Connexx Smart Direct Reviews

by Shady Brady Hat

Any time I switch between my iPad and iPhone or visa versa ConnexxSmartDirect getting control comes up in Demo mode. This is a common complaint in App Store. No IOS update to blame either. I really like my Costco hearing aids, these are my third set over the last ten or twelve years. Just got these three days ago, they are great. ConnexxSmartDirect should never have left beta test like it is.
In addition to the above problem, ConnexxSmartDirect allows individual volume control in demo mode but in actual operational mode they are joined together with a single control.
Walk out of range of IOS device the when return App thinks they have been upgraded and insists that you go to settings and “forget this device then re-pair with the IOS device”. Work around is to just turn off and on Bluetooth, return to App and hit retry several times. This is a serious issue.

by TomVW

I like my KS 8.0 hearing aids. And I really want to like ConnexxSmartDirect. When it works, it is quite good. (This is my first experience with hearing aids so I have nothing to compare ConnexxSmartDirect to.) But some of the features are poorly implemented. The battery information is unreliable. After several days of use, it can show 90%, then within an hour or two, it can disconnect and show <10%.
It will at times disconnect one or both aids and/or go to “acoustic” mode or “demo” mode. Sometimes I have to reboot my phone to get it to reconnect, and sometimes I have to have my phone “forget” these aids and go through the pairing process again.
Just a lot of inconsistencies in performance of ConnexxSmartDirect.

by Hankster2014

I’ve had my hearing aids for two months. Bought them from Costco. Hearings aids work fine in spite of ConnexxSmartDirect. Three times now I’ve had to go back to Costco with problems. ConnexxSmartDirect is initially in demo mode. Costco personnel paired my hearing aids to ConnexxSmartDirect . Three weeks later it was back in demo mode. They blamed the Apple update so they repaired them for me. I tried before I went to Costco but had no luck. I didn’t know and didn’t fine in instructions to turn demo off at the bottom. So now the hearing aids were paired. But two days later they were back in demo mode and there was no Apple update to cause the problem. So I have to repair them if I can. Other problems I’ve encountered in the two months I’ve owned them include left hearing aid cutting in and out, problems with Bluetooth connectivity in my 2017 Cadillac, and people complaint they can’t hear me when I’m talking on the phone with the hearing aids connected to the phones speaker. I’m ready to give up and return the hearing aids to Costco under there 180 day policy. Someone needs to fix ConnexxSmartDirect, most of the reviews are terrible. I wonder if Costco is reading these reviews.I can’t believe they’d let this continue. Fix ConnexxSmartDirect please.

by K9howard

This is my third pair of Costco hearing aids, and my favorite. I’ve worn HAs for nearly 40 years and they just keep getting better. The sound and fit of these is very natural.
ConnexxSmartDirect , however, is sucky. It takes forever to open, it’s not well organized and provides limited functionality - I don’t have volume, base or treble adjustments for each aid independently. The system sounds don’t seem to be working properly as I do not get alerted to low battery AND have had batteries run out when the battery status still shows 1/3 in ConnexxSmartDirect ! If I have Auto Volume turned on in ConnexxSmartDirect it tells me “your device volume is to high”...

The manual is even worse than ConnexxSmartDirect and provides very little info about ConnexxSmartDirect . How do I use the Sound Exposure to my benefit? I also miss the locator functionality I had on my prior hearing aids (gps); please add that!

In summary, I’m happy with the hearing aids but very unhappy with the interface to be able to use them fully. I’m hopeful you will work hard on ConnexxSmartDirect to make it more intuitive to users, with more functionality.

by IIIFM

Really liked ConnexxSmartDirect at first. Everything seemed to work very good for the first six months . However this past weekend my left HA would no longer receive when using the television section. Would only receive in the right ear. Went to Costco and they went through the pairing and showed me how to do it. When I got home still didn’t work. Did the pairing again and still no luck. Contacted Smart Direct in their help section via email and no response from them. Other problems recently have been when I tried to change volume nothing changed. Would like some help from someone.

by Love My Terrain

Used with Kirkland hearing aids. The best part is the ability to pair with phones and use Bluetooth. I also think ConnexxSmartDirect need refinement as suggested by a reviewer. Mine also went in demo mode but I’ve since corrected. It would be nice to make adjustments and have them stay until changed. Once you power down the aids, adjustments go back to a generic setting. For instance I have to use reverb reducer and everytime I power up, I have to choose reverb reducer. It would be nice if the sound quality settings would stay as chosen. They disappear once I choose reverb reducer or choose anything else.

Also there’s a place to rate your experience but exactly what do I do with that? So no feedback from ConnexxSmartDirect itself.

