For instance, if the sound from your TV isn’t loud enough, you can use one to connect a wireless speaker. Or if you want to watch TV late at night without disturbing others, you can pair a Bluetooth TV adapter with some headphones and keep the sound to yourself. Bluetooth TV adapters come in a wide range of prices and types, with a few variations on design and abilities. Some also include receiver mode, which lets you send audio from your phone, tablet or computer; connect the adapter to a pair of wired headphones and you’ve got yourself Bluetooth headphones.
The best TVs you can buyShopping for a new set? Our TV buying guide has all the answersThe best wireless headphones for private listening
What are the best Bluetooth TV adapters?
If you have a bigger budget and need a model that can connect to an optical digital audio output on your TV, get the Avantree Oasis Plus. In addition to having more input options than the TaoTronics TT-BA07, the Oasis Plus features an impressive 164-foot range. It can pair with two devices and transmit as well as receive audio. However, it takes up more space and doesn’t have a battery, making it less portable. For those on a strict budget, the Ziidoo Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter and Receiver, 3-in-1 Wireless Bluetooth Adapter is the best low-cost option. It matches most of the specs of the TaoTronics TT-BA07 but is half the price. It’s on the lowside for range but is a very affordable way to get into Bluetooth TV adapters.
The best Bluetooth TV adapters in 2022
The TaoTronics TT-BA07 is our top choice because it combines the features you need most in a Bluetooth TV adapter and comes with a very affordable price. It connects to your TV via a 3.5mm cable and can transmit to two devices at the same time — perfect if you want to watch a show with a friend late at night and you both need to wear headphones to keep from bothering others. The TaoTronics TT-BA07 supports low latency, meaning that the sound and images shouldn’t be out of sync. With a 65-foot range, you shouldn’t have any trouble keeping a solid wireless connection. Its 10-hour battery and small size will come in handy if you want to move it to another TV for awhile. Another plus about it’s size: it’s easy to connect to wired headphones to turn them into Bluetooth ones, thanks to its receiver mode. It lacks an optical digital audio input, which means that you should make sure your TV has a 3.5mm output on it. The Avantree Oasis Plus stands out as the most-feature rich option for Bluetooth TV adapters — and has the premium price to match. It can connect to almost any TV, thanks for inputs for optical digital audio, 3.5mm, and RCA. It’s one of the larger models on this list, but it uses the footprint wisely. The top panel includes volume controls, a Bluetooth pairing button, status lights to show the current input and more. It has one of the longest advertised range of any Bluetooth TV adapter: 164 feet. But that doesn’t take into account any walls or obstacles between you and the adapter. The Avantree Oasis Plus lets you listen on two devices at once, or switch to receiver mode to stream from your phone. You can also use the unit’s outputs to directly connect to a soundbar or audio receiver — and use Bluetooth at the same time. However, it doesn’t have a battery. If you use your Bluetooth TV adapter a lot, it’s worth the cost to get the best. If you want the advantages of a Bluetooth TV adapter but you can’t spend much, you can get the Ziidoo Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter and Receiver for about the same cost as a lunch out. While it is a fairly barebones adapter, you don’t have to sacrifice many features compared to the TaoTronics TT-BA07. It connects to your TV via 3.5mm and also includes a receiver mode to stream from your phone to headphones or a soundbar. It has one of the more limited Bluetooth ranges on this list — 33 feet — but that should be enough for transmitting while you’re watching TV. The range may be more of an issue if you want to use it as a receiver. It also lacks an optical digital output, but it still represents a great value. The bigger and slightly more expensive cousin to our top pick, the TaoTronics TT-BA09 gives you an important upgrade over the TT-BA07: an optical digital input. That means you can stream better quality audio and it will work with most current TV models. You can also use the optical digital output to directly connect the unit to a soundbar and use it as a receiver if you want to stream music from your phone. The TT-BA09 also includes a 15-hour battery; while less portable than the TT-BA07, at 2.4 x 2.4.x 0.8 inches it’s still easy to move. You can connect two devices at once to share the sound from your TV. In one way it’s inferior to the TT-BA07: the TT-BA09 has a wireless range of 33 feet, compared to 65 feet for the smaller unit from TaoTronics. Slightly older TVs may have a coaxial digital audio output instead of an optical digital output; if you’re in this group, the 1Mii B06TX is the Bluetooth TV adapter for you. It’s the only model in this list that features the coaxial digital input. But it also has optical digital and 3.5mm auxiliary inputs (and comes with an RCA-to-3.5mm cable), making