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Apple Watch and Bluetooth Headphones

noobinator

noobinator

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 19, 2009
7,392
7,090
Los Angeles, CA
Can the Apple Watch be used at the same time as Bluetooth Headphones? I just got my watch and am trying to use my Skullcandy bluetooth headphones and whenever they are connected at the same time as the watch they keep disconnecting and reconnecting. They won't stay connected. Maybe I'm just dumb and it's obvious these 2 can't be used together but that would really suck!
 
Other Bluetooth devices should not effect your Apple Watch connection. There is something wrong if that is the case. I wonder if the headphones are switching connection from your phone to your watch.
 
BradWould said:
Other Bluetooth devices should not effect your Apple Watch connection. There is something wrong if that is the case. I wonder if the headphones are switching connection from your phone to your watch.
Click to expand...

I wonder what there solution is if that is the case? They won't stay connected at all and when they are they cut in and out.
 
This could be issue with bluetooth headset, or iPhone, or AW, when in multi-link mode.
I have several bluetooth headset, sony, beats, LG, all of them drop/re-connect when use in multi-links mode with iPhone and AW.
It is very annoying when listening to music and it drop in middle of music, even once.
I just use single-link mode and switch between them when needed. Work great after.
 
My Beats Studio Wireless work fine paired to my 6+ along with my watch.

In addition, I have a cheap pair of BT earbuds that I have paired to my Watch for working out... That works just fine too.
 
noobinator said:
I wonder what there solution is if that is the case? They won't stay connected at all and when they are they cut in and out.
Click to expand...
Just as a test, if the same headphones are paired with the watch and iPhone, forget the device on your phone and see if it cuts out.

When I go for a run, I leave my iPhone at home and just have my watch and Bluetooth headphones. I never have any disconnect, but a few times after I get back and walk into the house, the headphones start to cutout and even stop. I checked my phone and it shows the headphones connected.

Another thing people have commented on with Bluetooth headphones and the watch is when the watch is on your left hand and the headphones transmitter is in your right ear. Some have even said they moved the watch to the other wrist. Don't quite believe this unless your headphones just cut in and out occasionally.
 
friedmud said:
My Beats Studio Wireless work fine paired to my 6+ along with my watch.

In addition, I have a cheap pair of BT earbuds that I have paired to my Watch for working out... That works just fine too.
Click to expand...

I just got s pair of studios and when I updated to 9.2 it seems they drop and I have to fiddle to reconnect it. I'm unsure if it's the headphones or the phone. When I listen on my Mac Pro the other day they didn't drop..
 
BlueMoon63 said:
Just as a test, if the same headphones are paired with the watch and iPhone, forget the device on your phone and see if it cuts out.

When I go for a run, I leave my iPhone at home and just have my watch and Bluetooth headphones. I never have any disconnect, but a few times after I get back and walk into the house, the headphones start to cutout and even stop. I checked my phone and it shows the headphones connected.
Click to expand...

I have the Backbeat Fit BT headphones and I have experienced the same issue you mentioned above. When I return to my house after a run, several times my headphones would disconnect when my Watch reconnects with my phone. It does not happen every time, but it happens enough to say it is an issue.

BlueMoon63 said:
Another thing people have commented on with Bluetooth headphones and the watch is when the watch is on your left hand and the headphones transmitter is in your right ear. Some have even said they moved the watch to the other wrist. Don't quite believe this unless your headphones just cut in and out occasionally.
Click to expand...

I also had to move my Watch to my right arm because the Backbeat Fit has the receiver in the right ear piece. When I first got them, I ran for several miles and my music was constantly cutting in and out. My playlist would not advance to the next song and I had to shuffle my music just to get more than one song to play. Overall, it was a very bad listening experience.

Halfway through my run, I stopped and moved my Watch to my other arm and the problems immediately went away. I have been using my Watch and headphones for 3 weeks without a single issue from that day forward. To me, this is a symptom of a very weak BT radio in the Watch.

Since the OP's problem sounds very similar to mine, please try wearing your Watch on the other arm. Also, you could try forgetting your headphones on your phone to see if that helps.

TxWatch
 
Last edited:
I got a pair of power beats 2 wireless I noticed the last 2 days my powerbeats disconnect then reconnect I put my phone in locker at gym it seems when I get out of range they work but the closer I get to locker room they cut out then on, then when I do vice versa walk further away from locker (phone) does same thing. Wonder if I just turn phone off if this will eliminate this issue.
 
jasie02 said:
Is BT headphone sync to BOTH iPhone & AW in multi-link mode at same time?
Click to expand...

I just tried to connect my Backbeat Fit BT headphones to my iPhone 6P and Watch at the same time, but it did not work. As soon as I pressed the connect button on my 6P, the headphones would disconnect from the Watch and connect to the iPhone. When I pressed the connect button on the Watch, they would disconnect from the 6P and connect to my Watch.

If I turn off the BT headphones and then turn them back on, they connect with the last known device. My Bose BT speaker works the same way, but I wanted to confirm it with the Backbeat Fits.

I am not sure if the OP's BT headphones work the same, but I now know mine will only connect to one of my devices at a time. This makes sense, since I doubt I would want to hear music playing from two devices at once, anyway.

TxWatch
 
My situation seems to have resolved itself. I didn't do anything different but they are working flawlessly in conjunction with the watch now. I only have the headphones paired to my phone, not the watch.
 
TxWatch said:
I just tried to connect my Backbeat Fit BT headphones to my iPhone 6P and Watch at the same time, but it did not work. As soon as I pressed the connect button on my 6P, the headphones would disconnect from the Watch and connect to the iPhone. When I pressed the connect button on the Watch, they would disconnect from the 6P and connect to my Watch.

If I turn off the BT headphones and then turn them back on, they connect with the last known device. My Bose BT speaker works the same way, but I wanted to confirm it with the Backbeat Fits.

I am not sure if the OP's BT headphones work the same, but I now know mine will only connect to one of my devices at a time. This makes sense, since I doubt I would want to hear music playing from two devices at once, anyway.

TxWatch
Click to expand...

Backbeat fit does NOT support multi-device. Backbeat pro does but not Backbeat fit.
http://soundingboard.plantronics.com/thread/40548

I have Sony SBH70 & SBH50, both support multipoint, simultaneous streaming/audio/mic for 2 BT devices. But audio will drop in that mode with BT both to AW & iPhone, and AW/iPhone also BT.
I alos have Beats Solo2 wireless, I though it support multimode, but I just check manual, does not looks like Beats support multipoint.

Multipoint might work better with 2 devices does not BT with each other, like one phone and Mac, or 2 phones, but with AW and iPhone constantly BT with each other, audio will drop. My guess is AW is not able to handle too many things at same time with single core CPU.
 
noobinator said:
My situation seems to have resolved itself. I didn't do anything different but they are working flawlessly in conjunction with the watch now. I only have the headphones paired to my phone, not the watch.
Click to expand...

I am glad it worked itself out! I like when technology works as designed...

jasie02 said:
Backbeat fit does NOT support multi-device. Backbeat pro does but not Backbeat fit.
http://soundingboard.plantronics.com/thread/40548
Click to expand...

Thanks for tracking that down. I do not see a need for BT headphones to connect to multiple devices at the same time, so I am glad I did not pay extra for the Backbeat Pro. The Fit does everything I need and they seem to be very well-suited for indoor and outdoor fitness activities.

TxWatch
 
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