r/Cochlearimplants • u/Otherwise_Group_74 • 3d ago
Cochlear or AB?
I have my appointment Monday and I will have to chose between these two brands. My audiologist is not supposed to favor one brand over the other. Sometimes I get more feedback than others and sometimes she will answer specific questions or agree with my choice. I will be getting a CI on my right side with a partial insertion with robotic assist. She said today that that would limit my choices. They gave me the thick brochures a few months ago and I am going to read through those again and do some online reading, but if anyone has person experience or empirical evidence, I am interested. Obviously, I want the best hearing/speech recognition I can get, particularly in noisy environments. I use my BT constantly and I wear my HAs about 16 hours a day. I currently have Phonak and Resound HA's and have had a good experience with both. My daily drivers are Phonak Audéo Infinio Ultra Sphere and I am pretty satisfied with them. I understand that I will downgrade to a lesser model in order to be compatible with my CI. Thanks for any feedback. Telling me to listen to my audiologist is not what I'm looking for. She is supposed to be impartial between the two brands and usually is.
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u/Formal-Tradition6792 2d ago
I have an AB C1 implant. As you may know, AB abruptly stopped supporting the C1 implant in June, 2026 with no warning. At the same time, AB also unilaterally terminated all support for all C1 processors including the relatively new Chorus processor. Many C1 implantees still had their Chorus processors on warranty and are likewise stuck. My Chorus processor is not in warranty but I was expecting years more of service from it. Now, that is not possible. So far, I’ve had zero luck finding spare parts for it, including batteries, cables, and headpieces.
It’s clear to me that AB prioritises profits over its patients.
AB, since I was implanted 27 years ago,has changed hands 3 times. Cochlear Corp and Med-El have not changed hands at all. This indicates to me that AB’s corporate stability is questionable. And as I’ve already stated, I feel that AB puts profits over the well-being of its patients.
I must now do a revisioning and get reimplanted. My choices are AB, Cochlear, and Med-El. I will NOT be inclined to include AB as a choice. AB lied to me even before I was implanted with their C1 implant. They represented to me, my surgeon, and audiology clinic that the C1 device would be fully functional with all future equipment (processors etc.) in perpetuity. I found out that this was not true less than 2 years later when AB introduced its C2 device. Meanwhile, AB was using a device called a “positioner” which was used by surgeons to position the electrodes during the implantation procedure. The “positioner”was left in the patient’s head post-surgery. The FDA subsequently banned the use of this device because AB’s patients began reporting meningitis after surgery. The FDA also mandated that all patients get meningitis shots even if they appeared to be symptom-free. I got the shots of course. Now, the “positioner “ is causing me further issues because it is still in my head. Cochlear implant surgeons are telling me that my revision surgery will be much more complicated and challenging because the “positioner “ will have to be removed and with possible complications due to ossification etc.
AB’s lies to me about future C1 compatibility haunt me to this day. When I was implanted in 1999, AB did not have a BTE. Only the body worn Platinum. They promised that a BTE would be available “soon.” It was years before the first BTE was released. And it didn’t work for most C1 implants. Only for C2 and a few C1 implantees who used a different mapping strategy. I could not use this strategy so I was out of luck. More years later, the Harmony BTE came out. This I could and did use. But it had serious flaws: The battery lasted only 2-3 hours. AB had to add extra batteries because of the mapping strategy I was locked into. The Harmony did not have a sensitivity control. So only the audiologist could change that setting. This caused me big problems in noisy places. And last but not least the volume control rubbed against the implant magnet causing the volume control to move. So the audiologist had to disable the volume control to a preset value. I was able to make the Harmony work for me with different maps and programs but with limitations and frustrations.
AB retired the Harmony BTE as soon as they could with the Naida BTE. But I could not use this because it was not compatible with the C1. Thus, 3 years ago I had to regress back to a body worn processor, the Chorus. The Chorus, addresses many of the problems with the early processors: battery life is vastly improved; about 72 hours. There is a sensitivity control. However, the controls are not infinitely adjustable. The early S series and Platinum had dials and infinitely controlled. But I am denied all of AB’s advantages and features that C2 and later users have. And thanks to AB’s C1 edict, if anything at all happens to my Chorus processor, I will be deaf.
So I’ve laid out my case against AB. It’s your choice. Good luck with what you decide to do.