5 ms·

Glad to see Samsung bucking the trend. I want to use the same earphones on my laptop, desktop and my mobile without fiddling with different connectors.

pasta 9y ago
Isn't this what the promise of BlueTooth is? No connector at all but connects to everything. But no headphoneless smartphone for me. I love my (Audio-Technica) headphone.
- lawlessone 9y ago
  I don't want to have to use a separate battery for my headphones or waste phone battery on powering a Bluetooth radio.
- pjc50 9y ago
  > connects to everything Except when it doesn't. Or you left it paired to the wrong thing, which results in a lot of comedy bluetooth speaker moments. (It's only recently that the industry converged on BTLE that actually worked on both Apple and non-Apple devices)
- jjevanoorschot 9y ago
  It could be, but e.g. Apple has implemented their own bluetooth chip that makes stuff like pairing easier. While super convenient, it shows that the wireless headphone market will probably be somewhat divided, while headphones used to be universal.
- squid_ca 9y ago
  My experience with BlueTooth devices has been sub-optimal. They never seem to connect "cleanly" and always involve some degree of turning the device off and on again, turning BT on the computer off and on again, trying both in a different order, trying to figure out the magical combination of buttons to press on the device to get it to try to "re-pair", etc. I have had this problem with multiple devices and multiple computers. And then, yes, if it does connect, the quality is poor. All I want to do is use the solution that simply and easily works for me and CONTINUES to work and isn't being replaced for what seems to be a money-making opportunity.
  - madeofpalk 9y ago
    > And then, yes, if it does connect, the quality is poor. I'm doubtful that the problem is the protocol/connection method, but rather components and pricing. Bluetooth headphones are inhertentily more expensive, so there's less 'budget' for higher quality audio components, or the priorities are different.
    - lozenge 9y ago
      Bluetooth was originally for phone-level quality and it has taken a while for devices to support higher quality codecs.
  - jorvi 9y ago
    What you are describing is exactly what Apple’s W1 chip does. Pair once with any of your iDevices, and you can then switch sources with a one or two taps/clicks. Of course this requires you to be firmly in the Apple ecosystem, and the AirPods are deficient in both audio quality and noise isolation, but the ‘ease-of-use’ problem has been solved.
  - Scea91 9y ago
    I have the same experience with many Bluetooth devices, but I have to say that my Bose QC35 headphones are almost flawless. Definitely one of the greatest things I ever bought. They even handle gracefully playing music from my laptop and when I shut it down, they automatically reconnect to my phone without any interaction. This sounds simple but I've had many pains with similar stuff with previous devices.
    - kabes 9y ago
      Strange, cause the QC30/35 is known to have pairing problems when pairing using bluetooth LE enabled. https://askubuntu.com/questions/833322/pair-bose-quietcomfort-35-with-ubuntu-over-bluetooth https://askubuntu.com/questions/833322/pair-bose-quietcomfor...
      - Kayou 9y ago
- gambiting 9y ago
  If you connect your bluetooth headphones to your phone, tablet and laptop, you're going to have a pretty bad time, as changing connected devices with no user interface is always a massive pain. Also, general issue with bluetooth headphones - you know that tiny microscopic battery in them? Yeah, that's going to die at some point, and then you need to buy a new pair.
  - a254613e 9y ago
