Phonak Hearing Aids:

Phonak is the top global hearing aid brand by sales volume. Founded in 1947 in Switzerland, Phonak quickly emerged as a leading developer of early electronic hearing aids. In 1985, after acquiring multiple additional hearing aid brands, it took on the name Phonak Holding AG and subsequently moved its headquarters to Stäfa, just outside of Zürich. In 2007, the holding company renamed itself Sonova Holding AG, or Sonova Group.

Today, Phonak is Sonova Group's flagship brand, known not only as a market leader but also as an innovator in digital hearing aid products and technologies. In 2017, Phonak introduced the first hearing aid to feature a built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery providing all-day power, the Audéo B-R. And in 2018 Phonak introduced the first full-featured Bluetooth hearing aid, the Audéo Marvel. Their latest product, Lumity, offers all-day rechargeable batteries, an accelerometer for motion sensing, tap controls, and improved speech clarity in noise.

Bluetooth technology

Phonak took many people by surprise in November 2018 when it launched Marvel, the first hearing aid capable of streaming audio—in stereo—directly to and from any Bluetooth-enabled audio device. Previously, no other hearing aid manufacturer had solved the technical challenges of universal Bluetooth connectivity. And in 2020, Phonak introduced Paradise, which added the ability to pair up to 8 Bluetooth devices simultaneously. Now, Phonak is on its 3rd generation of Bluetooth-compatible hearing aids with the new Lumity hearing aids, which deliver the same universal Bluetooth connectivity with improvements in speech clarity in background noise.

Before Phonak introduced Marvel, only iPhone users had exclusive access to hassle-free direct stereo streaming. Android users, on the other hand, had to purchase and tote around separate streaming accessories to access wireless audio, from their phones. While many hearing aid manufacturers offer direct audio streaming from Android in 2023, only a small number of handsets are compatible. And, hands-free calling with Android is only possible with Sonova-brand products like Phonak and Unitron.

To deliver binaural streaming of music and phone calls over Bluetooth, Phonak developed the third generation of its SWORD wireless chip. It integrated all the communication protocols on a single hearing aid chip, which lessened power consumption and overcame battery life limitations of earlier chipsets. Phonak’s new PRISM chip—available in Paradise and Lumity—goes even further by doubling the memory and enabling 8 paired devices and 2 active Bluetooth connections.

Rechargeable hearing aids

Phonak reports that its new generation of rechargeable hearing aids can easily last a full day (up to 24 hours). Thanks to the consistent power output of the lithium-ion battery technology, users won’t experience any of the malfunctions or intermittence that limited older models.

Phonak Lumity R and R-T charging stats

3 hours to fully charge

30-minute charge for 6 hours of use

24 hours hours use time when fully-charged, including 80 minutes of streaming

16 hours hours use time with 4h Bluetooth streaming and 4h TV streaming.

Batteries expected to last 6 years

Phonak hearing aid models

Phonak makes premium hearing aids, which are programmed by an audiologist based on the results of your hearing test. Phonak has a broad range of hearing aid models addressing all levels of hearing loss. They come in multiple form factors, with advanced Bluetooth and other connectivity features, and a family of accessories.