this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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It's weird because there's a 3.5mm port on the controller you can use. Which I usually end up using, or Bluetooth through my TV. But it's really silly that they don't just say "Bluetooth audio sucks, use at your own risk" and let you have it.
Bluetooth does, legitimately, suck, for gaming though.
The only official two-way audio profile (that is, mic and speaker working simultaneously) mandates a low bitrate mono audio.
Stereo audio itself has a slight latency which may be fine for music or even movies (especially with lip sync adjustments), but for gaming it can be a problem when your audio is a big part of your situational awareness.
I don’t mind not supporting Bluetooth for games, at least for multiplayer. 3.5mm to controller and a proprietary protocol for the audio is the perfect compromise. For single player or media, though, I’d agree it’s dumb.
IMO even if it does suck for latency, not everyone is playing competitively and needs perfect latency and bluetooth should be supported for everything. Rhythm games on pc and mobile even have adjustment settings for terrible latency.
This is my issue with it. I have a good wired headset I plug in when I am playing online multiplayer or anything that needs good sound. I have a Bluetooth headset I use when I don't want the hassle of wires or am listening to music and might stand up and walk around or something.
Let me have the choice and don't treat me like an idiot for not caring about laggy audio when I'm just playing Football Manager and listening to Spotify.
Depending on the profile, it’s not just a little latency that would be slightly annoying, it can be easily half a second or more, which is enough to be disorienting even in normal slow paced gameplay.