how to pair 2 pairs of bluetooth headphones to a pixel 3a phone
June 22, 2021 12:58 PM   Subscribe

I need to have 2 pairs of headphones playing from my android pixel 3a phone at the same time. The phone only allows for 1 pair to connect. How do we make this work?

This is for 2 of us to be jogging and listening to the same audio. Microphone isn't important, and we have headphones already. Alternately, one of us could use a wired set of headphones and the other bluetooth, if there's a way to do that. I'm happy to purchase an adapter, but it needs to be useable when jogging with the phone in a pocket. Thanks!
posted by markblasco to Technology (8 answers total)
 
Response by poster: Alternately, if there is a set of bluetooth earbuds which will work then separated between 2 people, we could use that as well, we don't need stereo sound. Most headsets I've looked into only seem to work when the 2 are close together, but maybe I'm missing something.
posted by markblasco at 12:59 PM on June 22, 2021


I don't think this is part of the Bluetooth featureset on Android by default, at least going by the fact that Samsung advertises it as a special feature.

This article talks about using Ampme as a way to sync the audio playback on two devices, each of which could be attached to their own BT headphones.

This article talks about how to do it with a USB-C audio adapter, which would work as the audio output device, and then send the audio to both paired devices.
posted by sagc at 1:08 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks sagc, I've seen those articles, using 2 devices isn't an option, and it seems the avantree adapter is only sold with headphones, and I can't find anything else that looks like it will work with a phone. I really don't want to buy another set of headphones that won't ever get used, just to get the audio adapter, but if that's the only option than I'll look into it.
posted by markblasco at 1:16 PM on June 22, 2021




I'm on a Pixel 4a, and all of the Switch bluetooth adapters work with my phone. You'll want one of the clunkier ones, the ones that sit flush in pictures will only really fit on the bottom of a Switch without a case.
posted by Anonymous Function at 3:17 PM on June 22, 2021


As an alternative, there are lots of Bluetooth earbuds , even in the $20-40 range, that can be split between two people to listen to the same music. Teens do this all the time. Also, it's better when out walking and running not to have both ears "in use" anyway, for safety purposes. (My daughter and I each have Skullcandy Sesh Evo at the moment.)
posted by stormyteal at 4:08 PM on June 22, 2021


Response by poster: Stormyteal, that would be an ideal solution. Lots of the earbuds I've looked into say they have to be very close to each other, but splitting the set between the two of us would be wonderful. As far as safety goes, I always keep my volume low, and where we walk/jog most of the area is not near traffic, it's through parks and neighborhood streets with sidewalks and very few cars.

So, can you confirm that the skullcandy earbuds will work if we divide them between us, and are 10-15 feet apart?
posted by markblasco at 5:50 PM on June 22, 2021


This device claims to let you pair TWO pairs of headphones simultaneously.

Else, you MAY have to use 3 items: 1 Y-splitter, and TWO transmitters.

Most phones will not output the headphone jack AND Bluetooth at the same time. Most phones will cut off Bluetooth if you plug in a headphone cable.

So you CANNOT get both headphone jack and Bluetooth to pipe the same signal, AFAIK.

So you need a Y-splitter headphone cable, and TWO BT transmitters. Then you can pair one set of BT headphones to each transmitter. Voila.

Keep in mind that you're not looking for audiophile quality, so the cheap $25 dollar ones will be sufficient. And a Y-cable is like $5-$10.
posted by kschang at 12:49 AM on June 23, 2021


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