The Best Rechargeable CROS Hearing Aids | Phonak CROS BR

For years, Phonak has made my favorite wireless CROS and BiCROS Devices.  Just when I though they couldn’t make them any better, they went ahead and made the new CROS transmitter Rechargeable.  And in true Phonak fashion, they are using Lithium Battery technology just like the rest of their rechargeable devices.CROS Technology is a great solution for Single Sided Deafness (SSD).

Lets discuss the 4 pros of the Phonak Audeo CROS BR.

#1. Battery Life - The CROS BR gets over 20 hours of use with one overnight charge.  The Achilles Heel of CROS doesn't seem to be a problem with this device.

#2. Binaural Voice Stream - BVS give a 3.8 dB improvement with Speech in Noise performance.  It works by sharing information between left and right ears allowing the devices to separate speech from noise.

#3. It pairs with the Audeo BR Hearing Aid - The better the Audeo BR technology level, the better the performance.  If you want automatic StereoZoom which allows for identification of the main speech source, you need to have the 90 level Audeo which I highly recommend.

#4. The Charger - Not only does it have a space for a silica pack to dehydrate the hearing aids while charging, it also has a battery pack that gives you 7 full charges/

There are a few things that aren't so great about the CROS BR though.

#1. You have to turn them on when pulling them out of the charger.  This is an extra step that shouldn't exist.

#2. If you forget to charge you're out of luck unless you have  your charger.  With Lithium, you can't use disposable batteries as a backup.

#3. They are thicker than traditional Phonak CROS B devices. Not a big deal if you have enough space behind your ears, but this isn't something that all users have.

Despite these issues, the Phonak CROS BR is still amazing.  Just remember, it doesn't matter how good your CROS device or hearing aids are unless you have Real Ear Measurement performed on them.  Want to learn more about Real Ear Measures?  Watch my video here:  https://youtu.be/cHR0Oa6I-wY