Roku could possibly be so a lot better if it copied this Fireplace Stick function

I have been utilizing Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max for the previous few weeks and lately determined to change from utilizing it on my TV to my monitor. I had just a few causes for doing this, however the primary 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 internet browser. Throughout this course of, I found a function 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.

Meaning you possibly can pair Bluetooth headphones along with your Fireplace TV Stick, just like the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7 headset I take advantage of, or Apple’s in style AirPods, and take heed to exhibits and films by means of them as a substitute of your TV or monitor’s audio system. That is particularly helpful should you’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 after I informed my pal who has a Roku Streaming Stick about this, I used to be shocked to study that Roku’s streaming sticks haven’t got Bluetooth audio help. This was puzzling to me, particularly since Roku had simply launched two brand-new streaming sticks lately: the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. How does a streaming machine within the 12 months 2025 not natively help Bluetooth audio?

Though Roku provides a Bluetooth Headphone Mode, its official support page notes that it is not appropriate with the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Specific, and Roku Premiere as a result of they do not have Bluetooth functionality. It was by means of this discovery that I realized how, in only one easy method, the Amazon Fireplace TV Stick outperforms Roku’s streaming sticks, and it was all because of Bluetooth. Nevertheless, in all equity, some Roku units do help Bluetooth audio, and a workaround is obtainable for people who do not.

Roku Streaming Sticks can use Bluetooth headphones with the Roku app

The Roku app has a function known as Personal Listening Mode

Since Roku’s streaming sticks do not natively help Bluetooth headphones, there aren’t any settings on the machine itself to allow their connection. Meaning when you have a Roku Streaming Stick and wish to take heed 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 machine, with out the usage of an app.

That being stated, the Roku app has a setting known as Private Listening Mode. This allows you to route the audio out of your Roku persist with your smartphone. So, when you have earbuds or headphones related to your telephone, you possibly can hear the Roku’s audio by means of them. Though your headphones aren’t straight related 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. You probably have a Roku machine and wish to strive Personal Listening Mode, you’ll find it on the Distant display within the app by tapping the Headphone icon.

Notably, some Roku units supply Bluetooth audio help, however it’s solely accessible 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 helpful and provides a method for customers to take heed to their Roku keep on with 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 best than none

What I like concerning the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation is its simplicity. Upon studying concerning the function’s existence, I had it arrange in lower than a minute. All I needed to do was allow Bluetooth pairing on my headset, they usually appeared nearly immediately on my Fireplace TV Stick after I scanned for Bluetooth units to attach. You probably have a Fireplace TV Stick, you possibly can 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 would not evaluate to the Bluetooth performance of the Fireplace TV Stick. In spite of everything, it is 2025, and Bluetooth has been round for thus 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 appropriate 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 connect with your Fireplace TV Stick.

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

On the Roku facet, none of its streaming sticks help it. You may 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 latest 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 related to my Fireplace TV Stick (through Bluetooth) and listening to audio from my PC (related through USB-C) concurrently for just a few weeks, and the expertise has been unbelievable. The audio sounds nice, and I did not have to fiddle with an app to make it work. General, I feel all streaming units ought to help Bluetooth audio, and I do not imagine it’s best to need to 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 stunned to seek out that even the PS5 would not have it. That is proper, Amazon’s Fireplace TV Stick has a function that even a $500 console lacks. The Swap 2 does help Bluetooth audio, so at the very least 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.