Currently, the Phonak Marvel Hearing aids are the only ones that allow the user to answer a call by pressing a button on the hearing aid. The hearing aid picks up the user’s voice, so the iPhone can stay in a pocket or purse. All the others require the user to answer the call on the iPhone itself and keep it out for the duration of the call. Other differences such as speech-in-noise performance, wind noise reduction, app controls, and subjective sound quality preference can play into the final decision of what is best for a particular user. Your audiologist can help narrow down the choices for you based on the configuration of your hearing loss, needs (and wants) assessment, speech-in-noise performance, and your comfort level with technology. Note: I fit Oticon, Phonak, Widex, and Resound Made-For-iPhone hearing aids.
Both the Oticon OPN and the Phonak Marvel product lines work very well for iPhone users. The primary advantage the Marvel product has over the OPN product is that if you don't have an iPhone, Marvel can still work with your phone utilizing direct connectivity whereas the OPN products cannot. But if you have an iPhone, either product works great. Some providers may have different views on this depending on which company they prefer to work with, but there is no clinical proof that one works better than the other in regards to iPhones.
This being said, there are other considerations which may influence your choice that are more related to how the hearing aids perform irrespective of iPhone use. As an example, Oticon has more physical designs available in the OPN product platform (both in-the-ear and behind the ear), whereas Phonak only has two small miniature behind-the-ear products at this time (although this is likely to change in the future). There are also other feature considerations as to how the hearing aids work, such as performance in background noise, sound quality of music, battery drain, etc.
In summary, if you have an iPhone, either product will work great when it comes to direct connectivity, but there are many more questions you should ask your provider as to the hearing aids' performance in other life situations.
Both devices you describe work perfectly with Apple products. The big difference is that Oticon's system requires the phone to be in close proximity when you are having a telephone conversation. Phonak's product allows you to answer the phone and have a conversation even with the phone at a distance. All of the big six manufacters offer great solutions.
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