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Yeah. Bluetooth sucks. It has sucked for as long as it has existed, and I don’t see that changing any time soon, if ever. I’m sorry to say it, but welcome to t

Yeah. Bluetooth sucks. It has sucked for as long as it has existed, and I don’t see that changing any time soon, if ever. I’m sorry to say it, but welcome to the future of wireless audio.

ddingus 5y ago
Clear startup opportunity? Seriously. More of us would jump on board if it were not Bluetooth.
- weberer 5y ago
  I've had really good experience with the SteelSeries Arctis 7. It uses some kind of low latency 2.4GHz protocol, but requires a USB transmitter dongle.
  - ddingus 5y ago
    Interesting. I should look those over just to understand what is out there.
- raydev 5y ago
  Apple has pretty much solved all Bluetooth problems in their AirPods and Beats lines.
  - ddingus 5y ago
    No, they haven't. Comments are here and elsewhere, easy to see. Apple has done well, make no mistake. I applaud them for that. But the fundemental issues remain, despite what appears to be a solid effort.
thrashh 5y ago
Apple’s BT has actually been pretty solid for me. My AirPods Pros work rally well with my iPhone, Macbook Pro and Windows laptop. I can switch easily and it already is connected to my last device when I put the AirPods in my ear.
- herbst 5y ago
  Imagine my Sennheisers working perfectly well with my phone, laptop, computer and even the 20y old radio on my toilet. No connection issues at all, even on busy places. Just plug the wire and enjoy the very best music quality. It must be only me who doesn't care about a wire for all the added bonus like quality, stability and no battery.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Definitely not just you. I use a pair of noise cancelling headphones for music practice and they are always plugged in.
grishka 5y ago
Being a software developer, I keep seeing bluetooth audio as a Rube Goldberg machine. It's using a battery that you have to keep charged, a lot of software, multiple CPUs, lossy codecs, forward error correction, and an entire stack of mind-bogglingly complex protocols (that no one has ever implemented 100% correctly) that run over an inherently unreliable medium so what? So you don't have to untangle the wire? It never made sense to me. I've never really taken bluetooth seriously. To me, it's a tradeoff that I just don't see ever making. I don't trust software this much. I also prefer something that's easy to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
- saagarjha 5y ago
  Wait until you see how Wi-Fi and cellular work.
  - grishka 5y ago
    I know how Wi-Fi works, and how it sometimes doesn't, and this is why I'm using ethernet whenever possible. Cellular operates in a much more controlled environment with more stringent certification, it's much more reliable for me than anything 2.4 GHz, but it does still get frustrating at times. The lack of requirement of a low delay also helps both wifi and cellular I guess.
    - xeyownt 5y ago
      Exactly. If I had to score reliability, I would give 1 to WiFi, 10 to Bluetooth, one million to cellular and ten million to cable. It's incredible how much better cellular works compared to other wireless "techno", but nothing replaces a cable.
- aksss 5y ago
  Yet BT just “works” hitting 80% of expectations, 80% of the time. That’s why the solutions sell.
acomjean 5y ago
I have headphones with Bluetooth and a cable (Sony). I never use the Bluetooth. My use case is listening at work though. Bluetooth seemed to work ok when I tested it, but didn’t confer any significant advantage for me.

Yeah. Bluetooth sucks. It has sucked for as long as it has existed, and I don’t see that changing any time soon, if ever. I’m sorry to say it, but welcome to the future of wireless audio.

ddingus 5y ago

Clear startup opportunity? Seriously. More of us would jump on board if it were not Bluetooth.

weberer 5y ago
I've had really good experience with the SteelSeries Arctis 7. It uses some kind of low latency 2.4GHz protocol, but requires a USB transmitter dongle.
- ddingus 5y ago
  Interesting. I should look those over just to understand what is out there.
raydev 5y ago
Apple has pretty much solved all Bluetooth problems in their AirPods and Beats lines.
- ddingus 5y ago
  No, they haven't. Comments are here and elsewhere, easy to see. Apple has done well, make no mistake. I applaud them for that. But the fundemental issues remain, despite what appears to be a solid effort.

thrashh 5y ago

Apple’s BT has actually been pretty solid for me. My AirPods Pros work rally well with my iPhone, Macbook Pro and Windows laptop. I can switch easily and it already is connected to my last device when I put the AirPods in my ear.

herbst 5y ago
Imagine my Sennheisers working perfectly well with my phone, laptop, computer and even the 20y old radio on my toilet. No connection issues at all, even on busy places. Just plug the wire and enjoy the very best music quality. It must be only me who doesn't care about a wire for all the added bonus like quality, stability and no battery.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Definitely not just you. I use a pair of noise cancelling headphones for music practice and they are always plugged in.

grishka 5y ago

Being a software developer, I keep seeing bluetooth audio as a Rube Goldberg machine. It's using a battery that you have to keep charged, a lot of software, multiple CPUs, lossy codecs, forward error correction, and an entire stack of mind-bogglingly complex protocols (that no one has ever implemented 100% correctly) that run over an inherently unreliable medium so what? So you don't have to untangle the wire? It never made sense to me. I've never really taken bluetooth seriously. To me, it's a tradeoff that I just don't see ever making. I don't trust software this much. I also prefer something that's easy to troubleshoot when things go wrong.

saagarjha 5y ago
Wait until you see how Wi-Fi and cellular work.
- grishka 5y ago
  I know how Wi-Fi works, and how it sometimes doesn't, and this is why I'm using ethernet whenever possible. Cellular operates in a much more controlled environment with more stringent certification, it's much more reliable for me than anything 2.4 GHz, but it does still get frustrating at times. The lack of requirement of a low delay also helps both wifi and cellular I guess.
  - xeyownt 5y ago
    Exactly. If I had to score reliability, I would give 1 to WiFi, 10 to Bluetooth, one million to cellular and ten million to cable. It's incredible how much better cellular works compared to other wireless "techno", but nothing replaces a cable.
aksss 5y ago
Yet BT just “works” hitting 80% of expectations, 80% of the time. That’s why the solutions sell.

acomjean 5y ago

I have headphones with Bluetooth and a cable (Sony). I never use the Bluetooth. My use case is listening at work though. Bluetooth seemed to work ok when I tested it, but didn’t confer any significant advantage for me.