• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Switch Bluetooth audio devices latency tests

Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,033
Paris, France
So Nintendo just added audio bluethooth support to the Switch and that's awesome news.
It appears that, on top of the inherent small lag caused by the protocol itself, the latency can depend on the device itself. So, as Reinhardt Schneider suggested in the main thread, I'd like to gather here the various impressions from everyone and their particular device.
I tried my cheap earbuds and the lag was horrendous, so I was looking at buying the Sony WF1000XMB3, so, if anyone tried it, I'd like to know if they work well or not.

Edit :
b3llydrum compile a useful list :
Disclaimer: All of the below are anecdotal and come from the previous comments in this thread


Unnoticeable or no delay

Bose QuietComfort 35 II
- "couldn't notice any delay over Bluetooth" - Apopheniac

Google Pixel Buds A-Series
- "virtually no lag ... hard/borderline impossible to notice" - Killthem

Jabra Elite 75t
- "virtually no lag ... hard/borderline impossible to notice" - Killthem

Jaybird Tarah Pro
- "works fine without any noticeable audio delay" - NoWayOut

Logitech Z337
- "no (noticeable) lag at all" - Doctor Phishshoe

Mpow Flame
- "work fine, and I don't detect eny apparent lag" - NeonBorealis

Razer Hammerhead True Wireless Earbuds
- "they work great in gaming mode and have no noticeable lag for me" - SkekesisVR


Minor but mostly unbothersome delay

Apple AirPods
- "you can tell there's a delay" - Descapp
- "working fine I think" - Mbolibombo
- "slight delay" - b3llydrum
- "noticeable" - kimbo99
- "maybe a little lag but it's very very small, hard to notice while playing" - Nintenleo

Apple AirPods 2
- "slight delay" - Ashler
- "slight delay" - Hopz2Brew
- "I can bear it ... still noticeable" - Putosaure
- "minor delay that didn't seem too bad" - Kevers

Apple AirPods Pro
- "impressed [at the ~39ms latency according to Cadence of Hyrule's latency calibration]" - Martin
- "you can tell there's a delay" - Descapp
- "while it has some slight noticeable delay, some games would probably be tolerable with this" - Darknight

Apple Beats Powerbeats
- "tiiiiiniest bit of delay" - super etrian odyssey

Apple Beats Powerbeats Pro
- "very slight delay. Maybe 50ms" - Anustart

Edifier W800BT
- "The latency didn't bother me at all, should be in the 100ms~200ms range maybe." - El Buga

JBL Charge 4 (speaker)
- "The latency didn't bother me at all, should be in the 100ms~200ms range maybe." - El Buga

Google Pixel Buds Gen 2
- "slighty delay that really doesn't annoy me" - xewind

Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2
- "Slight lag but not very noticeable to me" - Legacy

Skullcandy Indy Evo True Wireless Earbuds
- "delay is slight. Not that noticeable." - SpScarecrow

SLS-100 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
- "noticeable" - Reinhardt Schneider

Sony h.ear on 2
- "noticeable but minor" - Perkin_Warbeck

Sony WI-SP500 In-Ear Sports Wireless Headphones
- "minor lag (100ms?), Switch volume and earbuds volume are not linked" - MarcelRguez

Soundcore Life P2
- "pretty minimal amount of delay" - RedHeat

Soundcore Life Q30
- "pretty minimal amount of delay" - RedHeat


Noticeable and bothersome delay

Apple Airpods 2
- "very noticeable. I'll continue to use wired" - Disco Infernal

Bose QuietComfort 35 II
- "Not crazy bad delay, but it was there (inevitably). The sound quality was notably worse than a wired connection" - Pineconn

Samsung Galaxy Buds
- "lag is certainly noticeable" - hergipotter

Google Pixel Buds
- "like a half second delay" - DarkSora

Jabra Elite Active 65t
- "pretty bad" - colui

Mi True Wireless Earbuds
- "latency is very distracting" - Fezan

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z
- "slightly noticeable delay ... if it were just 10% better, it wouldn't bother me at all" - André

POM Gear Smart Pods
- "like a 1 second delay" - Zombegoast

Sennheiser HD 4.50 BT
"Too much of a delay for me for regular use" - LuigiV

Sony h.ear on 2
- "there's a noticable delay of about half a second" - HandsomeCharles
- "noticeable lag connected directly to the Switch, of a fraction of a second but enough that I won't be using them" - LouieGeetoo

Soundcore Liberty Air 2
- "half a second delay" - Shibata100

Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earbuds Basic 2
- "very noticeable amount of lag" - hergipotter


