Roku may very well be so significan...

I have been utilizing Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max for the previous few weeks and just lately determined to modify from utilizing it on my TV to my monitor. I had a couple of causes for doing this, however the principle one was having the ability to watch exhibits in 4K at my desk, since most streaming providers do not help 4K high quality on a PC’s net browser. Throughout this course of, I found a characteristic on the Fireplace TV Stick that I hadn’t even realized it had, which I’ve now come to understand very a lot: Bluetooth audio help.

Which means you may pair Bluetooth headphones along with your Fireplace TV Stick, just like the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7 headset I take advantage of, or Apple’s fashionable AirPods, and hearken to exhibits and flicks by way of them as an alternative of your TV or monitor’s audio system. That is particularly useful if you happen to’re utilizing your Fireplace TV Stick in a setup like mine, on a monitor with no audio system, or if you wish to watch TV late at evening with out disturbing others in your family.

However once I instructed my good friend who has a Roku Streaming Stick about this, I used to be shocked to study that Roku’s streaming sticks do not have Bluetooth audio help. This was puzzling to me, particularly since Roku had simply launched two brand-new streaming sticks just lately: the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. How does a streaming system within the 12 months 2025 not natively help Bluetooth audio?

Though Roku presents a Bluetooth Headphone Mode, its official support page notes that it isn’t suitable with the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Specific, and Roku Premiere as a result of they do not have Bluetooth functionality. It was by way of this discovery that I discovered how, in only one easy method, the Amazon Fireplace TV Stick outperforms Roku’s streaming sticks, and it was all due to Bluetooth. Nevertheless, in all equity, some Roku units do help Bluetooth audio, and a workaround is on the market for people who do not.

Roku Streaming Sticks can use Bluetooth headphones with the Roku app

The Roku app has a characteristic referred to as Personal Listening Mode

Since Roku’s streaming sticks do not natively help Bluetooth headphones, there aren’t any settings on the system itself to allow their connection. Which means if in case you have a Roku Streaming Stick and need to hearken to audio from it utilizing Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, the one method to take action is thru your smartphone through the Roku app. This differs from Amazon’s Fireplace TV Sticks, which let you join your Bluetooth headphones on to the system, with out the usage of an app.

That being stated, the Roku app has a setting referred to as Private Listening Mode. This allows you to route the audio out of your Roku follow your smartphone. So, if in case you have earbuds or headphones linked to your telephone, you may hear the Roku’s audio by way of them. Though your headphones aren’t instantly linked to your Roku Streaming Stick through Bluetooth, turning on Personal Listening mode within the Roku app will get across the stick’s lack of Bluetooth audio. If in case you have a Roku system and need to strive Personal Listening Mode, you could find it on the Distant display screen within the app by tapping the Headphone icon.

Notably, some Roku units supply Bluetooth audio help, but it surely’s solely out there on their pricier streaming units, together with sure Roku Extremely fashions, the Roku Choose Sequence TV, the Roku Streambar SE, the Roku Streambar, and the Roku Sensible Soundbar.

Whereas Personal Listening Mode is undoubtedly useful and presents a method for customers to hearken to their Roku stick to Bluetooth headphones, I do not imagine it is pretty much as good because the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation.

Amazon’s Fireplace TV Stick has Roku beat right here

Native Bluetooth audio help is healthier than none

What I like in regards to the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation is its simplicity. Upon studying in regards to the characteristic’s existence, I had it arrange in lower than a minute. All I needed to do was allow Bluetooth pairing on my headset, and so they appeared virtually immediately on my Fireplace TV Stick once I scanned for Bluetooth units to attach. If in case you have a Fireplace TV Stick, you may join your Bluetooth headphones by heading to Settings > Controllers & Bluetooth units.

What I appreciated about that is that I did not have to obtain an app; it simply labored proper out of the field. Whereas Roku’s app workaround is manageable with Personal Listening Mode, I really feel prefer it does not evaluate to the Bluetooth performance of the Fireplace TV Stick. In any case, it is 2025, and Bluetooth has been round for therefore lengthy. Why should not a streaming stick have it natively?

It positively makes the Fireplace TV Stick extra accessible for me, particularly since I take advantage of it proper subsequent to my PC, the place I take advantage of Bluetooth suitable headphones. Roku’s setup requires utilizing three units: your streaming stick, your telephone, and your headphones. In distinction, the Fireplace TV Stick skips the intermediary and solely wants you to allow pairing in your Bluetooth headphones to hook up with your Fireplace TV Stick.

Moreover, I admire that Amazon’s implementation of Bluetooth audio help is constant throughout its whole Fireplace TV Stick lineup. Whether or not you go for the most affordable Fireplace TV Stick HD or the most costly Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max, all of them include Bluetooth audio help.

On the Roku facet, none of its streaming sticks help it. You will want to choose up a Roku Extremely (or the LT variant) to make use of Bluetooth audio natively, with out counting on the Roku app and Personal Listening Mode.

I imagine it is time for Roku so as to add Bluetooth audio help to its streaming sticks. All of Amazon’s current Fireplace TV Sticks have it, so it is about time Roku did, too — with out counting on its app. I have been utilizing my headphones linked to my Fireplace TV Stick (through Bluetooth) and listening to audio from my PC (linked through USB-C) concurrently for a couple of weeks, and the expertise has been improbable. The audio sounds nice, and I did not have to fiddle with an app to make it work. Total, I believe all streaming units ought to help Bluetooth audio, and I do not imagine it is best to should depend on an app to make use of Bluetooth headphones in your streaming stick, and it is only one easy method that I discover Amazon’s Fireplace TV Sticks higher than Roku’s.

For the reason that Fireplace TV Stick helps Bluetooth audio, I have been testing different units to see if in addition they help it, and I used to be shocked to search out that even the PS5 does not have it. That is proper, Amazon’s Fireplace TV Stick has a characteristic that even a $500 console lacks. The Swap 2 does help Bluetooth audio, so not less than Nintendo will get a win there, and I’ve discovered it fairly helpful for utilizing my Swap 2 at my desk whereas I am close to my PC.