Ambras, are they REALLY that good?

We've seen all the binaural features on the screen, all the possible adjustments and had the marketing material in our faces for almost a year now: so what's the score? Are the latest and greatest Phonak hearing aids really that good? and what distances them from the competition.

This little 'journey' (everything is a journey these days) started late last Autumn with the fairly spectactular launch of the latest Phonak offering. I'll be honest and say that I'm pretty luke-warm about launches as there is rarely anything that ground-breaking on offer, but in fairness to Jason and the team (plus a dramatic power-cut) they put on a good do.

I hadn't really expected to be impressed, but I was, reasonably so. Full binaural signal processing and sound transfer is the key here. Allowing two hearing aids to become one 'listening system' is the result. Scroll forward nine or ten months and there are a raft of satisfied customers out there, benefiting from the largely unique CROS system, the high-end aids, the middle and lower tiers too.

Mr PG is a 39 year-old bin man with huge asymmetry which was giving the health and safety people nightmares in finding a solution that would keep him in an active 'yard' role or awareness on the street. A Solana CROS has been key to delivering sounds from both sides, plus he likes the fact that he can answer his phone 'on the go' via the I-Com.

Mrs BG is a sprightly active 85 year-old ex musician who had never been satisfied with the performance of her old Starkeys especially in relation to music and listening to the TV. She wanted the 'best money could buy', so we opted for the Ambra ITE. As of now she's averaging 15 hours a day wear and has turned the subtitles off on her TV. She also uses the Pilot One remote with aplomb and says that the aids are very effective even when she converses with her Polish handyman/gardener who she was struggling with before.

That says it all really, looks like the Spice aids are working for the people who need them......

Now, where's the next launch going to be?