Critically unusable amount of delay

Audio-Technica ATH-CKR7TW
- "major lag makes the game unplayable (900ms)" - MarcelRguez

Jabra Move
- "for me they are ... unplayable" - empo

Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT
- "for me they are ... unplayable" - empo

Sony WF-1000XM4
- "pretty noticeable audio delay" - Dest
- "unusable" - TheThirstyPrisoner
- "lag is unusable" - Ada

Sony WH-1000XM3
- "downright unusable lag" - DALE

Sony WH-CH700N
- "significant delay and would be unusable in my opinion" - Darknight

Zolo Liberty
- "terribly delayed ... so bad" - RadzPrower
 
Last edited:
Reinhardt Schneider

Reinhardt Schneider

Banned
Jun 2, 2019
4,947
I can't do exact measures, but my rebranded SLS-100 earplugs connect easily, but give me a noticeable latency. They're good for quick sessions, but it can be really bothersome.
 
Doctor Phishshoe

Doctor Phishshoe

Member
Apr 26, 2020
736
My Logitec Z337 speakers has like.... no (noticeable) lag at all. Havent tried my Sony headphones yet, but they got even some small lag with my phone, so that will prolly be the same
 
artsi

artsi

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,689
Finland
I think it always depends on both devices and supported BT versions, and codecs.

I don't know what kind of codecs Switch supports, but with my PC I noticed slight latency with my old BT headphones (Sony WH-1000XM2) yet new ones (WH-1000XM4) don't have any noticeable latency.
 
It’s Time To Go

It’s Time To Go

Member
Dec 2, 2017
20,643
I tried AirPods Pro and max with those devices you can buy to use bluetooth headphones on switch before Nintendo released todays update and I never noticed any latency with either of them.
 
Ashler

Ashler

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,156
WriterInTheDark said:
I tried AirPods Pro and max with those devices you can buy to use bluetooth headphones on switch before Nintendo released todays update and I never noticed any latency with either of them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've tried with my Airpods 2 this morning and there is a slight delay.
Its noticeable when you (for example) jump in Axiom Verge 2 and the jumping sound appears slightly after.
 
degauss

degauss

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,631
I don't find latency as too much of any issue, maybe if you were playing guitar hero or something?

The big problem is Bluetooth is shitty in that you can only have poor quality mono while using the microphone. But I guess the switch isn't so multiplayer / voice chat focused.
 
Burai

Burai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,088
degauss said:
I don't find latency as too much of any issue, maybe if you were playing guitar hero or something?

The big problem is Bluetooth is shitty in that you can only have poor quality mono while using the microphone. But I guess the switch isn't so multiplayer / voice chat focused.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The Switch doesn't support mics at all, so that's not an issue here.
 
OP
OP
Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,033
Paris, France
degauss said:
I don't find latency as too much of any issue, maybe if you were playing guitar hero or something?

The big problem is Bluetooth is shitty in that you can only have poor quality mono while using the microphone. But I guess the switch isn't so multiplayer / voice chat focused.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

My cheap and over crappy earbuds have more than half a second, generally I'm not to sensitive but this über lag is just too annoying. But I think it's an extrem case.
 

Descapp

Member
Oct 27, 2017
114
I tried both Airpods and Pros and they're the same in terms of sound and latency as expected. You can tell there's a delay in the audio, specially in the menu with the scrolling click sound. Ingame with music and everything it's not as noticeable, so it's ok depending on the game. The main problem I see is the low volume, at max it sounds really quiet compared to wired headphones.
 
hergipotter

hergipotter

Member
Oct 28, 2017
268
My Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earbuds Basic 2 add a very noticeable amount of lag.
Gonna try my Samsung Galaxy Buds next, when I charged them.
 
BlkSquirtle

BlkSquirtle

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 26, 2017
948
Jabra elite active 75t - Virtually no lag, detectable on switch home menu with the clicks and changing icons but in game its hard/borderline impossible to notice. I tried some dialog in Outer Worlds as my test and the lip sync words were damn near exact imo. Tried Hulu and watched a show same experience. Didn't try any rhythm games.

Google pixel buds a-series - Same tests with the same experience as the jabra elite
 
Fezan

Fezan

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,274
Tried Mi wireless earbuds and latency is very distracting. Audio quality also send to be poor
 

Tangyn

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,281
I'm super sensitive to audio delay, so much like using bluetooth on windows (without a dongle) i think this will be a no go for me.
 
ty_hot

ty_hot

Banned
Dec 14, 2017
7,176
dock said:
It would be good to see if there's a difference in performance between dedicated bluetooth adapters and native support.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've seen some dedicated Bluetooth adapters that have APTX-LL codex which should help a lot with latency. I doubt the Switch itself has support for this code specially because they added this feature years after the release of the console...
 
