Hearing aids are complex. There are a range of manufacturers who truly believe their approach is the best and it is easy to get caught up in a strong marketing story.
In the past I have been guilty of getting excited about a new product before giving it a good test run and then being bitterly disappointed after realising they have failed to focus on the basics like ease of use, feedback management, or reliability.
As well as that, any audiologist can tell you with certainty that one product does not fit all. This is why each manufacturer has to try and offer a full portfolio to try and meet all of the unique needs of any client that walks through the door.
In the past year or so, no other manufacturer has delivered a more rounded portfolio than that of the Signia IX.
I am not saying that they are the best at everything, because no product is, but in terms of meeting the essential criteria of a fantastic product portfolio they are ticking all the right boxes.
Telecare
In my opinion, Signia has one of the strongest, and intuitive telehealth features. It offers adjustments that are either synchronous (adjusting it live on a call) or asynchronous (pushing settings through in a text message to download later). Many manufacturers only offer synchronous and I find that it can be cumbersome and unreliable as it relies on a good internet connection and a reasonable understanding of technology. Asynchronous makes it more intuitive and allows for faster adjustments without an appointment.
AI Assistant
Signia, at the time of writing, are also the only manufacturer to offer an AI assistant within the app which acts like a portable audiologist. By instructing my clients on using this assistant, it has enhanced our patient outcomes as they have readily available access to resources such as videos which instruct on cleaning and maintenance. The AI assistant can even make fine tuning adjustments to the hearing aids with ease.
Quality Control
Quality control is important and being able to run hearing instrument testing is important to me. I’m probably in a minority of clinics that have ready access to a hearing instrument test box but it helps me to determine whether a hearing aid is performing the same as it was out of the factory. In most hearing aid software, it is a laborious process activating test box settings (such as full on gain, and reference test gain) but Signia make this easy and intuitive and means I can run these tests at every hearing aid review to ensure harmonic distortion and internal amplifier noise is acceptable.
Signia Sleeves
In my experience, the importance of the fixtures that go in the ears can often be undervalued but I feel they are as important as the technology itself.
Signia, along with their sister company Widex, are the only manufacturers that use a sleeve alongside the conventional rounded dome. And it’s a game changer. My clients find them more comfortable, less occluding, and often sound better than their counterparts. I would argue that 65-75% of my fittings use a sleeve because they work so well. I’m surprised the other manufacturers haven’t tried to copy the design, but perhaps they don’t realise just how good they are.
All of the features mentioned above are available on the full portfolio of the Signia IX hearing aids but there are also benefits to specific products also…
Signia Pure C&G IX
Let’s start with their receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids. These are what I recommend most because they offer the best flexibility and overall performance. Signia Pure C&G IX is the only portfolio, of all manufacturers, to offer both made for iPhone (mFi) Bluetooth as well as classical Bluetooth connectivity to devices. This means that we can prescribe a product that can integrate with the technology that is already available to the client e.g. mobile phone.
Telecoil
Many of the hearing aid manufacturers are omitting the telecoil but I still see this as a critical feature to support our clients in and out of the home. Signia are one of the few manufacturers that still offer the telecoil on their flagship RIC devices. Although the telecoil is soon to be superseded by Bluetooth Auracast, it will take time for this technology to become more widespread and so I see it as a essential feature today.
Own Voice Processing
Signia introduced own voice processing about 5 years ago in their AX platform and they are still the only manufacturer to offer it. It is designed to help with occlusion (the feeling of having your fingers in your ears). Occlusion has a detrimental effect on your own voice when wearing hearing aids and so this technology is designed to overcome it.
In all honesty, I don’t use this as often as Signia recommend because I find that the sleeves are often so comfortable for my clients, that occlusion is rarely an issue. However, every now and then, I get a client that really struggles with this unwanted feeling and own voice processing can help.
Signia Silk IX
Signia Silk IX is a unique product in that it offers the discretion of an in-the-ear hearing aid but without the hassle of being custom made and also offers less occlusion so clients are more likely to accept it.
One of the biggest issue with any in-the-ear product is if it fails, you generally have to send it away for repair and you then have to loan a product that is different to the product they are used to so it impairs user experience. With Signia Silk, we have demo devices in store ready to be loaned out should a device fail. As well as that, Signia have their Quick Replacement Service, which means that within a few days we have a replacement device in clinic ready to be issued to the client with minimal downtime.
App functionality
Signia Silk IX doesn’t have Bluetooth. But Signia use audio encoding, like morse code, so it can communicate with your phone using an app. 5 years ago this was revolutionary but we are seeing other competitors managing to get Bluetooth into their CIC devices now so this isn’t much of a differentiator anymore.
Rechargeable CIC
Signia Silk is still one of the few rechargeable CIC hearing aids and so this is also makes it great for people with limited dexterity in their hands or fingers.
Signia Styletto IX
The Signia Styletto IX is their ‘style’ RIC. It adds style by being one of the thinnest and most stylish hearing aids on the market by removing ‘on-hearing-aid’ functionality. For example, you are unable to adjust volume or turn the hearing aid on or off.
However, for ears that are small and tucked against the head, or for someone who wants something a little more unique, the Signia Styletto IX is a device that is thin and cosmetically appealing.
Signia Insio IX
Signia Insio IX is for individuals who wish to enjoy the simplicity of a discreet custom hearing aid. The IX version is only available in their Invisible-In-Canal (IIC) and Completely-In-Canal (CIC) hearing aids. Unfortunately, Signia have been slow with upgrading their full Insio range of hearing aids and so this is their biggest downfall currently. The rechargeable Insio custom range hearing aids produced by Signia are still utilising the AX platform which is outdated. Technology from some other manufacturers is more current which makes the AX a difficult first choice when discussing hearing solutions.
I am hoping that they update this soon as it will help to complete an otherwise solid range of devices.
For me personally, this hasn’t impacted my opinion of the Signia range too significantly as, in my clinic, custom in-the-ear products are not fit routinely (less than 10%). However, for other clinics, this may have more of an impact based on their professional approach to recommending technology.
Summary
For all of the reasons above, I feel that the Signia IX portfolio offers the most rounded approach to a tailored hearing care solution compared to all other manufacturers at the time of writing.
It’s important to remember that there will be circumstances when other hearing aids from other manufacturers are more appropriate and will perform better for a given client depending on their own unique requirements but Signia seem to be able to fulfil most of these demands to a high standard and this is why we have chosen it as our product of choice for 2025 so far.
Contact Us
Are you interested in trying the Signia IX range of hearing aids? If so, contact us today to find out more. You can either fill out the form below or call us on 01227 851 033.
