Does the Fenix 5X Plus support the aptX Bluetooth audio codec?

The SBC codec is mandatory for the Bluetooth standard, but most modern headsets also support aptX (and often LDAC and AAC).
What Bluetooth audio codecs does the Fenix 5X Plus support?

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_codecs#Bluetooth

(note I'm not discussing audio file formats, like mp3, m4a, wav, acc)

0 mariomobiel over 6 years ago

I don't think so since it's useless when using Spotify . And since the 5X plus does not support FLAC or ALAC (cd quality) I don't think it's going to be supported in the near future.

0 nmyeti over 6 years ago

mariomobiel what do you mean "it's useless when using Spotify?"

I'm quite happy with the Spotify performance. The last few firmware updates and the recent bluetooth firmware update have made the connection with my JayBird Run headphones quite good. They used to drop and skip regularly, but now there is only one spot where i get a hiccup when running my normal loop and that is when i run right under some power lines. Once I'm past that little section, the connection is solid even with the watch on my left writs (Right bud is master).

0 mariomobiel over 6 years ago

The mentioned codec is used for streaming high quality (CD quality) music over Bluetooth, since the Spotify stream is already heavily compressed
it's useless to support the aptX codec. Noting about Spotify, I'm really happy with that on my 5X Plus.

0 nickbroon over 6 years ago

The mentioned codec is used for streaming high quality (CD quality) music over Bluetooth, since the Spotify stream is already heavily compressed
it's useless to support the aptX codec.

Spotify can stream at several quality levels. At 320k the the Spotify stream definitely benifits from aptX. I can definitely notice the difference compared to SBC when using my phone with a Bluetooth headset. Almost all models of phone and headsets support aptX now.

FLAC and ALAC files would actually require the aptX-HD Bluetooth audio codec to really notice the difference. But headsets with aptX-HD are not very common.

Does anyone actually know which audio codecs the watch supports, as I can't find it documented anywhere? (Supported audio file formats are documented)

0 nmyeti over 6 years ago

The mentioned codec is used for streaming high quality (CD quality) music over Bluetooth, since the Spotify stream is already heavily compressed
it's useless to support the aptX codec. Noting about Spotify, I'm really happy with that on my 5X Plus.

I understand what you are saying now. Thanks.

0 Radical_53 over 5 years ago

Any news on this, as .m4a was supposed to be a supported file format according to the product details?

0 fjelsten over 5 years ago in reply to Radical_53

Bluetooth codec has little to do with file formats.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago

"SBC supports mono and stereo streams, certain sampling frequencies up to 48 kHz. The codec does not have bitrate limitations, although manufacturers usually use maximum bit rates of 342 kbit/s for mono and 345 kbit/s for stereo streams." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBC_(codec)

Higher bitrates (where apt-x will become apparent) will incur a greater power draw due to the increased processing required and I'd say that Garmin along with Spotify / Amazon are trying to strike a balance between audio quality and battery discharge rates. SBC seems entirely adequate for a wearable at this point.

For what it's worth, Spotify mp3s on the Fenix sound like they might be encoded at 192kb/s rather than 320kb/s anyway.