TheThirstyPrisoner

TheThirstyPrisoner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,153
dock said:
It would be good to see if there's a difference in performance between dedicated bluetooth adapters and native support.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

UPDATE: Seems like the Sony WF-1000XM4s I'm particular just don't work well with the Switch's built in Bluetooth. Horrible crackling sound with everything.

I have the Genki adaptor and am using Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones. I've only played for a short while with the built in Bluetooth, but from what I've heard so far there is a world of difference. The Genki sounds so much better it isn't even funny.

I find the built in Bluetooth to be pretty much unusable at the moment (it sounds absolutely terrible), but I'm going to try it with some other devices (WH-1000XM4, WF-1000XM3) to see if the bad quality was a fluke with those particular earphones.

UPDATE: Seems like the Sony WF-1000XM4s in particular just don't work well with the Switch's built in Bluetooth. Horrible crackling sound with everything. My other Bluetooth earphones and headphones all sound ok.
 
Last edited:
Transistor

Transistor

Hollowly Brittle
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
37,168
Washington, D.C.
You will always have latency with the Switch Bluetooth. SBC codec at absolute best is around ~200ms delay.

TheThirstyPrisoner said:
I have the Genki adaptor and am using Sony WF-1000XM4 earphones. I've only played for a short while with the built in Bluetooth, but from what I've heard so far there is a world of difference. The Genki sounds so much better it isn't even funny.

I find the built in Bluetooth to be pretty much unusable at the moment (it sounds absolutely terrible), but I'm going to try it with some other devices (WH-1000XM4, WF-1000XM3) to see if the bad quality was a fluke with those particular earphones.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The Genki uses aptX low latency, which is a better codec than SBC in every way, from bitrate to latency
 
Dest

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
Coward
Jun 4, 2018
14,057
Work
Using Sony WF XM4s and there's pretty noticable audio delay. Besides that, there's also a really awful crackling problem that makes it nearly unusable, and the audio is incredibly quiet.

They were best off not making this a thing cause I can see it making far more complaints compared to the praise it'll get.
 
TheThirstyPrisoner

TheThirstyPrisoner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,153
Dest said:
Using Sony WF XM4s and there's pretty noticable audio delay. Besides that, there's also a really awful crackling problem that makes it nearly unusable, and the audio is incredibly quiet.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Same with my WF XM4s—they are unusable.
I tried out my WH XM4s, on the other hand, and they sound fine—if a bit quiet.
Guess I'll stick with my Bluetooth adaptor for now.
 
OP
OP
Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,033
Paris, France
Killthem said:
Jabra elite active 75t - Virtually no lag, detectable on switch home menu with the clicks and changing icons but in game its hard/borderline impossible to notice. I tried some dialog in Outer Worlds as my test and the lip sync words were damn near exact imo. Tried Hulu and watched a show same experience. Didn't try any rhythm games.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Are these good ? They seem to have good reviews and aren't too expensive

Transistor said:
You will always have latency with the Switch Bluetooth. SBC codec at absolute best is around ~200ms delay.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yep indeed, but for some devices it's worse than from others...
 
NeonBorealis

NeonBorealis

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Jan 10, 2018
2,985
MPow flame.

Earphones work fine, and I don't detect eny apparent lag.

The only strange thing is that Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate lags like crazy when playing with bluetooth earphones. Tested it multiple times with and without. Game runs normally with no BT headphones. Game might not be optimized?
 
MarcelRguez

MarcelRguez

Member
Nov 7, 2018
2,418
I've tested two pairs. To measure the lag, I used the Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun manual calibration test, so it should be reasonably accurate despite me being bad at rhythm games. The game doesn't show this explicitely, but I'm assuming that 1 calibration unit = 100ms, going by feel. Also, I've only tried this on my Switch Lite, since that way there's no controller interference to account for.
  • Sony WI-SP500: minor lag (100ms?), Switch volume and earbuds volume are not linked.
  • Audio-Technica ATH-CKR7TW: major lag makes the game unplayable (900ms), volumes are linked.
sometimes-things-that-are-expensive-are-worse-the-gay-and-wondrous-life-of-caleb-gallo.gif
 
Last edited:
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

Member
Nov 4, 2017
7,377
Do we know if the Switch has AptX-LL or any other AptX codecs? My headphones support LL so it would be nice to take advantage of that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.