When will bluetooth controllers/drivers be fixed so I can use my bluetooth headphones for calls and have high quality audio? Works fine on anything but Windows

Question

I am trying to use my new Beats Pro Studio Headphones through a bluetooth connection to make calls on my Windows PC. I have 2 options when connected on Windows 10 for either Headphones or Headset. I have to connect to the Headset version to be able to use my microphone in the headphones and hear audio on a call, but the sound quality is atrocious. Every other device that is non-Windows I connect to has no problem handling calls with high quality audio while connected via bluetooth (iPhone, Mac). Are there any plans to update drivers on Windows to be able to handle bluetooth properly for high quality audio calls? Seems like something other companies have figured out.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Read the fine print, it will say that your beats headphones are compatible with specific apple products (and specific ios and macos verrsions) and specific android OS versions and requires you to install the beats app --- which means that these "enhanced" compatibility features are not bluetooth.

Answer 2

Hello, JarrodByerly

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

Thank you for your feedback. Regarding the sound quality issue you are experiencing when making calls using a Bluetooth headset on Windows 10, this is a known Bluetooth protocol limitation issue, not just a driver issue.

Background on the issue

On Windows 10, when you connect a Bluetooth headset, it displays in two modes: Headphones and Headset. Usually, these two modes are realized through different Bluetooth protocols:

Headphones mode (High Quality Stereo): Uses the high quality A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) protocol, but does not support a microphone.

Headset Mode (Hands-Free Profile, HFP or Headset Profile, HSP): Supports the microphone, but only provides mono or low quality audio transmission.

This means that when you use the headset's microphone on Windows, the degradation in sound quality is caused by the system switching to HFP/HSP mode.

While this is a limitation of current Windows systems, there are a couple of ways that may help you improve your experience:

Method 1: Update the Bluetooth driver

Open “Device Manager”, find your Bluetooth device, right-click and select “Update Driver”.

Try to get the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website, as this may bring some improvements.

Method 2: Use an external microphone

If the sound quality is too poor using the built-in microphone, consider the following options:

Use an external microphone:

You can use an external microphone with a USB or 3.5mm connector, which allows you to continue to maintain the high-quality audio output of your headset while using an external microphone for calls.

Some high-end Bluetooth adapters support better audio processing and protocols, so try using these adapters to improve the overall sound quality.

Since I'm not a developer or a Microsoft employee, I have no information on when this will be optimized. It's possible that Microsoft and other Bluetooth driver developers will improve this issue in a future update, but the exact timing and progress is not publicly known as a definite plan at this time. Most current non-Windows operating systems (such as iOS and macOS) do have better support for handling Bluetooth audio and microphones, largely due to their better optimized audio protocols and drivers.

I hope my explanation makes sense. I look forward to your feedback.

Best Regards,

Aaron| Microsoft Community Support Specialist