    >If you connect your bluetooth headphones to your phone, tablet and laptop, you're going to have a pretty bad time I don't know. I think it depends a lot on the devices you have. I have Bose QC35 headphones, and use them every day with my work and personal macbook, and my iPhone. The connections are completely seamless. Here's how it's usually for me: I turn them on at home, they automatically connect to my iPhone and macbook. I usually play music (spotify) on my laptop, when I leave for work I just open spotify on my phone and select "listen on this phone" and they automatically switch audio input. When I come into work the headphones automatically connect to my work laptop and I can continue playing spotify there. All of these connections take a second or two. In case I get a call the audio input/output automatically changes to my phone and I can take the call, and switches back when I'm done. Plus I get about 15-20 hours of music listening time with one charge. So charging them isn't a big deal either.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - gambiting 9y ago
      It's great that hear that Bose has it sorted out, but it's usually not the case - all bluetooth headphones I tried so far can only stay connected to one device at the time, even if they can remember multiple pairings. So if I switch them on and both my phone and my laptop are nearby, it's a pure lottery which one is going to connect to them - and then I have to manually disable bluetooth on one device to make it connect to the other. It's just a massive pain in the ass to use.
      - 9y ago
- MereInterest 9y ago
  It works only if you use each peripheral with a single device, and never switch. For example, I have a decent over-the-ears Bluetooth headset. I like to use it with my work laptop, to listen to music, with my home computer, for VoIP, and with my phone, for making phone calls. Re-pairing takes ten minutes of restarting headphones, reconnecting on the computer/phone, and repeating until the stars align and the devices recognize each other. For a wired connection, I would unplug from one device and plug into the other. If Bluetooth pairing could be easy, then it might be a replacement for wired connections. Until then, it is a highly situational protocol.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
nradov 9y ago
And I want to use those same headphones with airplane seat back entertainment systems. Those will probably never support Bluetooth.
- robin_reala 9y ago
  They’re going away in general as airlines look to save weight and slim seatbacks, and recognise that the vast majority of people have a portable entertainment device with them.
  - nataz 9y ago
    That may have been a brief trend on domestic flights with older airframes, but that isn't the general aviation trend. The last thing you want is more lithium batteries charging and discharging on a long flight over the ocean.
    - lumisota 9y ago
      How does this fit with the trend of carriers adding WiFi?
      - mi100hael 9y ago
        The WiFi on planes is satellite and something like 256 Kbps with extreme latency. It works fine for light web browsing and email, but it's unusable for video streaming. Your options are to pre-load entertainment or watch what the plane has pre-loaded in the seat-back entertainment screens.
        ryanwaggoner 9y ago
        This is changing. Gogo has new technology that’s supposed to be up to 100 mb/s, though I’m sure real-world will be lower.
    - Frondo 9y ago
      A few months ago I flew across the pacific. I'd say half the passengers watched something on their own devices. That ship, of fewer devices, has sailed.
Angostura 9y ago
Presumably all those devices have Bluetooth?

