Roku might be so significantly better if it copied...

I have been utilizing Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max for the previous few weeks and just lately 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 having 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 characteristic 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 assist.

Which means you’ll be able to pair Bluetooth headphones along with your Fireplace TV Stick, just like the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7 headset I take advantage of, or Apple’s fashionable AirPods, and take heed to reveals and flicks by them as a substitute of your TV or monitor’s audio system. That is particularly helpful for those who’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 night time with out disturbing others in your family.

However once I instructed my buddy who has a Roku Streaming Stick about this, I used to be shocked to study that Roku’s streaming sticks do not have Bluetooth audio assist. This was puzzling to me, particularly since Roku had simply launched two brand-new streaming sticks just lately: the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. How does a streaming system within the 12 months 2025 not natively assist Bluetooth audio?

Though Roku presents a Bluetooth Headphone Mode, its official support page notes that it is not suitable with the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Specific, and Roku Premiere as a result of they do not have Bluetooth functionality. It was by 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 due to Bluetooth. Nonetheless, in all equity, some Roku units do assist Bluetooth audio, and a workaround is accessible for people who do not.

Roku Streaming Sticks can use Bluetooth headphones with the Roku app

The Roku app has a characteristic known as Personal Listening Mode

Since Roku’s streaming sticks do not natively assist Bluetooth headphones, there aren’t any settings on the system itself to allow their connection. Which means you probably have a Roku Streaming Stick and need to take heed 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 Fireplace TV Sticks, which let you join your Bluetooth headphones on to the system, with out the usage of an app.

That being mentioned, the Roku app has a setting known as Private Listening Mode. This allows you to route the audio out of your Roku keep on with your smartphone. So, you probably have earbuds or headphones related to your telephone, you’ll be able to hear the Roku’s audio by them. Though your headphones aren’t immediately related 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. If in case you have a Roku system and need to attempt Personal Listening Mode, you could find it on the Distant display within the app by tapping the Headphone icon.

Notably, some Roku units supply Bluetooth audio assist, nevertheless 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 presents a method for customers to take heed to their Roku keep on with Bluetooth headphones, I do not consider it is nearly as good because the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation.

Amazon’s Fireplace TV Stick has Roku beat right here

Native Bluetooth audio assist is healthier than none

What I like concerning the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation is its simplicity. Upon studying concerning the characteristic’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 Fireplace TV Stick once I scanned for Bluetooth units to attach. If in case you have a Fireplace TV Stick, you’ll be able to 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 does not examine to the Bluetooth performance of the Fireplace TV Stick. In any case, it is 2025, and Bluetooth has been round for thus lengthy. Why should not a streaming stick have it natively?

It undoubtedly 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 suitable 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 assist is constant throughout its whole Fireplace TV Stick lineup. Whether or not you go for the most affordable Fireplace TV Stick HD or the costliest Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max, all of them include Bluetooth audio assist.

On the Roku facet, none of its streaming sticks assist it. You will 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 consider it is time for Roku so as to add Bluetooth audio assist 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 (by way of Bluetooth) and listening to audio from my PC (related by way of USB-C) concurrently for just a few weeks, and the expertise has been implausible. The audio sounds nice, and I did not have to fiddle with an app to make it work. Total, I feel all streaming units ought to assist Bluetooth audio, and I do not consider it’s best to must 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.

Because the Fireplace TV Stick helps Bluetooth audio, I have been testing different units 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 Fireplace TV Stick has a characteristic that even a $500 console lacks. The Swap 2 does assist Bluetooth audio, so a minimum of 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.