Naida Q Hearing Aids & Reviews

Written by Paul Harrison

In 2013 Phonak launched their new range of power hearing aids to help people with a more severe hearing loss.These are called the Naida Q. The ‘Q’ stands for Quest and is Phonaks new sound processing chip technology which has allowed them to add a range of new Binaural VoiceStream features.  Some retailers are now advertising special offers such as 2 for 1 on the Naida S which is the previous power range but this has now been superseded by the Naida Q range.

It is available in three different styles which come in a range of both traditional and bold colours.

• Naida Q-RIC – This is a cosmetic, RIC (Receiver In Canal) power hearing aid. 
• Naida Q-SP – A BTE (Behind The Ear) hearing aid
• Naida Q-UP – Also a BTE (Behind The Ear) model but offers even more power

 

The Naida Q is available in four different technology levels

Premium     - Q90  (Replaced Naida S9) 

Advanced    - Q70  (Replaced Naida S5)

Standard     - Q50  (Replaced Naida S3) 

Essential      - Q30  (Replaced Naida S1)

 

New Features

 

As well as giving you that extra boost of power, the Naida Q range has many excellent features and with Phonak’s new Quest technology there are some new ones including Binaural VoiceStream. This means that your hearing aids can now communicate with each other and work together to further improve your listening experience.

 

• Acclimatisation Manager – This alters your hearing aid’s amplification levels automatically. These levels and settings can also be manually adjusted by the wearer.
• Speech in Wind – This feature detects the wind noise in your hearing aids. It will then identifiy which side is receiving a clearer signal and stream that across to the other side.
• Auto SteroZoom – This helps to automatically focus on the voice sounds that you want to hear and blocks out noises from other directions.

 

The Speech in Wind and Auto SteroZoom features are only available on the Naida Q90

 

Other features include

 

• Up to 20 Channels - Each channel on your hearing aids process a range of frequencies so the more you have, the more specifically it can be programmed for your hearing loss.
• Ultrazoom/Stereozoom/Autozoom  -  These are all binaural microphone applications which help to enhance speech capturing and noise cancellation.
  • Whistleblock – This helps to get rid of any annoying feedback sounds that can occur.
  • Soundrecover –This feature improves your ability to hear high frequency sounds.
  • Noiseblock – This suppresses unwanted background noises leaving speech sounds clearer.
  • Soundrelax – This detects any sudden loud noises and cushions the sound to ensure you maintain listening comfort.
  • Echoblock  - This helps to ease any possible distortion in places such as large halls or churches.
  • Windblock – With this feature you can manage wind noise without having to adjust your microphone settings.
  • Soundflow– This feature can detect any subtle changes in your listening environment and adapts automatically.

 

The Naida Q hearing aids are fully compatible with Phonak’s range of wireless accessories.

 

Accessories include

 

• Phonak Compilot – Streamer worn around the neck
• Phonak TV Link S – Tv transmitter/compilot charger
• Phonak Mypilot – One touch display screen remote control
• Phonak PilotOne – Basic remote control

 

 

In conclusion, the Phonak Naida Q offers excellent technology with an extra power boost for those with a more severe hearing loss. It is available in four technology levels and has a choice of styles and colours to suit your individual preference. The Naida Q range is also fully wireless compatible. If you are interested in this technology but do not need a power hearing aid then you may want to try the BTE (Behind the Ear) range known as Bolero Q,  the ITE (In The Ear) range known as Virto Q or the RIC (Receiver In Canal) range called Audeo Q.

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Paul Harrison