Which uses less phone battery, headphone bluetooth or cable?

[stevensfo]

I'm about to get myself some nice headphones for those times when I really want to enjoy the music or for long plane/train journeys.

Since I'm used to using tiny, cheap cabled earphones at night, I have no problem with cabled headphones, but recognise the advantage of bluetooth. In fact I think that we still have some old infrared HiFi headphones somewhere, dating from c.1995.

All the bluetooth headphones have a cable for times when the other device doesn't have bluetooth, or headphones battery is dead etc.

Just for info, is there a difference in power usage between using cabled or bluetooth transmission from phone to headphones? I always thought that bluetooth drained power rather fast.

I just don't like the idea of my phone going to 0% after an hour of listening to 'Val Doonican's tribute to the Sex Pistols'!

Steve

[pje16]

I have Nuraphones headphones and earbuds, both connect via bluetooth
https://www.nuraphone.com/
They don't use much phone battery at all, in fact on 45 min journey my phone
stayed in my pocket and was battery was still on 100% when I got to work
used the headphones all day and again on the way home and their battery was only down to 90%

PS Nuraphone - the best earphones I have ever had

[Infrasonic]

It's related to distance, so in typical use your phone is going to inches away from the BT headphones and the battery draw will be minimal.

There are different flavours of BT codecs, so if you want to maximise the 'quality' of BT music listening it's worth acquainting yourself with all the variables. You need both ends (phone/headphones) to be compatible with each other. There are now 'lossless' BT codecs with the same quality as 16/44.1 CD's or 'lossy' codecs (more compression) that go even higher. In a noisy environment it's a bit moot - but there is a noticeable difference between wired and 'lossy' BT to my ears.
I'm looking at lossless BT on both ends for my next phone/HP purchase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vlKP-Owyco

[kiloran]

PS Nuraphone - the best earphones I have ever had

And the most expensive (by far) I suspect!
I'd expect to get a couple of new 20 - 20,000Hz ears for that price

--kiloran

[pje16]

Rented @£9 per month
Earbuds wear a free gift, can't get cheaper than that

[stevensfo]

I have Nuraphones headphones and earbuds, both connect via bluetooth
https://www.nuraphone.com/
They don't use much phone battery at all, in fact on 45 min journey my phone
stayed in my pocket and was battery was still on 100% when I got to work
used the headphones all day and again on the way home and their battery was only down to 90%

PS Nuraphone - the best earphones I have ever had

100% after 45 minutes? So tell me, when you arrive home, do you leave the battery in the car, or wheel it to the house in a supermarket trolley?

Are you sure you removed the tracking beacon, so Space X can't find you?

Steve

[servodude]

Rented @£9 per month
Earbuds wear a free gift, can't get cheaper than that

...so that "thing" in the middle that squeezes in to your lug could have been in someone else?
That gives me the willies.

- sd

[pje16]

What thing in the middle?
Both sets were brand new
The headphones come with several sets of spare buds if you want to let someone else to try them

[servodude]

What thing in the middle?
Both sets were brand new
The headphones come with several sets of spare buds if you want to let someone else to try them

You know.. the proby protuberance inside the headphone that probes your auditory canal. Eek!

Nice product though. Great idea. Didn't work well on myself as a guy with asymmetric tinnitus - my brain has trained itself to ignore bits that my inner ear doesn't respond to; so their reflection measurement compensation over compensates and sounds like shrill nonsense. (So I stick with my SE535s)

Last time I spoke to their former CEO it was him calling me up to apologize for telling me in the pub that having kids made you a worse engineer; because it meant they might not be as "available".
- psycho and [expletive deleted] is a rare combination

-sd

[pje16]

see what you mean now, the squidgy ear buds
Nuraphone would be no good for you as when you set it up it plays sounds that your ear responds to, to personalise them for you
I did have a whistling in my ear for a few minutes last week and it suddenly stopped, so I do feel for you

[Julian]

I have Nuraphones headphones and earbuds, both connect via bluetooth
https://www.nuraphone.com/
They don't use much phone battery at all, in fact on 45 min journey my phone
stayed in my pocket and was battery was still on 100% when I got to work
used the headphones all day and again on the way home and their battery was only down to 90%

PS Nuraphone - the best earphones I have ever had

100% after 45 minutes? So tell me, when you arrive home, do you leave the battery in the car, or wheel it to the house in a supermarket trolley?

Are you sure you removed the tracking beacon, so Space X can't find you?

Steve

Some battery displays are weird. I have an iPhone so I keep somewhat abreast of that world and although Apple have never admitted it, and probably never would, in the world of Apple users and reviewers it's a pretty widely held suspicion that the battery percentage readout on the iPhone is slightly skewed where it stays at 100% for a while before dropping in a still somewhat non-linear manner in order to make people think they are getting slightly better battery life than they are. That is certainly my impression with all the iPhones I have owned, after a charge it stays at 100% for a suspiciously long time before dropping through the 90s somewhat slowly.

I'm not knocking iPhone battery life, many well conducted tests by various reviewers show that the actual battery life on phones such as the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max and equivalent models from 2 or 3 preceding years have objectively been exceptional, it's just that Apple is also almost certainly playing some mind games with the battery percentage readout as well.

Maybe pje16 has an iPhone, or maybe some Android phone manufacturers play similar tricks with the battery percentage readout.

- Julian

[pje16]

Maybe pje16 has an iPhone, or maybe some Android phone manufacturers play similar tricks with the battery percentage readout.

- Julian

I would touch an iphone, great product, but way overpriced
I have an LG (Android)

[Julian]

Maybe pje16 has an iPhone, or maybe some Android phone manufacturers play similar tricks with the battery percentage readout.

- Julian

I would touch an iphone, great product, but way overpriced
I have an LG (Android)

Totally reasonable. I hate all the "my phone is better than yours" bigotry that often comes out of Apple vs Android spats. I think it's great that we have so much choice so that everyone can choose a phone that is right for them and we all benefit from the competition between manufacturers and operating systems that spurs on innovation.

- Julian

[AlexisSarah]

Bluetooth headphones, in my opinion, use a little more battery than wired headphones because your smartphone must power blue-tooth modules, which consume power and this process also requires a lot of data transmission between the devices.

Another reason is that a Bluetooth headset uses more battery than a standard pair of headphones or earbuds because it is primarily electrical and has a digital chip.

If your phone's battery is low, though, it's always best to utilize the cord rather than Bluetooth because a cable connection uses less battery and gives you more listening time than a Bluetooth headset.

[AF62]

Just for info, is there a difference in power usage between using cabled or bluetooth transmission from phone to headphones? I always thought that bluetooth drained power rather fast.

The answer seems to be
- Having Bluetooth on uses a small amount of battery power, about 4% on a full to empty cycle
- Using Bluetooth whilst it is turned on, for example for headphones, uses nothing more.

https://www.androidauthority.com/does-b ... y-1145853/