Is Android Wear ruining your Bluetooth speaker/headset sound?

Our Android Wear smartwatches have totally changed the way we use our connected devices. At first it was a luxury to me, but I have found that I can no longer live without this commodity. It’s not all fun and pleasure for all users, though. The latest reports suggest these nifty devices may have an adverse effect on Bluetooth audio devices.

An unsatisfied listener has posted his experience on Reddit. And it seems this is not an isolated event, as some other users have been witnessing similar behavior. But let’s step back for a bit and see what phuzzyday‘s experience was like.

This user has a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, a Samsung Gear Live and a Jaybird X2 headset (great headphones, by the way!). One day he noticed his sound was substandard, as if the audio was set at a lower bitrate, but once he tested the same headset on his PC it was a different story. Sound was perfect while using his computer. He then proceeded to try a JBL Charge 2 Bluetooth speaker with the phone and sound was equally bad.

After searching through other threads, he found other people have seen similar problems while using a Moto 360. He proceeded to turn off the watch to see if that could be the issue, and guess what? Sound was perfectly normal! The only caveat was that the music would stop playing every couple minutes. If he turned the watch back on, the music didn’t stop playing, but the low quality audio came back.

What’s next? By then he was probably realizing he was going to have to make some sacrifices, but he certainly didn’t give up on the troubleshooting. He proceeded to uninstall the Android Wear app and all problems disappeared. Sound was clear and the music was no longer stopping. His best solution was to unpair the watch while listening to his tunes, but that is also an inconvenience.

This same user also tried all these steps with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Moto 360, only to come up with the same results. Information is limited so far, but this does seem to be a Bluetooth connectivity issue between Android Wear and certain phones. Other users state some devices have no issue handling Android Wear and speakers/headsets simultaneously, including the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6. Another report states the issue is also present with the LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S4 (even if less apparent on the latter).

We would certainly like to learn more and make this issue more widespread (if it does exist). Only then will we get a statement and/or fix from Google. Please do hit the comments and let us know if you have been experiencing similar issues. Does your Bluetooth audio sound bad when you are connected to an Android Wear device? Do you have any fixes for this issue?