Which hearing aid offers the best streaming experience?
- Koorosh Nejad
- Aug 6
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 5
I use my hearing aids for streaming music and podcasts (I love history and philosophy podcasts, what about you?), and of course, hands-free talking to my patients. My vote for the best streaming experience with hearing aids goes to Phonak Infinio, with no hesitation. Read through this article to know why Phonak Infinio and Phonak Infinio Sphere are the best hearing aids for music lovers.
Please refer to this article on Bluetooth and streaming through hearing aids:
I get it. We live in the age of connectivity. Without a stable and clear Bluetooth connectivity, we feel isolated, at a distance and disconnected from the rest of the world.
Sound quality - Most hearing aid manufacturers have designed the speaker units for better performance at high frequencies. Phonak's generation 6.0 receivers were introduced in early 2025 and mark a rich and deep sound performance. Phonak engineers have used sounds from nature in designing the Gen 6.0 speaker units.
Excellent base sound - Phonak is my choice of hearing aids when it comes to severe to profound in low to mid frequencies. Why? The combination of the Phonak speaker unit and the hearing aid amplifier can offer a solid base sound. When it comes to music, the little receiver unit can offer your streaming experience deep, rich bass, which is essential for enjoying the music.
Adaptive bandwidth - The Phonak Infinio hearing aids can automatically adjust the bandwidth when you step away from the streaming device, so the streaming sound doesn't get interrupted.
Left-Right optimisation - The way Bluetooth connectivity is designed in Phonak hearing aids is that one unit is assigned as the main contact to the streamer device, and it feeds the streaming signal through the other unit. Up until the Phonak Infinio, the body shadow could cause interruption of streaming when the streaming device happened to be on the opposite side of the receiving unit. Your audiologist can set the main contact to be the right hearing aid or the left one. A small piece of software is always monitoring the strength of the signal on the left and right hearing aids to the streaming device in Phonak Infinio hearing aids. If the devices notice that the strength of the signal to the main unit is getting weaker, they automatically switch position and keep the signal quality and strength at an optimum level. This means when you're moving your mobile phone from left to right pocket or walk around your home from room to room to the garden, you wouldn't feel that the streaming signal gets better or worse because the aids are load balancing the signal for an optimum streaming quality.
Bluetooth range - The Bluetooth protocol was upgraded from 4.2 to 5.3 from Phonak Paradise and Phonak Lumity platforms to Phonak Infinio. This means better streaming sound quality, more stable connectivity and longer range. Phonak's Bluetooth connectivity is the longest range of any hearing aid in the market by far. This allows a steady stream even when you place your mobile phone in your pocket, or when the mobile phone is in another room.
Tap control - The tap control can be found in several models of hearing aids, but it has the most practical design in Phonak Infinio. You can stop and resume the streaming by double-tapping. You can also pick up a call and stop a call by double-tapping your Phonak Infinio. Furthermore, you can call the AI assistant of your mobile phone, e.g. Siri in the case of iPhone and ask a question and get the answer right on your Phonak Infinio hearing aids.
Balance control - When you are streaming music through Bluetooth on your Phonak Infinio, you can use the volume control on the hearing aid to adjust the balance between the surrounding sound and the streaming sound. This comes in handy when you are streaming in a noisy environment and you wish to reduce the surrounding noise more in favour of the streaming sound.
Multi-device connectivity - Phonak Infinio and Unitron Smile are the only hearing aids which can connect to multiple devices through classic Bluetooth. This feature is my favourite of all because if you use your hearing aids for streaming, podcasts and also Zoom meetings through your mobile phone and your laptop, you realise how amazing it is to finish streaming through one device and right after that stream through another device with no need to do anything extra. If you have any other hearing aids, you need to switch off the Bluetooth on one device and turn it on on the other device so that your aids connect to the second device. Only then will you be able to stream through the second device.
How can I increase the volume of the streaming music through my Phonak hearing aids?
There are a few settings and controls to enjoy streaming music and improve the sound of hands-free calls while using your Phonak hearing aids:
Setting the microphone level - I usually reduce the mix of the microphone level with the streaming sound to allow a louder streaming sound, especially in noisy environments. At the fitting appointment, sometimes the patient asks me to switch off the microphone completely during streaming.
Volume control - When streaming music or a soundtrack through your Phonak hearing aids, you will adjust the volume level of the streaming sound through the volume up and down buttons on your mobile phone.
Balance of the mix to streaming - I really enjoy this feature, which comes very handy for listening to music through your Phonak hearing aid in a noisy environment. When streaming music through your hearing aids, the volume control rocker switch on your Phonak hearing aid works as a mix to change the balance of sound from the streaming versus the microphones of the hearing aid. This feature allows you to reduce the mix of the sound you hear from surroundings versus increasing the streaming sound and vice versa.
How can I compare Phonak Infinio with Unitron Smile hearing aids?
Unitron Smile is the latest model of Unitron hearing aids released in 2025. It is very close to Phonak Infinio in terms of structure and functionality. Please see our full report on Unitron Smile hearing aids in this article.
Conclusion
If streaming music and hands-free calls through hearing aids is a top priority for you, then your best option might be Phonak Infinio or Unitron Smile hearing aids.
Updates
August 2025 - Phonak released the Phonak Virto Infinio R ITC, which is the very first rechargeable ITC hearing aid by Phonak in August 2025. Phonak Virto Infinio R ITC provides a 31-hour run time on a full charge and uses Bluetooth 5.3 protocol for a stable and long-range Bluetooth connectivity with multiple devices, including Android mobile phones. Please see our hearing aid review of Phonak Virto Infinio R ITC here.
October 2025 - Rexton released the twin product to Signia Pure Charge and Go BCT IX called Rexton Reach Plus T BC. Same as the Signia Pure C&G BCT, the Rexton Reach Plus offers telecoil, classic Bluetooth and longer battery life. It is a robust product for everyday use. Rexton Reach Plus comes in 80, 60 and 40 technology levels as well as a CROS model for single-sided deafness. Please see the price of Rexton Reach Plus hearing aids in our Rexton collection here.
Have a question?
Please do not hesitate to book a free online hearing care consultation with our audiologist to discuss your options for your new hearing aids.
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