Bluetooth Headphones for simultaneous use with an Apple Watch and iPhone

By Sam N, 15 January, 2017

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hello! I just got an Apple Watch Series 2 for the holidays, and I'm noticing that, at the gym, it's hard to hear my watch feedback. I would like to buy some BT headphones that will channel both my Apple Watch and my iPhone concurrently. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm very active and travel a lot, so if they are good for sports and fairly rugged while being able to hear environmental sounds reasonably well are a plus. I know that's asking for a lot, but, I figure, if I ask for the whole pie and only get half, I'll be pretty happy. Anyway! Let me know. Thank you.

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Comments

By Igna Triay on Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 03:38

Try the bose quiet comfort 35, I have them connected to my iPhone and mac, and I can switch to both devices with no problem

By Ibrahim Gucukoglu on Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 03:38

In reply to by Igna Triay

Hi.

I recently acquired a set of apple AirPods and while I don't own an Apple Watch, they are ideal for this purpose as they seamlessly switch between your iPhone and watch depending on what device you're using. The added bonus is that they don't block out surrounding sound too much of an extent, so you're still able to keep an ear out on what's happening around you. If they don't take your fancy, you'll need a pair of Bleutooth headphones with Multipoint connection support, something like the Plantronics BackBeat rang or headphones from manufacturers like Bose, depending on your budget and environmental considerations IE where you plan to use them. Hope this helps.

By Sam N on Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 03:38

In reply to by Ibrahim Gucukoglu

Oh, cool. I'll have to check into the Plantronics and the Bose options. I don't like a lot of the news and reviews I've been hearing about the Airpods. I wish places had try before you buy options. I have purchased and returned so many so called sports BT headphones with good reviews that didn't quite match what I want, and now with me wanting to hear music from my phone, and the feedback from my watch at the same time, that multipoint just makes what I'm looking for that much more tricky and even unlikely. Thanks for the leads, though. I'll follow-up on them, for sure.

By Jesse Anderson on Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 03:38

there are several headsets that support pairing to multiple devices, but I don't think there are any that can play audio from two sources at once. For instance, you can't listen to music on your phone while using VoiceOver on your iPad or watch.

usually, you can pair with multiple devices, but can only listen to one device at a time. I have a pair, the Backbeat Sense, that pairs to 2 devices at once. Basically, you have to stop all audio, and then whatever device you start using, is the one the headset switches to. I've used this with my iPad Pro and iPhone.

I wouldn't recommend the Backbeat Sense if you intend to use VoiceOver a lot though. It sounds fine, but there is a fair bit of audio lag, which can be quite annoying, especially when entering text with the on-screen keyboard. You may want to look for something that supports Bluetooth 4.1, as I think some of the lag issues might not be as bad with those headsets.

By Sam N on Sunday, January 22, 2017 - 03:38

In reply to by Jesse Anderson

Jesse: I was kind of thinking asking for two audio sources at once might be a bit much. I imagine that would kill the headset's battery life pretty quick. I'm a heavy vo user, but I do braille screen input, which I can see lag impacting, too. Well, these are good tips from you and others. I'll try finding 4.1 multipoint sport headphones and be aggressive about returning things if I don't like it. I'll keep coming back here to see if anyone has found the holy grail, but, if not, I'll let you all know which ones I ultimately settle on.