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Navigating digital devices has become a necessary part of daily life for many people, whether you’re keeping track of text alerts or ensuring you don’t miss an important call during a Zoom meeting on your laptop.
Multipoint Bluetooth is designed to solve the problem of having to disconnect or enter the Bluetooth menu every time you want to connect your headset to a different device. It helps you stay on top of incoming calls, email notifications or messages, allowing you to easily navigate between personal and professional matters without interrupting your task.
Introduced in 2010 as part of Bluetooth 4.0, advanced multipoint allows two devices to be connected simultaneously to your audio headset, allowing you to switch between them. For several years, this feature has been flawed, unreliable, and not widely supported, especially for true wireless earbuds. But this is changing.
Recent advances in hardware and software have greatly improved multipoint stability and power consumption, and the feature is now available in many true wireless headphones and earbuds, including Those from Bosswhich has been slow to adopt the feature due to reliability concerns.
Apple and Google’s support systems work similarly to automatic multipoint device switching, which switches source devices when it detects playback on your target device. The caveat is that they’re technically quick auto-pairing systems rather than connecting two devices at once, and you have to be signed in to the same Apple ID or Google Account on both devices for this function to work.
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Advantages and limitations of multipoint Bluetooth
When there are multiple devices within the same digital ecosystem — Apple, Samsung, or Google — and you’re signed into the same account on them, you get much more seamless (and often automatic) switching, whether that’s via Apple’s Handoff, Google’s Fast Pair, or true multipoint Bluetooth.
For example, if you’re switching between an Apple iPad and your Android smartphone, you’ll usually have to manually pause one device (semi-automatic switching) before the audio can be switched, although you still get the advantage of not having to do the Bluetooth mambo disconnect/connect.
Multipoint is not a universal feature and its performance can vary depending on the specific model. Multipoint Bluetooth was (and still is) easier to implement Standard wireless headphones Because the earcups are connected via one main Bluetooth connection. True wireless earbuds More complicated because the left and right earbuds must be wirelessly synced to avoid interference issues, and a third wireless channel (and more processing power) is required for multipoint pairing.
Note that Bluetooth multipoint doesn’t necessarily mean you can stream media from two devices at once.
Multipoint Bluetooth setup
Update device firmware: Your phone, tablet, and laptop should always be up to date, but it’s a good idea to double-check to make sure your operating system supports the latest features.
Install the application: Download the app that comes with your headphones or earbuds and install it on your primary device, usually your phone, unless you primarily use your tablet to make calls.
Pair with your primary device: Put your headphones or earbuds into pairing mode (usually by long-pressing a button on the headphones or case), and pair them with your phone or tablet using the device’s Bluetooth settings.
Headphones firmware update: Companies are constantly working to improve switching and connection reliability through firmware updates. To keep your headphones or earbuds up to date, update them via the app’s settings menu. Re-pair if necessary, and test the connection by streaming some audio.
Enable multipoint connection: Open the companion app’s settings again and enable your connection using the toggle labeled with something like:
- Allow multipoint connection
- Connect to two devices simultaneously
- Pair with the second device
- Automatic switching
Pairing with the second device: Put the headphones back into pairing mode and use the second device’s Bluetooth settings to pair them. Test the connection by streaming some audio.
What to expect from Bluetooth multipoint technology
At this point, you should be able to easily switch from one device to another (and back) by starting streaming on the second device — or pausing the first if your devices run different operating systems (iOS and Android, for example). Note that due to Bluetooth bandwidth limitations, you may not be able to use some “high-resolution” audio codecs such as Sony’s LDAC while using multipoint mode.
It’s a good idea to test a few different scenarios with a mix of calls and media to see how things work with a particular mix of devices and apps. Even if all your devices are from the same ecosystem, you’re somewhat at the mercy of the apps you use and how they’re prioritized by the devices’ operating systems, as well as how they handle switching.
But if all goes well, you’ll be able to move more seamlessly between your digital devices than ever before, and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without multipoint Bluetooth.