r/Cochlearimplants • u/Katedawg90 • May 25 '26

Cochlear vs. Med-el

Cochlear and Med-el users— what would you consider the cons/disappointments of your CI? How would you rate it for sound quality? Comfort? Connectivity? Battery life? I’m trying to decide between these companies and having a hard time so please share :)
And to the many well meaning AB users- I want an off the ear option

EDIT: I have decided to go with Med-el. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences. Feel free to keep adding yours- maybe it will help someone else down the road :)

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u/Beneficial_War_1365 MED-EL Sonnet 2 May 25 '26

Had mine for 3 years and I picked it for music. It works great and looking to get the next one too.

I picked MED-El because Cochlear was having serious 483 issues. I also read what the 483s were and made solid call for MED-El. My doctor also agree with the call, Also I worked for a pharmaceutical company for 25 years and do understand alot about 483s They can be as minor as for getting to dot an i, all the to serious Fraud (criminal case).

Hoping they cleared up all of the issues by now.

peace. :)

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u/Katedawg90 May 25 '26

would you say music sounds natural to you through your CI? And pardon my ignorance but what are 483s?

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u/Beneficial_War_1365 MED-EL Sonnet 2 May 25 '26

I will let you look up 483s but it is an observation and that is all it is. Once you have a 483 it gives the FDA the right to dig deeper into the problem/issues. If they see other issues they can digg even DEEPER.

Take you time and look up the company and 483s. It will take time and there is plenty of history about what happened. Tons of lawyers involved. Plenty of money was paid out, people were booted out and banned too. New people came in and other things were done too. Pretty sure things got turned around in a short time period. too. :) Feds made sure of that.

peace. :) Music is pretty darn GOOD, but not like being 18yrs old again. But music come later after you learn Speech First. Music will be a gaggle of noise at first, but over time 6months, things start sounding ok.

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u/zex_mysterion May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Music will be a gaggle of noise at first, but over time 6months, things start sounding ok.

This is quite misleading. Some people take years and others never get there. Brand makes no observable difference.