It’s a good product and I rarely have connectivity issues but it’s limited.

by Rickus22

ConnexxSmartDirect works with the newly introduced Costco Kirkland aids and with the newer Rexton aids.
Has split volume control now which is good for adjusting each aid individually. You can adjust the hearing aid pattern which is useful when you want to focus on a specific target like a person or TV.
Has bass and treble slider but this is all one slider. Would like to see individual sliders for bass, midrange and treble. GPS function would be great if you loose an aid or drop it. Overall an improvement over the last app. Unfortunately, I have problems that required me to reset ConnexxSmartDirect many times. It is a software issue.

by RGC3831

I updated my phone to iPhone 11 promax and now it displays a hearing symbol and will not connect to my connex streaming device
I found by deleting all my blue tooth device and installing the streaming app and smart transmitter 2.4 that it improved by 90% less crashes. By installing ConnexxSmartDirect in first place it improved the crashing. But app is not perfect still will come "can't connect with blue tooth" which makes it useless until you close it out and restart it. This usually happens if you get out of range of streaming device

by TimsWifeMary

I’m 35 and have genetic hearing loss. These are my first set of hearing aids (Kirkland 8.0). Being able to use my iPhone to control settings and having phone calls streamed via Bluetooth directly through my hearing aids is fantastic. ConnexxSmartDirect allows me to change direction of the receiver, which is really nice in auditorium settings where I can focus on the speaker and none of the crowd behind me. ConnexxSmartDirect itself is glitchy. It constantly flips into Acoustic Mode or Demo Mode on its own, which affects the sound quality in the hearing aids but I don’t know it’s happened until I get frustrated in conversation and check ConnexxSmartDirect . ConnexxSmartDirect loses connection with one or both hearing aids routinely so I have to restart the hearing aids and app so they can reconnect. ConnexxSmartDirect has great potential but needs lots of fine tuning.

by Fud99

As a new hearing aid wearer I was very glad to learn their was an iPhone app. That would pair with my hearing aids. In my three short weeks I have found that the modes and volume settings are very useful. Very useful is the feature that enable playing music and other audio from the phone to the hearing aids. Another plus is a very quick response by email if one sends feedback from within ConnexxSmartDirect .
What has not been helpful is the frequent random disconnecting of ConnexxSmartDirect from the ear units. The modes also change without notice. Very irritating has been the frequent occurrence of a high pitch dual frequency tone triggered by music played in the music app or on a Game app.
ConnexxSmartDirect. Is important and useful but needs work.

by Husker Has

ConnexxSmartDirect is functional but many glitches. Sometimes volume setting reaches only one hearing aid. When I want to stream music in the car, I turn off Bluetooth control. Maybe works, but just as often it doesn’t. When I switch back on the Bluetooth I always have to reboot my phone and turn off and on the hearing aids. I turn off Bluetooth by putting the aids in airplane mode so sound goes to the car receiver and not to my hearing aids. A real “pain...”.

I may be amending my rating. My bad - I found I had ConnexxSmartDirect in “demo” mode and was therefore not using the with Bluetooth control, so I am now reserving judgment until I am sure I have tried ConnexxSmartDirect properly. My getting old is not helping.

by Fred In NH

ConnexxSmartDirect works great it does all I can expect and my Costco hearing aids are great. The only glitch is I drive a Ford other Sync as the internal Bluetooth. Now that ConnexxSmartDirect is on my phone I can no longer answer the phone from the buttons in the car. Once I hit answer on the phone while driving the car Bluetooth takes over. I was told I am not the only one with the problem. If I shut ConnexxSmartDirect off on my phone the Sync works better. So essentially I need to take my hearing aids out every time I drive my car if I do not want to handle my phone while driving. Pretty much all states have hands free laws so this is a problem.

by VaTechMom

I’ve worn hearing aids for about forty years. This is my first time buying from Costco. Great prices and quality of aid is also great. I’ve had the 8s for about two months....still having them adjusted ....almost got them where I need them. I love having ConnexxSmartDirect on my iPhone 6 and my iPad. I like having individual control over each aid. Like almost everyone else says ConnexxSmartDirect isn’t perfect and needs to be updated. It has a few quirks and the volume will adjust itself sometimes and get way too loud. Other times it will only use acoustic and not Bluetooth. Sometimes only one aid will pick up on iPad.
I’ll keep working with mine, hopefully Rexton will work with ConnexxSmartDirect .
Well, this is two months later. I’m sorry to say I ended up returning the 8s and buying Oticon. I was never able to get 8s to the place I sounded natural. BUT ConnexxSmartDirect is the best! Oticons app isn’t near as advanced.

by Samson1954

I have been using ConnexxSmartDirect for several months now, and have found it works perfectly most of the time with my Apple phone/aids. I seem to have difficulty keeping the signal to the aids sometimes. I have to shutdown my phone, restart, then everything works as intended. I also chose to purchase the tv receiver to listen to the tv with my aids. Thus far everything works ok. Occasionally I have to shut down my phone and restart to get everything connected, but overall ok. I have also had to reconnect my aids to the Bluetooth system to get it all to work. Annoying, but doable. Listening to streaming via Sirius satellite radio is great. I am very impressed with the sound quality. Overall a 4 star rating, because of the reconnecting issues I have had to deal with.

