I am deaf, a deaf audiologist. I try most of the new hearing aids as soon as they are released so I can provide better advice to my patients. This review is my own experience with Phonak Audeo Paradise P90.
In Aug 2020 the Swiss-based hearing aids manufacturer released their flagship Phonak Audeo Paradise. The news suggested the following advantages over the predecessor Phonak Marvel:
A completely new chip - Phonak Paradise comes with a completely new sound processing chip called PRISM or Processing Real-time Intelligent Sound Management. The chip has twice as much memory and processing power as Marvel. It is at the heart of other capabilities you see in this list including better and faster sound processing and better Bluetooth connectivity.
Bluetooth connectivity - Phonak Marvel could only connect to one device through Bluetooth. Phonak Paradise can pair to 8 different devices through Bluetooth and be actively paired to two. This means if you have an iPhone and an iPad that you use to read emails, answer phone calls, watch movies and search the Internet, etc. you don't have to switch between devices manually, as Phonak Paradise universal connectivity will keep you connected to your iPhone and your iPad all the time. At the time of writing this note, there is no other hearing aid in the market with this connectivity feature.
New tap control - In addition to using your smartphone to answer calls, end calls, or control the streaming audio to your hearing aids, now you can tap your hearing aids to do all that for you. You can choose which hearing aids do what when you tap them. Your AuD can set all the functionality you want for you, and even better, you can set this up on your new version of the myPhonak App.
Motion sensors for better speech understanding - Almost all hearing aids focus on the area in front of the wearer to process the sound for speech clarity and understanding. If you are walking side by side with another person you are not facing him/her anymore and most hearing aids have no means to notice that the speech is not coming from the front but they need to focus on the side to improve the speech clarity. Phonak Paradise is equipped with low-energy motion sensors that notice when you are not moving and when you are walking. Phonak motion sensor enables the hearing aid processor to better process the sound and provides clearer speech to the wearer. I personally found this feature very useful when I am having a conversation in a car, or when I am walking side by side with someone and talking to him/her.
Speech enhancer - Phonak Speech Enhancer is an adaptive algorithm designed to enhance the peaks of a speech signal in quiet situations. This feature would bring more speech clarity for those with difficulty in understanding speech in a quiet environment. I didn't have much issue with speech recognition in quiet environments. But the effect of this feature was noticeable as I noticed the speech in quiet feels a bit louder than the other hearing aids I tried.
Dynamic noise cancellation - Dynamic Noise Cancellation in Phonak Paradise is a spatial noise cancellation feature that works in combination with a directional beamformer to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in challenging situations. In simple words, this feature enabled the hearing aids to be smart enough to sense the noise level versus the speech level in every soundscape and reduce the noise for the wearer dynamically. I personally felt when that dynamic noise cancellation is in action when I am in and out of a noisy environment. The hearing aid seems to be smarter to determine what kind of environment I am in. I felt that the change in the noise cancellation and speech enhancement formulas happened more seamlessly compared to Phonak Marvel.
So what does the above mean in simple terms? I can categorise the above improvements in Phonak Paradise over Phonak Marvel into two groups:
Speech intelligibility: Phonak Paradise certainly offers better speech understanding over Marvel; thanks to its faster and stronger sound processing chip that in turn allows for better dynamic noise cancellation, motion sensor and speech enhancement.
Operability: PhonakParadise definitely provides better operability to the patient through features such as multi-device Bluetooth connectivity and tap control. Activating Alexa through tapping would be a cool experience for tech-savvy hearing aid wearers.
Even if you have an unlimited budget still it is smart to buy what you just need, right? So what different models of Phonak Paradise are out there to purchase? Phonak Paradise comes in 4 technology levels, premium, advanced, standard and essential. Each technology level provides a preset group of features to the wearer.
What technology level of Phonak Paradise is best for me?
As a piece of general advice, if the budget is not a concern, you would enjoy the full benefit of your new hearing aids if you purchase Phonak Paradise p90 premium. After all your investment in a new brand hearing aid is supposed to last 5-8 years. Given the reasonably small price difference between each technology level, one would choose to go for the top-of-the-range model to benefit from a full spec of the technology over the life of the hearing aids.
Here is a brief on how you can choose the tech level that works best for you to optimise your investment.
Is Phonak Paradise P90 the right choice for me? If you are still working, meeting people in different soundscapes and need to manage a conversation in a noisy environment, then Phonak Paradise P90 is your choice. Compared to the Paradise P70 model the premium P90 model of Phonak Paradise would offer superior speech audibility in a noisy environment, in a loud noise (beam focusing), in the presence of echo and reverberance. It also offers advanced dynamic noise cancellation and speech enhancers which are not available in the P70 model.
