Windows 11 Preview Now Supports Bluetooth Headphones
If you're a Windows Insider, you might be interested in the latest preview build of Windows 11 which was released yesterday. This build, numbered 22494, brings several improvements and bug fixes, but also a new feature that many users have been waiting for: support for Bluetooth headphones.
Bluetooth hearing aids are devices that connect wirelessly to your smartphone, tablet, or computer and amplify sound for people with hearing loss. They can also stream music, phone calls, and other types of audio directly to your ears. However, not all Bluetooth headphones are compatible with Windows 10, and some users have reported issues with pairing, sound quality, and battery life.
That's why Microsoft has been working hard to improve the Bluetooth headset experience in Windows 11. In this preview, they added a new setting to the Sound page of the Settings app that lets you pair and manage your Bluetooth headsets more easily. You can also adjust the volume and balance of each hearing aid separately and choose which audio sources you want to stream to your hearing aids.
To use this feature, you must have a Bluetooth headset that supports the LE Audio standard, which is a new specification that improves the performance and functionality of Bluetooth audio devices. You also need to have a Bluetooth adapter that supports LE Audio on your PC. Microsoft says they are working with headphone manufacturers and Bluetooth providers to ensure compatibility and reliability.
If you want to try this feature, you need to join the Windows Insider program and opt for the development channel, which is where the more experimental versions are released. Please note that these builds are not stable and may contain bugs and issues that affect the performance and security of your PC. You should only install them on a secondary device or virtual machine, and always back up your data before updating.
We think this is a great feature that will make Windows 11 more accessible and inclusive for people with hearing loss. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Modern hearing aids are impressive little devices that pair seamlessly with phones and tablets via Bluetooth Low Energy to give their users unlimited access to digital audio. Windows laptops and desktops have fallen behind in this area, but Microsoft is correcting that with the latest Windows 11 Insider build, 25977 Canary. While Windows has supported Bluetooth for more than 20 years, it's the addition of Low Energy in May that makes connecting to durable, high-end headphones possible.
According to Windows Insider's blog post (spotted by The Verge), Bluetooth LE support is coming to "a growing device market in the coming months." If your specific laptop or desktop supports it, it's probably due to the specific Bluetooth radio included in the hardware: some generic Bluetooth chips support low power mode even without specifying it in the spec list, while others do not. A USB adapter should be able to add the capability if your PC's internal Bluetooth doesn't already have it. The ability to adjust audio presets in aids directly within Windows is planned for a future update.
Windows 11 Insider Canary Build 25977 also includes improvements to app-by-app location privacy settings, SMB over QUIC for remotely managed machines, and the usual UI tweaks and bug fixes. As always, when these features will arrive in the release version of Windows 11 is a question mark, depending on Microsoft's testing procedures and user feedback.