Shopping for a Bluetooth adapter for your PC or gaming console but not sure which one you need? Not to worry. As experts of the Bluetooth adapter field, we’re here to help.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to the different types of Bluetooth USB adapters so you don’t spend money on the wrong device.
Audio USB Bluetooth Dongle
By their name, these are strictly for audio use. If you're ONLY going to connect Bluetooth headphones or Bluetooth speakers, these are the ones that you should go with.
Bluetooth audio USB adapters are generally optimized to give you better sound quality. They’ll work with anything that can output audio through its USB ports, and they usually do not require any driver software installation.
The Bluetooth connection occurs “outside” of your audio device, so you won’t see any “Bluetooth icon” appearing on your PC or laptop.
All you need to do is plug the adapter in. Pair it with your Bluetooth headphone or speaker, and select the adapter as your audio device in your settings menu.
One thing to note is that these adapters don’t always activate your microphone automatically so you may need to “double click” to manually switch it into conversation mode.
Furthermore, due to current Bluetooth technology constraints, the audio quality may drop to 8-bit Mono when you use it for in-game chats, hence we don’t recommend using this for games that involve conversations.
Bluetooth USB audio adapters often come with extra features such as the ability to connect two Bluetooth headphones at the same time or aptX Low Latency support.
"Full" External Bluetooth USB Drive
While they are full "Bluetooth Drives", they do still come in the form of USB Adapter. With this type of adapter, you’ll essentially be “adding” a Bluetooth drive onto your PC.
If you’d like to connect non-audio devices such as keyboards or gaming controllers, or if you'd like to transfer data from another Bluetooth device, these are the ones for you. They can also work with headphones or speakers, they just won’t sound as good as audio adapters.
However, please note that these may only work on certain Windows versions, and they almost always require some driver software installation. We don't recommend going with these unless you have to.
Please check carefully on the listing before you make the purchase.
If you prefer learning through video, here's one that should help:
If you're still not sure, please feel free to contact us at support@avantree.com, we'll do our best to help. With our 20+ years of experience in the Bluetooth field, we can definitely assist you in many ways.
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