Surely, you have encountered yourself before in the following situation: you’re about to buy a watch, and wonder “is it water resistant, or is it waterproof?”.

It is often said that a product is waterproof when it can withstand sweat, humidity, occasional rain… In short, when it can stand liquid falling on top of it. But what we really want to know most of the time is: am I able to swim with this at the beach, or not?

Well, you see, we will no longer talk about watches, since the subject is not our forte… But we are experts in audiology, and we can assure you that with Audéo Life, the new rechargeable RIC hearing aid from Phonak, you absolutely will be able to swim on the beach. This hearing aid can be submerged up to 50 centimeters in fresh or saltwater!

It’s not only waterproof; it’s water-compatible

The Paradise technology, which is built inside the Audéo Life, has already surprised us with an amazing bluetooth conexion to two devices at the same time, incorporating a movement sensor, and offering the most advanced technological systems in terms of noise reduction, speech enhancer, and understanding in all kinds of noise environments… But now, Phonak has gone a step further: helping us say goodbye to one of the worst enemies of audiologists and hearing aid users: humidity.

This is not an exaggeration: water, heat, humidity, wax and sweat are a real inconvenience for the proper functioning of any technological device. And hearing aids, which are inserted into the narrow and moist ear canal, or placed behind the ear, always attached to us while walking in the sun or under an unexpected rain, suffer these consequences more than any other device. Therefore, they must all have an IP68 protection. 

IP certifications (Ingression Protection) allows the technology market to guarantee the level of resistance of technological devices to certain external elements. Thus, the first digit refers to protection against solids and, the second, against liquids. IP68 is the maximum protection a hearing aid can have. The 6 means that dust particles are impenetrable to the system. The 8, that the hearing aid can resist the effects of immersion and pressure under water.

So with this, and to begin with, we want to say that yes: in fact, all hearing aids are waterproof. Especially if they are rechargeable, since battery-powered hearing aids have a battery holder that opens and closes easily, making it possible that a certain amount of water or humidity enters the device and oxidizes the power components, eventually damaging them.

But this doesn’t mean, not at all, that all the rechargeable hearing aids are bullet-proof in terms of humidity. It just means that they have met the minimum resistance level to obtain the IP68 certification. And evenso, despite the fact that an IP68 is the best one against humidity, problems such as persistent condensation or wax in the ear canal, or direct and continuous exposure to water, can eventually cause a series of annoying necessary repairs throughout the life of your devices.

This is where Audéo Life comes in to change the playing field. Phonak has ensured that these hearing aids not only meet the minimum for IP68 certification, which has been the case up until now. They have taken it upon themselves to ensure that this hearing aid exceeds this minimum by far, making them simply impenetrable.

Audéo Life has endured, during the Phonak quality controls, more than five hundred immersions in water to test their effective resistance to dives. In both chlorine-filled pool water and salt water! They also went through more than five hundred showers with and without shampoo, and have resisted high temperatures in case you enjoy seeing the bathroom get filled with steam. They even have been under sweat, humidity and heat for five hundred and twenty hours, just in case you want to exercise without disconnecting for a moment from your environment. And how did they achieve all of this?

An impenetrable design

Unlike the other hearing aids on the market, Audéo Life has additional protection on the four of its microphone ports, its joints are sealed with Gore-Tex silicone, and the internal circuits of the hearing aid are coated with parylene. In addition, the earpiece is no longer adjusted with a pin, but adheres to the hearing aid through a pressure system without incisions. Finally, the charge has ceased to be carried out through contacts on the base of the hearing aids to become an induction charging process with a lithium battery. Now the base of the hearing aid is completely smooth. A seamless pattern, for a life with no brakes.

For all this, it is no longer just about getting hearing aids that can withstand the humidity of the environment or from the body itself. Phonak’s new Audéo Life has make it possible for its wearers to live life to the fullest without having to think about actually wearing them: in the shower, on the beach, in the pool, in the rain. To make it even better, the new Case Go charger has a battery-bank that allows you to fully recharge your hearing aids up to three times without plugging it in, so you can take them wherever you want, for days.

With Audéo Life, you will never have to miss out on any of the adventure again.