Windows 11 Bluetooth Audio is Bad

Question

Windows 11 Bluetooth Audio is Bad

Freedom777 0

My Windows 11 laptop is fully updated. I have connected two different bluetooth audio speakers and they both sound terrible. When I connect them using AUX they sound fine. I have tried changing the Bluetooth audio settings but nothing has fixed the issue yet. YouTube video tutorials don't help because the latest Windows update has changed everything.

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

AinhoaGiles 220

Bluetooth audio on Windows 11 is notoriously bad, and it's not your speakers — it's the Windows software. The problem usually lies in how Windows handles Bluetooth audio profiles and codecs. When you connect a Bluetooth speaker, Windows often defaults to the low-quality SBC codec or, worse, switches the speaker to a “hands-free” profile if it detects a microphone. This drastically reduces audio quality because the hands-free profile is meant for calls, not music.

Even though your system is fully updated, the underlying Bluetooth stack in Windows 11 still lacks polish. Unlike macOS or Android, Windows doesn’t give users much control over which codec is used. That means even high-end speakers or headphones can sound muddy, flat, or compressed simply because Windows isn't using the right audio protocol. Aux sounds better because it bypasses all that nonsense entirely — it’s pure analog, no software interference.

You’ve probably already dug into the settings, but the options are limited and often buried. Some users try to solve this by disabling hands-free telephony in the device manager or sound control panel, which forces Windows to use the stereo profile. It helps sometimes, but not always. Other tweaks like disabling enhancements, adjusting audio formats, or installing third-party Bluetooth stack software like CSR Harmony rarely deliver consistent results — and can sometimes make things worse.

The bottom line is that Windows software just doesn’t handle Bluetooth audio well, especially compared to how seamless it is on phones and tablets. If you're chasing good wireless audio, your best bet is to either use a dedicated Bluetooth audio dongle that supports aptX/LDAC or ditch Bluetooth on Windows entirely and stick with aux or USB DACs. Until Microsoft overhauls its Bluetooth audio stack, that’s the hard truth.

Freedom777 0 Reputation points

2025-07-01T07:36:06.6933333+00:00

Thank you @AinhoaGiles . Do you know how I can disable the hands-free telephony in the device manager? I checked but couldn't find it.
AinhoaGiles 220 Reputation points

2025-07-02T13:21:29.2+00:00
@Freedom777 Open Control Panel

Press Windows + R, type control, and hit Enter.

Go to Devices and Printers

In Control Panel, choose: Hardware and Sound → Devices and Printers (NOT just "Devices").

Find Your Bluetooth Speaker or Headphones

You'll see an icon with the name of your audio device (not your Bluetooth adapter).

Right-click it → choose Properties.

Go to the Services Tab

In the properties window, go to the Services tab.

You'll see a list of checkboxes like:

- Audio Sink Handsfree Telephony Remote Control

Uncheck "Handsfree Telephony"

Uncheck this box.

Click Apply and then OK.

Reboot or Reconnect the Device

You might need to disconnect and reconnect the Bluetooth device, or reboot the system, for it to switch to Stereo A2DP mode.
Freedom777 0 Reputation points

2025-07-02T20:49:29.2366667+00:00

Hi @AinhoaGiles , I tried following your directions but got stuck at "Right-click it → choose Properties." Nothing shows up when I right click on OontZ Angle 3 1B3. Thanks!

2025-07-02 16_42_14-Realtek Audio Console.png
AinhoaGiles 220 Reputation points

2025-07-04T10:50:13.7333333+00:00
@Freedom777

Windows 11 is being its usual cryptic self. When right-click → Properties doesn't do anything under Devices and Printers, it usually means Windows is treating the Bluetooth device more like a “dumb” peripheral, or that the driver stack isn’t exposing those service settings properly.

Alternative Method via Bluetooth Settings and Registry (if necessary)

Step 1: Check Sound Settings Instead

Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar → choose Sound settings.

Scroll down to Advanced → click More sound settings (this opens the classic sound control panel).

Under the Playback tab, look for:

"OontZ Angle 3 Stereo" (this is the A2DP good-quality profile)

"OontZ Angle 3 Hands-Free AG Audio" (this is the trash mic-quality mode)

If "Hands-Free" is set as default — change it:

Right-click "OontZ Angle 3 Stereo" → click Set as Default Device.

Then go to the Recording tab and disable the hands-free mic entirely by:

Right-clicking "OontZ Angle 3 Hands-Free AG Audio" under Recording → Disable

That alone can force Windows to ditch the HFP profile entirely.

🛠️ Step 2 (Optional): Disable Hands-Free via Registry

If the above didn’t work, we can go nuclear and kill HFP at the driver level:

Press Windows + R, type regedit, hit Enter.

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BthHFAud

In the right pane, look for Start, and double-click it.

Change the value from 3 (manual) or 2 (auto) to 4 (disabled).

Reboot your PC.

This will disable the Bluetooth Hands-Free Audio service across the system, so any HFP audio path gets blocked completely. This is a permanent way to force only stereo audio, but it also disables the mic over Bluetooth.

If this still doesn’t work, you can try a small utility like "Bluetooth Tweaker" (third-party, but well-reviewed) that exposes more advanced service toggles. Or ditch the OontZ's Bluetooth and use AUX — you’ve probably already noticed that Windows + Bluetooth = garbage audio half the time.
JosephT71 10 Reputation points

2025-07-04T17:32:17.3466667+00:00

Stop giving completely incorrect advice. As I said it in my first post, you have zero idea what you are saying. This is how bluetooth is supposed to work. What you are complaining about poor windows bluetooth working has NOTHING to do with bluetooth --- the codecs you listed are outside the bluetooth specifications.

When you buy a single din bluetooth enabled car stereo like this, none of your extra codecs would work because those codecs are not in the bluetooth standard.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/JENSEN-MPR210-Single-DIN-Car-Stereo-Radio-with-Bluetooth-New/731838915

Disabling hands-free audio service or disable the bluetooth mic is a blunt instrument, a sledgehammer approach to do things.

The proper way to do it is to properly tell the windows os and the app which mic you want to use. You tell the windows os and the app to use the laptop mic, then your bluetooth mic will not be used at all, so there is no need to disable hands-free audio service.

Read your manual, your bluetooth speaker manufactuer tells you how to fix poor sound using bluetooth which has NOTHING to what this other guy is saying. Oontz tells you that your bluetooth speakers are too far away or your wifi is interfering with the bluetooth signal

https://www.theoontz.com/pages/oontz-angle-3-manual/#section12

Answer 2

When you buy a pair of Apple Airpods, Apple will tell you that in order to use certain functions, you have to buy specific Apple computer/laptop/ipad/iphone with specific macos/ios versions. Apple doesn't tell you to buy a computer with Bluetooth version 5.x. That means that those functions are NOT bluetooth.

When you buy a Bose/Sony headphone for an iphone or an android phone, you have to install the bose/sony app on your phone to use certain functions. That menas those functions are NOT bluetooth. Both Bose and Sony don't make windows version of their apps for the windows store, so you should blame them and not microsoft.

Why would anyone install CSR Harmony driver at all? Cambridge Silicon Radio has been dead for 10 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSR_plc

Share via

Windows 11 Bluetooth Audio is Bad

2 answers

Alternative Method via Bluetooth Settings and Registry (if necessary)

Step 1: Check Sound Settings Instead

🛠️ Step 2 (Optional): Disable Hands-Free via Registry

Your answer