Phonak Titanium - Worth the Cost?
Let’s be honest, the Phonak Titanium is a fantastic and innovative hearing aid. However, so are many others, and one of these is the Signia Silk Nx. In this article, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of Phonak Titanium and show you a side-by-side comparison. We think you’ll find the argument for Signia Silk Nx over Phonak Titanium extremely compelling especially when you take into consideration Pocket Hearing’s prices. It’s a no-brainer from where we’re sitting!
Phonak Titanium - How Much?
Originally released on the Venture platform and then Belong, the Phonak Titanium is now available on the 2020 updated processing platform of Phonak’s Marvel technology, but is it worth the cost? The most competitive price we could find at the time of writing was £2,695 for a pair of M-Titanium.
What is Phonak Titanium?
The Phonak Titanium is the invisible-in-canal (IIC) custom made version of the Marvel technology.
Rather than the usual hard acrylic used for hearing aid shells, this aid is moulded from medical-grade, strong and light titanium
Due to it’s size and material it doesn’t have any connectivity features that the rest of the range has. Wireless signals cannot penetrate a titanium shell which means no ear to ear communication or Bluetooth.
Why Choose Phonak Titanium?
Because your looking for a small discreet invisible hearing aid and titanium is cool!
Because titanium is incredibly strong, it can be made thinner and therefore the size of the hearing aid can be manufactured smaller when necessary. This is great for smaller ear canals but if you have a standard size or larger ear canal then there is little advantage here because the hearing aid is moulded to the size of your canal anyway.
The underlying technology is quite old.
Whilst there have been a few software improvements, the hardware that is responsible for improving hearing was last upgraded in January 2015
Style vs Substance
At Pocket Hearing, we believe the Signia Silk Nx is as small or even smaller than the Phonak Titanium in many cases. Also, due to it’s modular design, the Signia Silk can fit people with hearing losses that would suit both in-the-ear and over-the-ear hearing aids. Let’s compare the two side by side:
Signia Silk 7Nx
Sale Price Pair: £1,098 (At time of writing)
Normal Price £2,595
Invisible-in-Canal ✔️
48 Channels
Smartphone App Controlled ✔️
Open-Fitting Option ✔️
Directional Microphones ✔️
Twin Phone (Hear conversation in both ears) ✔️
Self-Learning AI ✔️
Phonak Titanium M90
Price Pair: £2,695
(Best price at time of writing)
Invisible-in-Canal ✔️
20 Channels
Smartphone App Controlled ❌
Open-Fitting Option ❌
Directional Microphones ❌
Twin Phone (Hear conversation in both ears) ❌
Self-Learning AI ❌
Conclusion:
It is a fact that the number of channels and directional microphones are core elements to the quality and comfort of hearing with hearing aids. Add that together with the Signia Silk’s ability to communicate with each ear and your smartphone enabling the Signia App remote control and fine-tuning with self-learning and you have a modern hearing solution for today. It might not be as shiny as the Phonak Titanium but it makes it look like a dinosaur in terms on technology and we don’t even need to mention value for money!
Let us know what you think.