AirFly has become a popular name in the world of Bluetooth audio transmitters, allowing users to connect wireless headphones to a 3.5mm aux jack or USB-C socket on any device that lacks Bluetooth connectivity.
Some models allow users to share audio between two sets of headphones, effectively acting as a Bluetooth audio splitter, and the AirFly Pro also works as a Bluetooth audio receiver. Connecting the Airfly Pro to a 3.5mm aux-in socket turns any device into a Bluetooth speaker.
AirFly Bluetooth codec support
| Bluetooth | SBC | AptX | AptX LL | AAC | |
| AirFly Classic | 4.1 | YES | – | – | – |
| AirFly Duo | 5.0 | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| AirFly USB-C | 5.0 | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| AirFly Pro | 5.0 | YES | YES | YES | Receive only |
The AirFly Classic is a Bluetooth 4.1 device and is only advertised as supporting the default ‘SBC‘ audio codec. All other AirFly devices use the more recent Bluetooth 5.0 and boast support for additional, high-quality codecs, though none support AptX HD or LDAC for a true high-definition or high-fidelity connection.
The AirFly Duo, USB-C and Pro all support AptX and AptX LL. AptX offers higher-quality audio than the standard SBC Bluetooth codec, provided the headphones or speakers you’re connecting to also support it.
AptX Low Latency, known as AptX LL, is perfect if you want to connect some Bluetooth headphones or speakers to your TV or PC to watch shows or movies. Typically, a Bluetooth audio connection would introduce so much of a delay the lip-sync would be way off in anything you tried to watch. AptX Low Latency reduces this delay to around 32 ms. Anything under 40 ms is recommended for ideal viewing.
All devices except the Classic also support the AAC audio codec, favoured by Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads and Airpods – and the popular Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones. The AirFly Pro, which can receive Bluetooth audio as well as transmit, only supports AAC in receive mode. This allows an iPhone user to plug the AirFly Pro into say, an old car stereo’s aux-in socket, and listen to high-quality AAC audio wirelessly through their car system.
As a bonus, Apple Music is also encoded in AAC by default, so subscribers can transmit audio from Apple Music wirelessly to an AirFly Pro with minimal transcoding.
For help getting set up, check out the official AirFly quick start video below:
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