Galaxy Z Flip 4 draining bluetooth device.

[Ryckiej]

I recently purchased the new Galaxy Z Flip 4 and, for the most part, I love it. However, I'm having a particular problem with my hearing aids. I had them paired on my Galaxy S20 and they worked great. I could listen to music for a couple hours and watch a movie at night and at the end of the day, I still had 40% battery left. With the new phone, it is draining the battery. Even if I do nothing except let the hearing aids do what they are supposed to do (help me hear), they will still be dead by 8:00. Any ideas wehre I should look for solutions?

I recently bought the ne Galaxy Z Flip 4 and am having some trouble with the bluetooth. I have my hearing aids connected for music and calls. With my Galaxy S20, I could listen to a couple hours of music and watch a movie and still have 30 to 40% battery left at the end of the day. With the Flip 4, my hearing aids are dead by 8 pm, even if I do absolutely nothing. I'd love some suggestions as to where to look to correct this.

 

[Laura Knotek]

How long have you had these hearing aids? It sounds like they're rechargeable by your description. If not, then please let us know.

Rechargeable hearing aids use lithium batteries like phones. Your hearing aids may need new batteries if they are more than 2 years old. You may need new hearing aids if they are more than 3-5 years old. I'd recommend making an appointment with your audiologist.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Interesting... I suspect Laura may be correct, but have you tried unpairing and reconnecting them? If they have an app you could try clearing it's data and uninstalling and reinstalling it as well...

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Duplicate threads merged.

You can also try resetting the hearing aids, and then going through the pairing process again.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to AC!
[I moved this to the Z flip 4 Forums]

 

[Ryckiej]

Thanks. Yes, the hearing aids are rechargeable and are 1 year old. They worked perfectly with my Galaxy S20 and also if I unpair them, they will still have 40% battery life at the end of the day. Only after I connected them to the Flip 4 did the battery life become a problem. I suspect that an app in the Flip 4 is constantly either looking for, or sending signals to the hearing aids, making them burn battery. Is there a way to see what apps are using bluetooth & how much they are using it?

 

[Ryckiej]

By "resetting the hearing aids" are you wanting me to unpair and then pair again? This also was done.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Have you checked if there are any updates to the hearing aid app? You also may want to check with your audiologist to see if there are any firmware updates for your hearing aids.

 

[B. Diddy]

By "resetting the hearing aids" are you wanting me to unpair and then pair again? This also was done.

No, I mean a full reset of the hearing aids. This is typically possible for earphones, so I assume it's also possible for hearing aids. What brand and model number are they?

 

[Ryckiej]

Thanks, Laura. There were updates to the hearing aid app. I have not asked about the firmware updates, but it's a definite possibility that I can check on. Let me give everyone a little more info about how their app works. It's pretty much a dedicated app that only monitors & adjusts the hearing aids. You will see both the right & left hearing aids show up in the list of connected devices, but the only way to access those connected devices is through the app. Back to the list of connected devices is also a second listing for the right hearing aid. This one is connected for music & phone and is the one that dies after 14 hours. If I unpair this aid, then both the right & left will expire at the same rate, down to around 30-40% by bedtime. When I got the Flip 4, I transferred everything from the S20, and as I mentioned before, everything worked on that phone. Don't get me wrong, I like the Flip 4, but would like it more if I could leave the hearing aids paired so I could utilize the full use of my hearing aids with the phone. As it is now, they are not paired with the phone, other than the pairing done for the app to monitor & adjust.

Update - there are no firmware updates for the hearing aid. The manufacturer suggests seeing if the phone has Bluetooth Low Energy. I tried to see how to check, but can't seem to figure it out.

 

[Ryckiej]

Thanks for all of your help - I was able to find the solution. With the Flip 4, there is a separate bluetooth connection just for hearing aids. go to settings & search for hearing aids. You should find it there - then just connect through that and it sets up your hearing aids in BLE. They work great and no excessive battery drain.

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for all of your help - I was able to find the solution. With the Flip 4, there is a separate bluetooth connection just for hearing aids. go to settings & search for hearing aids. You should find it there - then just connect through that and it sets up your hearing aids in BLE. They work great and no excessive battery drain.

Excellent, thanks for the update! I'm sure it'll help anyone else with similar issues on this forum.

 

[B. Diddy]

How are you able to make good staff for it so fast :0

I haven't changed any of the settings you've mentioned here. I'm going to try to do some of these tips and see how it goes...

Welcome to Android Central! What do you mean by "able to make good staff for it so fast"?

Are you having the exact same issue as the OP?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Thanks for all of your help - I was able to find the solution. With the Flip 4, there is a separate bluetooth connection just for hearing aids. go to settings & search for hearing aids. You should find it there - then just connect through that and it sets up your hearing aids in BLE. They work great and no excessive battery drain.

I'm glad you got it sorted.

 

[Ryckiej]

Bad news - what I thought had solved the problem was not a fix. I'm still having a problem with my phone draining the battery on the right hearing aid.
Is it possible that my phone is pinging the hearing aid to try to determine it's location? I'm just spitballing here. For some reason, it seems to be more prevalent after noon. If I watch the battery indicator, both aids seem to drain at the same rate, usually sitting around 75-80% at noon, then by 2:30, the left aid is still sitting around 75% and the right one will have dropped to 60%.

 

[RjayH]

My rechargeable hearing aid batteries lasted all day (5am to 10pm) everyday with my old android phone but now I purchased the Z Flip 4 last week and everyday since my RH hearing aid battery goes completely dead by 7pm. LH hearing aid still has 50%. Hearing aids are not the problem.
Can anyone tell me what I can do maybe in some settings that will stop it from draining my battery other than what has been mentioned in this forum?

 

[Ryckiej]

While I feel your pain, I'm glad that I'm not the only one having this issue.

After going through Verizon & Samsung several times, trying to find a solution (to no avail), I went back to my hearing aid company and they came to the determination that the new version of bluetooth on the Flip 4 is causing the hearing aid to work harder to maintain its pairing. They are working with the manufacturer (Unitron & Phonak) to find a solution as soon as possible.