Is Phonak Paradise P70 the right choice for me? If you still have a dynamic social life but are not as exposed to conversations in the presence of loud noise or an acoustically challenging environment then Phonak Paradise P70 might be a good choice for you. You will be missing the speech-in-car and speech-in-loud-noise features of the P90, but you still have the tap-control functionality hence you would enjoy the speech-in-360 feature of Phonak Paradise.
Is Phonak Paradise P50 the right choice for me? Phonak Paradise P50 doesn't give you all the bells and whistles such as tap-control, dynamic noise cancellation, speech enhancer, speech in 360, speech in car and speech in echo. However, Phonak Paradise P50 would still be a great choice for those wearers with not much exposure to challenging environments for speech understanding such as loud pubs and concerts and do not fuss about the motion sensor and speech while walking feature. If you are retired, mostly watching TV, occasional family gatherings and most of the conversation you have is in a relatively quieter environment then Phonak Paradise P50 might be a good option for you.
What is so unique about Phonak Audeo Paradise?
There are very useful features in Phonak Paradise, especially in the top model P90 including dynamic noise cancellation, tapping feature, speech in 360 (motion sensor) and amazing speech understanding in echo and reverberance environments. On top of all the universal connectivity of Phonak Paradise is still very unique feature in the pack of top hearing aid brands. Most of the other top hearing aids use a Bluetooth-low-energy that only allows your hearing aids to connect to one device at any given time. If you are in the Apple Echo system meaning you frequently use your iPhone and iPad for communication and streaming, or playing back audio or video files then Phonak Paradise will be your only option in the market for the ultimate connectivity experience.
Does Phonak Paradise do health monitoring and recording?
The short answer is no really, it only keeps track of the number of your steps. The Phonak Paradise doesn't have comprehensive health monitoring features. Phonak just introduced Phonak Audeo Fit with health monitoring to the market in 2022 which features heart rate and health recording. A strong rival to Phonak Audeo Life which also does health monitoring is Starkey Evolv AI 2400. Starkey Evolve has a fall detection feature that can immediately inform 3 people on the emergency list of the wearer (see this article). Please contact us if you are interested in this feature or have a question.
Is Phonak Paradise waterproof?
Phonak Paradise is IP68-rated (learn the coding on IEC). The latest hearing aids undergo rigorous testing to gain an IP rating. Since 2016 most hearing aids have a rating of IP68 which means that they can withstand dust, dirt and sand and are submerged in water to a maximum depth of 1.5 metres for 30 minutes and will continue to work. Unfortunately, IP68 does not mean that the hearing aid can be worn while swimming but it does mean that it is protected should it be accidentally dropped into water or worn in the shower.
The practical daily importance of the IP68 hearing aid rating is to protect the device, that is of course sitting against the skin, from sweat and from getting caught in the rain. If you are looking for a pair of hearing aids that are 100% waterproof then you need to look at Phonak Audeo Life, the first waterproof hearing aids.
What is one single thing that I would change in Phonak Paradise?
Phonak Paradise feels solid, and it is loaded with features. The only thing I would change is its charger. The charger provided with Phonak Paradise feels a bit flimsy. Also for putting and removing the hearing aids into their charging spot user need to use a bit of force. In my experience, this single issue has been a show-stopper for patients with arthritis or dexterity issues. I think for the same reason Phonak moved from an electrode-based charging system to an induction-based charging system in Phonak Audeo Life, Fit and Lumity.
How functional is myPhonak App with Phonak Paradise?
I would say the new version of the myPhonak released in the summer of 2022 has been quite a facelift to the myPhonak app. Users can change the programs and set the tap control on their hearing aids. However, still there is a big gap between myPhonak and some of the more sophisticated hearing aid apps in the market such as Smart 3D by Resound GN where the user has much more ability in altering the sound of the hearing aids.
Does Phonak Paradise really sound good?
I rarely had a patient not happy with the sound of Phonak Paradise, especially the P90 and P70 models. In rehab sessions, they all confirmed that hearing aids have improved their quality of life, their engagement in social events, their ability to hear better in the presence of background noise, and their speech intelligibility in social events. When I put them on myself they sounded clear, loud and more importantly natural.
What is my advice on Phonak Paradise?
The biggest advantage of working with an independent audiologist is that you can try several products and have a first-hand experience as to which hearing aid sound better and help you understand speech in a noisy environment.
Questions?
HearingNow is the official representative of Phonak hearing aids and other hearing accessories in the UK. Please contact us if you have a question or are interested to try Phonak Paradise hearing aids.
