For my birthday, I was fit with a pair of Starkey Livio Ai hearing aids. I will be using them for the week to see if I can seamlessly wear the products and use all the cool features!
DAY 1 | Livio Thrive Challenge
I paired my smart phone, a microphone clip to my hearing aids and downloaded the Starkey THRIVE app. End of day findings – PHYSICAL: Aids were very comfortable in my ear SOUND QUALITY: I could not handle my full Rx, I reduced the volume using the buttons and the App. FUN FACT: the hearing aids have an automatic car program, if the hearing aids detect motion over 10 mph they jingle and switch into a “car program”-it was VERY comfortable the road and engine noises reduced significantly! ACTIVITIES: Grocery Shopping, driving, Hair Salon, Work dinner meeting.
DAY 2 | Livio Thrive Challenge
I did NOT recharge my hearing aids last night, and I had turned them off whenever I was not using them. I want to see how long it takes to get the battery warning.
I started my day and I did not enjoy my full Rx setting. I created my own custom program using the Thrive APP. I called it NATURAL – it’s based on my Rx value yet I changed the microphone directionality, wind noise, machine noise and speech in noise. You don’t need to be a Clinician to do this! I was able to make the sound quality quieter in my house, yet speech sounded bright. This is a really great feature!! I’ve been in the Hearing Industry since 2003. As a Hearing Instrument Specialist, I program hearing aids for sound quality in my perfectly quiet office then I typically need to see a Client 3-4 times before their trial ends. At these appointments we trouble shoot how Client’s like to hear and their perception of comfortable and clear speech, which is challenging and time consuming for the Client. This CUSTOM feature allows the hearing aid user to fine tune their hearing for comfort yet still having the Rx values present so they are always exercising the auditory system and preserving their hearing.
I had a beautiful birthday dinner with my family and I even forgot I was wearing them!
DAY 3 | Livio Thrive Challenge
I started my day with my Natural Program; I used the elliptical machine for 1/2 an hour and streamed the playlist my daughter Rose made for me. I exercised to amazing music without any bulky headsets or earbuds falling out. The hearing aids stayed put, were very comfortable and the music sounded great!
And then I did it… I went in the water forgetting about the hearing aids!! The water hit the microphones and I was soooo upset with myself… I’ve been counseling for 16 years to keep them out of the water. I turned the hearing aids off, put them on a hand towel and a short time later they were fine!
I checked my Thrive app and my battery life is at 44%. I’m on day 3 and still haven’t charged them, and I’m impressed as I’ve been actively wearing them in all environments plus streaming with Bluetooth. I feel more confident with the THRIVE APP every day.
JB and I packed today to leave for our vacation and we’ve agreed the Livio AI hearing aids are coming abroad!
DAY 4 | Livio Thrive Challenge
We have a day of travel ahead, so at 4:30am we are out the door and heading to the airport! The hearing aids go into the automatic car program, which reduces the road noise and now I can hear JB and the radio nicely.
Going through security I turn the devices off and put them in my purse. Afterwards, my Livio AI’s go right back in my ears and we start our adventure. Interestingly, I do not experience any pressure in my ears while we take off or land. I’m worried my “body score” will be low on the Thrive App as I’ve been sitting most of the day!!
I’m really enjoying the tracking my fitness and brain score with the integration app. I’m definitely going to the gym tomorrow to increase this number!! I also like that you can review your progress.
DAY 5 | Livio Thrive Challenge
While walking on the beach before breakfast I found the wind noise to be distracting. When I get home I’ll install a 40 dB receiver instead of the 50 I have now, I don’t need the extra volume and this will decrease the circuit noise that I hear on the Normal program.
JB and I then go to the gym where I went on the elliptical machine. I streamed “CBC’s The debaters” into my hearing aids and enjoy a super funny debate “whether coming in second is actually better than being first”. (I recommend this one?) The sound quality was great, the hearing aids were very comfortable and it helped distract me from exercising! I’m really enjoying the APP and loving the streaming capability.
I’m hoping my fitness score will improve today! By 1:00pm my Livio AI hearing aids are taken out, as we will be paddle boarding this afternoon!
DAY 6 | Livio Thrive Challenge
We had a busy day today! I started with streaming music for 1/2 hour at the gym, then JB and I explored the coast by bicycles.
Today I tried out the “Find my hearing aid” on the Thrive App. It worked like a charm!
My hearing aids are at 40% power, I haven’t charged them in 3 days! The lithium ion batteries hold their charge even in challenging environments.
DAY 7 | Livio Thrive Challenge
This week flew by! It was not enough time to try all the features on the Thrive App, but a 2 month trial would be plenty of time to sample all the features; like the fall detection, language translator and language transcriber. I’m a fair-weather iPhone user, so this week gave me a chance to embrace my smart phone.
The smart phone/hearing integration is fantastic. Having a phone call come in through the hearing aids was really a treat. Hearing the caller in both ears helps significantly with speech clarity.
The accessories and features are amazing on the Livio AI hearing aids, but let’s face it, everyday hearing is the most important goal of hearing aids!
Starkey’s technology provided a clear signal for speech in all my environments this week. On our 7th day, JB and I were invited to a wine and cheese on the beach. I was able to KEEP the hearing aids in the Normal setting when I customized the wind noise!
It took me 7 days to get used to the full Rx. I’m really satisfied with that time frame, very satisfied with the accessories, and extremely pleased with the sound quality! I encourage anyone who is considering hearing aids to give the Livio AI hearing aids a try. This product can grow with you while you embrace smart phone technology and integrate seamlessly if you are already there! Thanks for reading and Happy Hearing to All!