Roku might be so a lot better if it copied this Hearth Stick function

I have been utilizing Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max for the previous few weeks and not too long ago determined to change from utilizing it on my TV to my monitor. I had just a few causes for doing this, however the principle one was with the ability to watch reveals in 4K at my desk, since most streaming providers do not assist 4K high quality on a PC’s net browser. Throughout this course of, I found a function on the Hearth TV Stick that I hadn’t even realized it had, which I’ve now come to understand very a lot: Bluetooth audio assist.

Meaning you possibly can pair Bluetooth headphones along with your Hearth TV Stick, just like the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7 headset I take advantage of, or Apple’s in style AirPods, and hearken to reveals and films by means of them as an alternative of your TV or monitor’s audio system. That is particularly helpful if you happen to’re utilizing your Hearth TV Stick in a setup like mine, on a monitor with no audio system, or if you wish to watch TV late at night time with out disturbing others in your family.

However once 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 assist. This was puzzling to me, particularly since Roku had simply launched two brand-new streaming sticks not too long ago: the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. How does a streaming machine within the yr 2025 not natively assist Bluetooth audio?

Though Roku affords a Bluetooth Headphone Mode, its official support page notes that it isn’t suitable with the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Categorical, and Roku Premiere as a result of they do not have Bluetooth functionality. It was by means of this discovery that I discovered how, in only one easy method, the Amazon Hearth TV Stick outperforms Roku’s streaming sticks, and it was all because of Bluetooth. Nonetheless, in all equity, some Roku gadgets do assist Bluetooth audio, and a workaround is on the market 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 assist Bluetooth headphones, there aren’t any settings on the machine itself to allow their connection. Meaning if in case you have a Roku Streaming Stick and wish to hearken to audio from it utilizing Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, the one method to take action is thru your smartphone by way of the Roku app. This differs from Amazon’s Hearth 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, if in case you have earbuds or headphones linked to your cellphone, you possibly can hear the Roku’s audio by means of them. Though your headphones aren’t immediately linked to your Roku Streaming Stick by way of Bluetooth, turning on Personal Listening mode within the Roku app will get across the stick’s lack of Bluetooth audio. In case you have a Roku machine and wish to attempt Personal Listening Mode, you’ll find it on the Distant display screen within the app by tapping the Headphone icon.

Notably, some Roku gadgets provide Bluetooth audio assist, nevertheless it’s solely obtainable on their pricier streaming gadgets, 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 affords a method for customers to hearken to their Roku stick to Bluetooth headphones, I do not imagine it is nearly as good because the Hearth TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation.

Amazon’s Hearth TV Stick has Roku beat right here

Native Bluetooth audio assist is best than none

What I like in regards to the Hearth TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation is its simplicity. Upon studying in regards to 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 virtually immediately on my Hearth TV Stick once I scanned for Bluetooth gadgets to attach. In case you have a Hearth TV Stick, you possibly can join your Bluetooth headphones by heading to Settings > Controllers & Bluetooth gadgets.

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 does not examine to the Bluetooth performance of the Hearth TV Stick. In any case, it is 2025, and Bluetooth has been round for therefore lengthy. Why should not a streaming stick have it natively?

It positively makes the Hearth 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 suitable headphones. Roku’s setup requires utilizing three gadgets: your streaming stick, your cellphone, and your headphones. In distinction, the Hearth TV Stick skips the intermediary and solely wants you to allow pairing in your Bluetooth headphones to hook up with your Hearth TV Stick.

Moreover, I admire that Amazon’s implementation of Bluetooth audio assist is constant throughout its total Hearth TV Stick lineup. Whether or not you go for the most affordable Hearth TV Stick HD or the costliest Hearth TV Stick 4K Max, all of them include Bluetooth audio assist.

On the Roku aspect, none of its streaming sticks assist it. You will want to select 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 assist to its streaming sticks. All of Amazon’s current Hearth TV Sticks have it, so it is about time Roku did, too — with out counting on its app. I have been utilizing my headphones linked to my Hearth TV Stick (by way of Bluetooth) and listening to audio from my PC (linked by way of 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 gadgets ought to assist Bluetooth audio, and I do not imagine you must should 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 Hearth TV Sticks higher than Roku’s.

For the reason that Hearth TV Stick helps Bluetooth audio, I have been testing different gadgets to see if additionally they assist it, and I used to be stunned to search out that even the PS5 does not have it. That is proper, Amazon’s Hearth TV Stick has a function that even a $500 console lacks. The Change 2 does assist Bluetooth audio, so at the very least Nintendo will get a win there, and I’ve discovered it fairly helpful for utilizing my Change 2 at my desk whereas I am close to my PC.