Bluetooth audio lag on windows 10 & 11: will it ever be fixed? A discussion

Question

The delay/lag is killer. Netflix, Prime, out of sync lip movement with audio. 

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You can install Linux on exactly the same hardware and use the same Bluetooth headphones or earbuds and it completely fixes the delay/lag of up to 500ms. This is not a device or hardware issue.

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Please note this is not a tech support post. It is a discussion about the lack of progress in fixing this issue.

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In a forum post on this from 2016, the post has 1042 votes by people with the same issue: “I have the same question (1042)”. It carried on until sometime in 2020 before it was locked. The issue itself was not fixed & remains for many in Windows 10 & 11. 

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https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bluetooth-audio-lag-on-windows-10/e09c766b-cac7-42ef-93d8-8328db731b62

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What do you all think about the fact this issue still hasn’t been fixed?

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I want to say that I am a massive fan of Windows. 7 was a masterpiece, 10 was a revolution. It is the great equaliser. Can everyone afford a Mac or run Linux? No. But anyone can run Windows. The issue is, it’s losing some of that efficient powerful function it had during 7. 

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Bluetooth is so infamously broken on Windows that gaming wireless headphone makers for PC sell headphones with their own USB transmitters and proprietary stuff to avoid the lag. They use keywords “eliminate delays” “eliminates lag”. People are using TWS buds with android gaming mode also to get around Windows lag in all scenarios, it’s only meant for lag with gaming. On windows it must be used just to watch a film with no audio delay. Windows does this so badly an entire industry is running around it. You won’t get lag or delay like this on iOS, you won’t get lag like this on Linux, you won’t get lag like this on Mac, you won’t even get lag as bad as this on cheap Android phones - the lag android users complain about is lower than Win11 lag. Maybe 100-150 ms. 

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I spent all day Sunday trying lots of fixes suggested online:

• Disabling Bluetooth personal area networks
• Disabling talk mode
• Restarting over and over
• Turning Bluetooth off and on again.

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A small amount of quietly raved about doing these, and after i did all that, what did it achieve? Little. Audio still out of sync with lips on TV and Movie shows on my laptop.

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And it’s not just delayed audio. Windows lags so badly with Bluetooth devices that people complain Bluetooth mice stutter around the screen and take almost a second to catch up sometimes.

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What do you all think about the fact this issue still hasn’t been fixed?

Answer 1

Yeah I just bought a bluetooth speaker and I discovered that this issue seems to be known for at least 4 years!

I have to use windows (for work, otherwise I would use linux) and I'm about to send back the speakers because of this issue. It's such a shame...

Answer 2

The only fix I have found is a custom Bluetooth driver designed to fix low quality audio - it seems to fix the lag. However it is a temporary release which will stop working on 31 Jan 2023:

https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/a2dp/

Answer 3

While there is no good fix and I do put the blame square on Microsoft who has taken ownership of the Audio, Video and USB subsystems. I mean they love to put their brand on any driver they can, even the ones we know they had nothing to do with.

Two big issues they have created:

1. Audio lag over USB and Bluetooth devices.
2. Audio over wrong device when connected to a video card.

The solutions...

1) Microsoft by default assigns a driver for bluetooth devices that works bidirectional, it puts audio on mono and activates the microphone. This might be ok if you are making web calls. But thanks to the lag, I will use the Mic on a dedicated USB device rather than Bluetooth. To make the lag go away and get the audio your device is capable of, you need to force Microsoft to load the Studio Pro headset driver. Sorry if I have the name of that driver wrong. The issue is that if you need to switch between modes, there is no clear way to do so. Also even if your device support multiple audio quality drivers, Microsoft also not so good about playing ball. It the Microsoft driver or none at all. I tried some so called premium 3rd party drivers, and they just made the audio badly distorted, and they all wanted cash. No thanks.

2) Your video card outputs audio, but Microsoft dictates where it goes. The game is to blame the Video card developers who will remind you that the Microsoft Audio control panel will show all devices which have drivers installed. This points the finger back home to the Operating system. Windows sees two or more channels and decides to ignore one or treat them both as the same. There is no software or control panel function to manually switch if Microsoft refuses to see the port or load the driver. You might force it if it showed as a inactive or missing drivers, but it never will. The solution is to play hot potatoes with the cables removing power and video until magically windows goes, ohh ya, the device isn't there lets turn on the other one!

Answer 4

I found this little option that might be involved. If you don't show it, maybe it is the driver you are using. I will need to do more research.

The only place I see this option is on the properties for the headset in the Devices and Printers section. You can get to it uising the Bluetooth & Devices > Devices and the bottom of the page, More devices and printer settings.