Listening to music or any type of audio wirelessly is very common nowadays. Wireless headphones instead of wired ones have become commonplace. But when we talk about playing audio wirelessly, we are going to have two options: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Which of the two options is better? What should you take into account? In this article we are going to talk about it. We are going to explain how both options work and what to take into account.
Listen to music via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
We can say that both options are used to listen to music or any audio without using cables. As always happens, each one has its advantages and disadvantages. However, if we speak in general terms and we are looking for the highest quality, there we must name Wi-Fi. It is the best technology to listen to music wirelessly.
Wi-Fi offers higher quality since they have a higher bandwidth compared to Bluetooth. That means that the music is not additionally compressed and the audio quality will be superior. If you are going to use high-quality audio, then definitely using Wi-Fi is going to be the ideal option for you.
It is especially good for songs that have a lot of detail, music composers, and people who want to perceive the details as much as possible. With Bluetooth, some of the quality is lost. This is part of its technology, since having limited bandwidth will compress the files.
But does this mean that it is always better to listen to music over Wi-Fi and not Bluetooth? The answer is no. You will find advantages and disadvantages when using both technologies, so both have a place.
Advantages and disadvantages of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for listening to music
If we start with Bluetooth and its advantages, one of them is ease of use. Pairing devices is quick and easy. You only need headphones and another device, such as a computer or mobile. In addition, this makes it super portable: you will only have to take your phone and headphones anywhere, for example.
We can say that Bluetooth is ideal for most cases. It is actually the most common. For example, to listen to Spotify and similar platforms you don’t really need more than to use this technology. It will not be able to offer superior quality, so you will not have limitations.
The downside is that it can’t output as much data. Audio is always going to lose some quality. For example if you are playing a high quality audio file, it will have to be compressed to work.
On the other hand, we have the option of listening to music over Wi-Fi. The advantage is clear: the sound quality. It has greater bandwidth and that will allow you to listen to higher quality audio and it is perfect for those files that we have mentioned. It won’t compress the audio, since it doesn’t need it.
On the other hand, the negative point is that it is a less portable technology. You’re not going to be able to take a Wi-Fi speaker everywhere. Also, the setup is more complex than using Bluetooth. It is not something so accessible for anyone to use in any situation.
As you can see, there are differences between listening to music through Bluetooth devices, which is the most common, and Wi-Fi. This last option is the one that offers the highest quality, but it has the disadvantage of being less accessible and easy to use. You can always amplify the Bluetooth signal in your home.