Costco to Sell Premium Phonak Hearing Aids for US$1349!

Makes me wonder if there is any programming going on with these aids at the factory anymore. The processor programming is probably generic and tailoring is probably done onsite at Costco. If that's the case, consumers should be able to buy the programming kit and do it themselves. The only thing that should be needed is an exit hearing test to test the improvement(something no audiologist has ever done for me).
 
The model in question is the Q90. It will be sold under the name Brio. It will have all of the features of the Naida Q90 except tinnitus management and wind management. I have read many posts and blogs of people happy with the Costco audiologists and service but YMMV.
 
For me, I don't mind it not having tinnitus management as mine is only occasional. But wind management? It cuts out the wind sound?

Wonder why they are selling it as "Brio"

At any rate I might be interested. One of my old ones (analog Rexton) needs to be replaced.
 
Speaking of analogs, will this Brio be analog? Anybody know?
 
Tousi said:
Speaking of analogs, will this Brio be analog? Anybody know?
Click to expand...
I'ts fully digital, same as the Phonac Q90 Model.
AlleyCat said:
For me, I don't mind it not having tinnitus management as mine is only occasional. But wind management? It cuts out the wind sound?

Wonder why they are selling it as "Brio"

At any rate I might be interested. One of my old ones (analog Rexton) needs to be replaced.
Click to expand...
They are probably labeling it that as a private Costco brand. I'm sure Phonac has heard plenty from hearing aid dispensers already. According to the OP link it's cost to the consumer is about what a Q90 costs the dispenser and they are plenty mad about this cutting into their cash cow. Having priced the Q90 locally, it appears the dispensers are making better than $2000.00 gross profit on each. The Q70, Q80 and Q90 are all the same instrument with all the same features. The dispenser just enables those features of a particular model. The more features enabled, the more it cost. And yes, wind management helps to decrease the sound of wind blowing across the microphone.
 
Brio is the Sams club brand hearing aid. I called and talked to a few Costco audios to get info and then a couple of articles about their hearing aids. Just to add you get two aids with 12 channels for 1,600. 00 for a pair.
 
Must be why my audiologist didn't want to sell me Phonak

Wow, and I'm just in the middle of trying my Q90 aids out right now. My insurance is paying for them after I pay $4000 deductible which is already in my account and given by the company my husband works for, and then insurance kicking in with 80% payment, costing me around $400.
 
CI_Borg said:
I'ts fully digital, same as the Phonac Q90 Model.

They are probably labeling it that as a private Costco brand. I'm sure Phonac has heard plenty from hearing aid dispensers already. According to the OP link it's cost to the consumer is about what a Q90 costs the dispenser and they are plenty mad about this cutting into their cash cow. Having priced the Q90 locally, it appears the dispensers are making better than $2000.00 gross profit on each. The Q70, Q80 and Q90 are all the same instrument with all the same features. The dispenser just enables those features of a particular model. The more features enabled, the more it cost. And yes, wind management helps to decrease the sound of wind blowing across the microphone.
Click to expand...

I have that now but only have hearing aids a few weeks so haven't tried it all out. Tried the amplifier thing where you can get it to move toward sound source (like behind you) but honestly, I don't know whether I ever find these extras any good.
 
AlleyCat said:
For me, I don't mind it not having tinnitus management as mine is only occasional. But wind management? It cuts out the wind sound?

Wonder why they are selling it as "Brio"

At any rate I might be interested. One of my old ones (analog Rexton) needs to be replaced.
Click to expand...

I like the sound of the wind when I do heard it.
 
Hi, I'm new here and was just reading your posts a couple weeks ago. I just got the new Brio BTE from Costco for $2500.00 a pair. These are the same as the Q90 from what I can tell. These do have wind management as well or speech in wind. I had Virto Q90 for a short while and returned them because I found a pair of these for less than half the price. $1249.00 for the BTE and $1349.00 for the RIC or CIC. The Q90's have the Tinnitus feature and the CRos capability. The Brio's do not, everything else is the same except for the price.
 
