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

I have been utilizing Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max for the previous few weeks and lately determined to modify from utilizing it on my TV to my monitor. I had a number of causes for doing this, however the primary one was having the ability to watch reveals in 4K at my desk, since most streaming companies do not assist 4K high quality on a PC’s internet browser. Throughout this course of, I found a function 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 may pair Bluetooth headphones together with your Fireplace TV Stick, just like the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 7 headset I take advantage of, or Apple’s in style AirPods, and take heed to reveals and flicks by means of them as a substitute of your TV or monitor’s audio system. That is particularly helpful when you’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 advised my buddy who has a Roku Streaming Stick about this, I used to be shocked to be taught 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 lately: 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 is not appropriate with the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Specific, and Roku Premiere as a result of they do not have Bluetooth functionality. It was by means of this discovery that I realized how, in only one easy means, the Amazon Fireplace TV Stick outperforms Roku’s streaming sticks, and it was all because of Bluetooth. Nevertheless, in all equity, some Roku units do assist Bluetooth audio, and a workaround is obtainable for those who do not.

Roku Streaming Sticks can use Bluetooth headphones with the Roku app

The Roku app has a function referred to 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. Which means when you’ve got a Roku Streaming Stick and wish to take heed to audio from it utilizing Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, the one means to take action is thru your smartphone through the Roku app. This differs from Amazon’s Fireplace TV Sticks, which let you join your Bluetooth headphones on to the machine, with out using an app.

That being mentioned, the Roku app has a setting referred to as Private Listening Mode. This allows you to route the audio out of your Roku stick with your smartphone. So, when you’ve got earbuds or headphones related to your telephone, you may hear the Roku’s audio by means of them. Though your headphones aren’t straight related to your Roku Streaming Stick through Bluetooth, turning on Personal Listening mode within the Roku app will get across the stick’s lack of Bluetooth audio. When you have a Roku machine and wish to strive Personal Listening Mode, you will discover it on the Distant display screen within the app by tapping the Headphone icon.

Notably, some Roku units provide Bluetooth audio assist, but it surely’s solely out there on their pricier streaming units, together with sure Roku Extremely fashions, the Roku Choose Collection TV, the Roku Streambar SE, the Roku Streambar, and the Roku Good Soundbar.

Whereas Personal Listening Mode is undoubtedly helpful and affords a means for customers to take heed to their Roku stick to Bluetooth headphones, I do not imagine 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 best than none

What I like concerning the Fireplace TV Stick’s Bluetooth implementation is its simplicity. Upon studying concerning 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, and so they appeared virtually immediately on my Fireplace TV Stick once I scanned for Bluetooth units to attach. When you have a Fireplace TV Stick, you may join your Bluetooth headphones by heading to Settings > Controllers & Bluetooth units.

What I favored about that is that I did not must 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 would not evaluate to the Bluetooth performance of the Fireplace 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 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 appropriate 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 hook up with your Fireplace TV Stick.

Moreover, I respect 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 cost effective 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 may 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 imagine it is time for Roku so as to add Bluetooth audio assist to its streaming sticks. All of Amazon’s current 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 (through Bluetooth) and listening to audio from my PC (related through USB-C) concurrently for a number of weeks, and the expertise has been implausible. The audio sounds nice, and I did not must fiddle with an app to make it work. General, I feel all streaming units ought to assist Bluetooth audio, and I do not imagine it’s best to need to depend on an app to make use of Bluetooth headphones in your streaming stick, and it is only one easy means that I discover Amazon’s Fireplace TV Sticks higher than Roku’s.

For the reason that Fireplace TV Stick helps Bluetooth audio, I have been testing different units to see if additionally they assist it, and I used to be shocked to search out that even the PS5 would not have it. That is proper, Amazon’s Fireplace TV Stick has a function that even a $500 console lacks. The Swap 2 does assist Bluetooth audio, so not less than 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.