pasta 9y ago

Isn't this what the promise of BlueTooth is? No connector at all but connects to everything. But no headphoneless smartphone for me. I love my (Audio-Technica) headphone.

lawlessone 9y ago
I don't want to have to use a separate battery for my headphones or waste phone battery on powering a Bluetooth radio.
pjc50 9y ago
> connects to everything Except when it doesn't. Or you left it paired to the wrong thing, which results in a lot of comedy bluetooth speaker moments. (It's only recently that the industry converged on BTLE that actually worked on both Apple and non-Apple devices)
jjevanoorschot 9y ago
It could be, but e.g. Apple has implemented their own bluetooth chip that makes stuff like pairing easier. While super convenient, it shows that the wireless headphone market will probably be somewhat divided, while headphones used to be universal.
squid_ca 9y ago
My experience with BlueTooth devices has been sub-optimal. They never seem to connect "cleanly" and always involve some degree of turning the device off and on again, turning BT on the computer off and on again, trying both in a different order, trying to figure out the magical combination of buttons to press on the device to get it to try to "re-pair", etc. I have had this problem with multiple devices and multiple computers. And then, yes, if it does connect, the quality is poor. All I want to do is use the solution that simply and easily works for me and CONTINUES to work and isn't being replaced for what seems to be a money-making opportunity.
- madeofpalk 9y ago
  > And then, yes, if it does connect, the quality is poor. I'm doubtful that the problem is the protocol/connection method, but rather components and pricing. Bluetooth headphones are inhertentily more expensive, so there's less 'budget' for higher quality audio components, or the priorities are different.
  - lozenge 9y ago
    Bluetooth was originally for phone-level quality and it has taken a while for devices to support higher quality codecs.
- jorvi 9y ago
  What you are describing is exactly what Apple’s W1 chip does. Pair once with any of your iDevices, and you can then switch sources with a one or two taps/clicks. Of course this requires you to be firmly in the Apple ecosystem, and the AirPods are deficient in both audio quality and noise isolation, but the ‘ease-of-use’ problem has been solved.
- Scea91 9y ago
  I have the same experience with many Bluetooth devices, but I have to say that my Bose QC35 headphones are almost flawless. Definitely one of the greatest things I ever bought. They even handle gracefully playing music from my laptop and when I shut it down, they automatically reconnect to my phone without any interaction. This sounds simple but I've had many pains with similar stuff with previous devices.
  - kabes 9y ago
    Strange, cause the QC30/35 is known to have pairing problems when pairing using bluetooth LE enabled. https://askubuntu.com/questions/833322/pair-bose-quietcomfort-35-with-ubuntu-over-bluetooth https://askubuntu.com/questions/833322/pair-bose-quietcomfor...
    - Kayou 9y ago
gambiting 9y ago
If you connect your bluetooth headphones to your phone, tablet and laptop, you're going to have a pretty bad time, as changing connected devices with no user interface is always a massive pain. Also, general issue with bluetooth headphones - you know that tiny microscopic battery in them? Yeah, that's going to die at some point, and then you need to buy a new pair.
- a254613e 9y ago
  >If you connect your bluetooth headphones to your phone, tablet and laptop, you're going to have a pretty bad time I don't know. I think it depends a lot on the devices you have. I have Bose QC35 headphones, and use them every day with my work and personal macbook, and my iPhone. The connections are completely seamless. Here's how it's usually for me: I turn them on at home, they automatically connect to my iPhone and macbook. I usually play music (spotify) on my laptop, when I leave for work I just open spotify on my phone and select "listen on this phone" and they automatically switch audio input. When I come into work the headphones automatically connect to my work laptop and I can continue playing spotify there. All of these connections take a second or two. In case I get a call the audio input/output automatically changes to my phone and I can take the call, and switches back when I'm done. Plus I get about 15-20 hours of music listening time with one charge. So charging them isn't a big deal either.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - gambiting 9y ago
    It's great that hear that Bose has it sorted out, but it's usually not the case - all bluetooth headphones I tried so far can only stay connected to one device at the time, even if they can remember multiple pairings. So if I switch them on and both my phone and my laptop are nearby, it's a pure lottery which one is going to connect to them - and then I have to manually disable bluetooth on one device to make it connect to the other. It's just a massive pain in the ass to use.
    - 9y ago
MereInterest 9y ago
It works only if you use each peripheral with a single device, and never switch. For example, I have a decent over-the-ears Bluetooth headset. I like to use it with my work laptop, to listen to music, with my home computer, for VoIP, and with my phone, for making phone calls. Re-pairing takes ten minutes of restarting headphones, reconnecting on the computer/phone, and repeating until the stars align and the devices recognize each other. For a wired connection, I would unplug from one device and plug into the other. If Bluetooth pairing could be easy, then it might be a replacement for wired connections. Until then, it is a highly situational protocol.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

nradov 9y ago

And I want to use those same headphones with airplane seat back entertainment systems. Those will probably never support Bluetooth.

robin_reala 9y ago
They’re going away in general as airlines look to save weight and slim seatbacks, and recognise that the vast majority of people have a portable entertainment device with them.
- nataz 9y ago
  That may have been a brief trend on domestic flights with older airframes, but that isn't the general aviation trend. The last thing you want is more lithium batteries charging and discharging on a long flight over the ocean.
  - lumisota 9y ago
    How does this fit with the trend of carriers adding WiFi?
    - mi100hael 9y ago
      The WiFi on planes is satellite and something like 256 Kbps with extreme latency. It works fine for light web browsing and email, but it's unusable for video streaming. Your options are to pre-load entertainment or watch what the plane has pre-loaded in the seat-back entertainment screens.
      - ryanwaggoner 9y ago
        This is changing. Gogo has new technology that’s supposed to be up to 100 mb/s, though I’m sure real-world will be lower.
  - Frondo 9y ago
    A few months ago I flew across the pacific. I'd say half the passengers watched something on their own devices. That ship, of fewer devices, has sailed.

Angostura 9y ago

Presumably all those devices have Bluetooth?