$2500 for the pair that is great price. Do you know which model was that, if that had any extra devices or was that just the aids? I think they have a couple different BTE? Would like to know if that was the 'R" or "B" or "P's" and how you like them?
 
mp11dx said:
Hi, I'm new here and was just reading your posts a couple weeks ago. I just got the new Brio BTE from Costco for $2500.00 a pair. These are the same as the Q90 from what I can tell. These do have wind management as well or speech in wind. I had Virto Q90 for a short while and returned them because I found a pair of these for less than half the price. $1249.00 for the BTE and $1349.00 for the RIC or CIC. The Q90's have the Tinnitus feature and the CRos capability. The Brio's do not, everything else is the same except for the price.
Click to expand...

What is CRos?
 
I have ordered a pair of Phonak Brio P-UP BTE aids from Costco for $2600. Hopefully they will be in this week. They are the same aids as the Naida Q90s with the tinnitus masker and cross/bi-cross turned off as stated above.

Costco's aids can only be programmed or adjusted using Costco's software. The aids are keyed to their software so you can't get them adjusted somewhere else. Not that I would want to.

Costco takes only cash, debit or American Express cards. No Visa cards accepted. You have a 90 day trial period once you purchase HA's from them. During the 90 day trial you can return them for a full refund even if you just don't like them. You have the option to start the whole process over again with purchasing another brand/type which Costco carries and can fit your hearing loss. You have another 90 day trial with the second set and so on.

Here's the info from my recent purchase:
21b63qs.jpg


It seems to me that Costco carries HA's in stock for mild to severe hearing loss but not severe to profound. With me being severe to profound my aids had to be ordered. But that has been the case for me every time I purchase new aids.

I have inquired my Costco audiologist about their experience fitting my type of hearing loss and their reply was that they do fit severe to profound but not that often. I was told that my store gets like 2 in 20 with this type of loss.

If you pay with an American Express card you get an additional year added to your warranty period. I got 4 year warranty because I applied and got the Costco Amex card.

Although not verified, Costco will continue to service your aids beyond the warranty period even if you drop your Costco membership.

What's not to like?


EDIT:
Um, I'm not advertising Costco! I just wanted to post additional information that I wanted to share.
 
Sorry I missed your comment awhile back Jake. This price was just for the aids themselves without any other attachments which they also carry. I got the Brio R model. Was going to go with the half shell in the ear but these were more discrete. I like these very much. They have lived up to my expectations and for half the cost as the original ones I got. Can't tell a difference in sound. As for the different models. The R is the smallest BTE taking a 312 battery but only having the room for 1 button on each, which is what I got. Volume on the left side and program button on the right. The B is bigger with more room for a button and a switch if needed. I believe it has a bigger battery too. The P was to big for me so I can't tell you much about it. The brio 1 is what I was going to originally getting but the audiologist recommended the other. He said I would lose half of the features that it has by going with an ITC because they could not fit all the great things inside a tiny aid. Then I decided to go with a half shell but later found out my ear canals were to narrow to even that. So I tried the BTE R and that was the right choice for me without losing all the great capabilities of this aid.
 
Hopefully that helps. I will say one other thing, the Costco batteries are not good. They are a great price for the quantity you get. My Costco would only last not even 24 hours. The Duracell's I bought off Ebay, cheapest I can find, last about 3 days.
 
From The Hearing Blog Editor on Phonak Brio aids sold at Costco

Hello. My name is Dan Schwartz, Editor of The Hearing Blog; and also author of the March 9th scoop on Phonak selling their hearing aids through Costco.

I'd like to clear up a couple of misconceptions about the Phonak Brio series of aids sold at Costco:

  1. The Brio aids sold at Costco are unlocked, meaning any hearing aid professional who has Target 3.3 programming software can reprogram the Brio;
  2. Costco has a special version of Target 3.3 that can only program the Brio, and no other Phonak aids;
  3. The Brio uses the latest Quest DSP platform, but with the tinnitus noise generator disabled;
  4. The "Brio" designation is actually the Bolero BTE, Audeo RIC, and Virto custom instruments.

Dan Schwartz d/b/a Auditory Associates
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Hearing Aid and Assistive Device Engineer and Dispenser
Editor, The Hearing Blog
E-mail: Dan@Snip.Net
Skype: RedStateDan
Instant Message: RedStateDan @AOL.com, @gMail.com, @Yahoo.com & @Hotmail.com
 
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