by Daddygrumps

Though they are a handy aid to my aids, ConnexxSmartDirect requires me to spend way to much time getting it to work properly. I believe the biggest single problem is the Bluetooth connectivity. There are to many devices that influence the settings and you either need to turn them off or your aids off for the aids to work correctly. We are a ways off from set and forget and us older folks do not ( and should not have to) want to spend the time to continually get them to work correctly. The aids are fantastic, the application; not so much
They are getting better but have a ways to go. The biggest problem is that Bluetooth connection and control.
They don’t always want to correct or connect. A work in progress.

by Eataxguy

Very easy to set up and get used to. So much more functional and easier to use than the traditional handheld device. The direction control off the aids is GREAT/—yeh difference between holding a conversation in a noisy environment (restaurant, large gatherings, etc) or not being able to understand the person/people in front and nearby. Steering the microphone to directly in front of me darn near eliminates to noise behind and to the sides. Of course that showed the quality of my Rexton aids but being able to control the directionality is FABULOUS. So much better than just switching to the “noisy environment” program.

by Frank(o)

I am using ConnexxSmartDirect with Costco's Signature 8.0 hearing aids. I was blown away by my iTunes streaming music directly to my hearing aids directly from my iPhone 7+. The sound clarity and bass is hard to believe when you first hear it. You can even use iOS’ sound equalizer to output sound tuned to your particular preference. I have ConnexxSmartDirect and the hearing aids enabled on both my iPhone and my iPad, and I can move back-and-forth between devices simply by disabling Bluetooth on the device I am leaving. The sound is not 100% perfect because sometimes I get crackling and pops in the hearing aids when streaming Music or podcasts– not frequently but often enough that I would like to find the cure. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern for when this occurs. Searching the internet indicates the problem might be with my iPhone 7 Plus – the technology built into this iPhone may not be completely compatible. I was using Google Maps the other day and was surprised to hear the GPS directions coming in over my hearing aids. It’s also nice to control music or podcast volume using the iPhone’s volume controls, and you can even use iOS to change the sound output balance when needed from center weighted to heavy in the left or right hearing aid. I am almost deaf in my right ear in certain tones and the ability to hear clearly is amazing. Last night I was hearing birds chirping in nearby trees which I’ve never heard before.

by Ken Sensight

My first hearing aid at age 75. It’s changed the quality of my life. Walking in the woods able to hear the birdies, the stream, and crunching leaves. Watching TV with my wife I stream the TV sound directly into my hearing aids with Bluetooth and my wife can control the remote. I’m listening to music again streaming from my iPhone right into my hearing aids; Janis Joplin, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, and classical too. . . One little improvement should be an indicator like a gas tank showing battery usage: full, 3/4, half. However with Costco’s cheap battery replacements no complaint about that.

by Svtcobra97

I am using the KS ver. 8 hearing aids since mid-November. I have been using aids for over 9 years and these are my 2nd set (my 1st set were Rexton and cost double what these cost. The new features are great; especially the Bluetooth.
I have had very little issue with these aids and ConnexxSmartDirect has made my experience even better. I have had none of the connectivity issues others have reported. ConnexxSmartDirect automatically lets my car system take priority (Ford Sync) when I am in the car.

I have had no issues with it working with my iPhone 6 either. The leave ConnexxSmartDirect open in the background, which eliminates the time it takes to open, with very little impact on my iPhone battery’s charge.
The streaming option with ConnexxSmartDirect, especially using the optional TV streamer, is fantastic. No need to use those “TV Ears” headphones that so many people I know use.

by Justkenz

This is the first time I’ve worn hearing aids. Bought them at Costco, I am confident of the way I was tested, the way my aids were adjusted. I would have to say that with them my hearing is better than when I was 30, mainly because all the adjustments I can make from my iPhone to them. For instance, was in a restaurant and the band was so loud you couldn’t talk. I cut out the back microphones and narrowed the front pick ups and could make out anyone talking at the table simply by looking at them. Also the biggest improvement was in knowing what the other person said. When my wife says I need a heating test, I here that, instead of you need a hairy chest. Plus, both of them cost what others have paid for just one. And they are not just amplifiers. Try them, you may be amazed what you’ve been missing.

by Mystrmuzk

Very nice to have this level of control when it works. As others have said, disconnects at random -sometimes one side, sometimes both, no advance battery warning, freezes, battery levels inaccurate. Love getting phone calls and GPS directly in my ear
Used this with other aids and returned them because I had paid more to get these functions and they were too unreliable and troublesome. Now have latest Costco v8 aids and see similar problems. However this time did not pay extra for the features, so can choose to not use them if too irritating. With improvements, this could be great.