it the most flexible adapter overall. On top of that, it has the longest advertised range at 197 feet (though in real life inside conditions, with walls and other interference, the actual range is likely closer to 50-70 feet). It’s on the large side for these adapters at 3.6 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches, but thanks to its size it has space for volume controls on the unit. The B06TX doesn’t have a receiver mode, though, meaning you can’t send music from your phone to it, and it lacks a battery. The Aluratek ABC01F Bluetooth Audio Receiver / Transmitter is another good choice if you want a very portable Bluetooth TV adapter. Slightly bigger than the TaoTronics TT-BA07, the 2.1 x 1.5 x 0.4-inch ABC01F includes something the TT-BA07 doesn’t: volume control on the unit. With its small size, receiver mode and 10 hours of battery, the ABC01F is great for turning wired headphones into wireless ones. The volume buttons can also skip and replay music tracks when in received mode. It has a 3.5mm input and output, and comes with a RCA-to-3.5mm cable for connections to stereo inputs and outputs. It’s 50-foot range isn’t quite as good as the TT-BA07’s 65 feet. It also costs more than our top choice, but is otherwise a very solid option if you don’t need an optical digital input. If your TV has an optical digital audio output and you don’t need the latest Bluetooth standard, the Mee Audio Connect AF-T1 could be a good match for your Bluetooth TV adapter needs. In addition to optical digital, the Connect AF-T1 also has a 3.5mm input and comes with a splitter to hook to an RCA output. At 2.2 x 2.2 x 1 inches, it’s small enough to take with you and features 12 hours of battery life. You can connect two devices at once to listen with a friend. As a result of using Bluetooth 4.0, the Connect AF-T1 only has a 30-foot range. It can only transmit sound, not receive it, so you can’t send music from your phone to it. It also lacks volume controls, something that some higher-end adapters offer. If you have a powered USB port on your TV, the Carpuride TX-9 Bluetooth Transmitter could be an excellent match for your Bluetooth TV adapter needs. It looks like a Roku Streaming Stick and, at 2.4 x 1.0 x 0.4 inches, takes up very little space. If you don’t have a powered USB port on your TV, you can connect it to a power source using your phone’s wall wart. It can transmit to two devices simultaneously. You can also plug it directly into your computer’s USB port and send sounds from the computer without any additional cables. The TX-9 uses Bluetooth 4.0, an older version of the wireless standard, and as a result has a more limited range than most of the adapters on this list. It has a 3.5mm input and comes with a RCA-to-3.5mm adapter for connecting to stereo output, but it lacks an optical digital connection.
How to choose the best Bluetooth TV adapter for you
When you’re shopping for a Bluetooth TV adapter, you want to make sure it can connect to your TV (or computer, if that’s your video source). Most TVs today will have a 3.5mm auxiliary output. Some come with an optical digital audio output or an RCA (stereo) output. You should also think about the range: how far away will you be when you’re watching or listening? For TV watching, the range shouldn’t be much of an issue, but if you’re using the adapter to listen to music — or you’re sending audio from your phone to play over the adapter — you will likely want more range. You may want to be able to send audio to two headphones or speakers at the same time if you’re watching TV with a friend. If you plan use it as a receiver or if you need to use it on more than one TV, a battery will come in handy. The size of the unit can also come into play if you plan to move it around or you don’t want it to be obvious.
Best Bluetooth TV adapter alternatives
There’s more than one way to get sound from your TV to a pair of earbuds, fortunately. The latest way is via the Sennheiser TV Clear true wireless earbuds that basically work exactly like a Bluetooth adapter but without any of the extra setup. They’re like traditional true wireless earbuds, but the audio settings and listening experience can be customized with the TV Clear companion app, and the transmitter’s low latency streaming technology keeps audio and video in sync so there’s no delay in the audio. For those who are hard of hearing, Sennheiser says that the system offers five speech clarity levels that can provide up to 20 dB high-frequency amplification to make it easier to hear what’s happening on the screen. You can also have one volume for the earbuds and one volume for the TV so that people in the room can hear what’s happening without listening to the content at a higher-than-normal volume. Admittedly, Sennheiser can’t pretend the TV Clear is an entirely new concept — wireless TV headphones have existed for over a decade now — but Sennheiser is promising better customization options via the app, lower latency, multi-point pairing and a more approachable design that most folks are more familiar with. And check out some of the best accessories for your home theater: Best TV mounts | Best Bluetooth speakers | Best Soundbars | Best TV antennas | Best cheap TV antennas
