Bluetooth headphones and music directly from the watch

Hi,

this might be an all-too-obvious question, but I haven't found a dedicated post for this. So, are there any plans to add the capability to the 5X to pair a set of bluetooth headphones with the watch and play music directly? It seems a bit strange to me that I still have to carry around my phone and control the music on the phone from my watch when the watch itself provides the necessary hardware (BT, space, ...). I wouldn't mind increased battery usage for a feature like this.

If there are no plans: Is there a technical limitation that prevents this?

Thanks,

Harald

0 tmk2 over 7 years ago

The F5 does not have Bluetooth. It has Bluetooth Smart also called Bluetooth LE. Bluetooth LE has significantly lower data throughput. I haven't really done any serious research in this area, but I suspect that Bluetooth LE might not be enough to provide high fidelity stereo audio.

And that doesn't even take into accout if Garmin's "take-over-the-world" scheme includes providing music in ANY of their devices - present or future.

If you want music while running without a phone, then there are simpler solutions. Sports-oriented headphones exist with builtin music players.

0 mcbadger over 7 years ago

Standards are coming for music over BLE, but they definitely weren't there when the F5X was in design phase. http://uk.businessinsider.com/bluetooth-audio-future-update-low-energy-2016-10?r=US&IR=T Garmin have always leant towards prioritising battery life and I doubt the hardware actually supports audio, or that Garmin would enable it for the perceived battery life hit anyway. Maybe the next generation. When they think it's hurting their sales not to do this, they'll move. I see quite a lot of demand in the forum, but it's not like TomTom a taking over the world with their music playing watch. I'd be interested in how much Apple sales are eating into Garmin, which might tell you a bit more about that.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

There are lots of Bluetooth headphones in the market that are also mp3 players or even fm players. I just got one of these and i'm pretty satisfied. Only drawback is that you cannot control the music from your watch, but for me its something i would never do anyway while running. I much prefer hitting a button on my headphones.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wire...832399902.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Rema...736229145.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wire...815879225.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/BOAS...721831506.html

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Hi,
An interesting request but not impossible. The Mee Audio X7 should also do the job as earlier specified by vinaychandel121 but everything comes down to your experience. BNCHG has some useful information. You might want to check it out.

0 jim_m_58 over 7 years ago

Garmin now has a watch that does have Music on it - the fr 645 Music.