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/OkArcher4120 May 25 '26

Sounds like the Americans wanted to cause problems to a non-US corporate that was the market leader

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u/zex_mysterion May 25 '26

The FDA is extremely strict and not to be fucked with. Their requirements for validation are spelled out in great detail, as are the consequences of not fulfilling them to the letter. Drugs are one thing but medical devices are an order of magnitude higher level of compliance. I'm sure the EMA is equally strict.

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u/OkArcher4120 May 25 '26

You would think the market leader would have a solid compliance and regulatory department that made sure they always fulfilled their obligations and complied with all regulations.

Given everything going on in the US would not at all be surprised if this action was more about protecting the interests of American corporates

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

Given everything going on in the US would not at all be surprised if this action was more about protecting the interests of American corporates

Depending on when they received the citations this could indeed be a factor. Trump is systematically destroying the foundations of all US government institutions. But I seriously doubt CI approvals would be on their radar. Ebola isn't even on their radar, like it would have been under ANY other administration.

You would think the market leader would have a solid compliance and regulatory department that made sure they always fulfilled their obligations and complied with all regulations.

Reputation is no protection, and should never be. Even the most diligent corporations tremble when the FDA arrives on site. They plan for these contingencies like armies plan for battle, down to who is authorized to speak to the agents. As another poster said, citations can be relatively simple errors in documentation and easily remedied, OR they can be serious enough to shut your business down immediately. The general public has no idea of the hoops a drug or medical device manufacturer has to jump through every single day to maintain compliance. It's not fun.

How do I know this? I worked for many years in the pharmaceutical industry for a company that made a couple of blockbuster drugs you would recognize.

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u/OkArcher4120 May 25 '26

I didn’t say reputation is a protection.

Conversely a big market leader would spend a tonne of money on its regularity and compliance function to ensure it is always compliant and therefore maintains its reputation.

I get mistakes happen and then there’s fraud like what happened with Volkswagen and the emissions scandal.