Charge&Go IX hearing aids here.
Please note that some of the famous features of this hearing aid are limited to certain tech-levels:
The multi-speaker Spatial SpeechFocus is only available at the 7IX technology level
The Spatial Configuration that can be set through Signia app is only available in 5IX and 7IX
Tinnitus therapy is not available in 1IX model
The highlights of the table are below. Please refer to the above link for the full feature sheet.
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References
Jensen NS, Mohnlein-Gilbert K, Wilson C, Berwick N, Kamkar Parsi H, Samra B, Best S & Taylor B. 2024.
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