Bluetooth or wifi? A jargon-free guide to connecting your audio to your smart devices

In the streaming age, it’s easier than ever to connect up your tech so you can listen to all the best music and podcasts wherever you want, without wires trailing everywhere. If you’re one of Spotify’s 286 million monthly users, you’ve probably noticed an icon on your mobile app that looks like a computer monitor behind a speaker – that’s your portal to Spotify Connect, a super-simple way to play music on all your home tech devices, from your smart fridge to your laptop. But how does it work – and how does it stack up against other wireless streaming methods?

Welcome to Spotify Connect

Since 2018, Spotify Connect has been available for all users, however to be able to connect to every compatible device out there, you’ll need a Spotify Premium subscription. You can use it on your tablet, phone or computer as a kind of remote control to play what you want, where you want it – Spotify offers podcasts in addition to its extensive library of music. And unlike using a Bluetooth speaker, the music won’t stop if you receive a call.

Using Spotify Connect is really easy. From the mobile app, choose something to play, then tap “devices available” underneath the song name. Next, tap the icon of a screen and a speaker, and you’ll get a list of all the Connect-compatible smart devices on your home network. You don’t have to add them, they appear automatically if they’re connected to wifi.

The process on a computer is pretty similar: play something, then click the icon of a screen and a speaker in the bottom right of the app and choose your preferred device.

There’s a vast range of compatible gadgets, so chances are that the device you want to play music on is on the list, but you can check here just in case.

Once you’re streaming, you can use your phone or computer as normal: the audio comes directly from Spotify, not your device, so you can take calls and keep the music going. It doesn’t run your battery down, either.

Moving the sound around is really straightforward: just tap a different device on the list and the music instantly continues there. This is especially handy when you’re moving rooms, or you need to switch away from the soundbar because someone wants to watch TV, for instance.

And when it’s party time (after the pandemic, we might add!), use Spotify Connect to start a group session so that everyone can contribute to the playlist – another feature you can’t get with just Bluetooth or wifi. You’ll see the option to “Start a group session” at the bottom of your Spotify Connect device list, which gives you a code to share with friends so they can add their favourites.

Is it better than Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is an easy, near-universal wireless method of connecting one smart thing to another. That connection is called “pairing” and is usually simple to do – for instance, on many speakers, there’s a little button with the Bluetooth symbol (a stylised B that looks like a sideways pair of scissors) that you press to start sending out signals. Then, turn on Bluetooth via your phone, or whichever device you’re trying to connect to, scan for nearby Bluetooth gadgets and select your speaker from the list. The instructions vary slightly by device, so check the help files for yours if you’re stuck.

Related: Turn off, tune in, chill out: how audio can complement your wellness

Pairing is usually straightforward and only has to be done once – from then on it should work automatically. But Bluetooth does have its downsides too, the more distance there is between the music device and the speaker, the more chance there is for interference and sound drop out – something you don’t need to worry about with Spotify Connect. Thick walls can really mess up the connection too, as you’ll notice if you wander around the house with wireless headphones on.

Bluetooth is the best choice for listening to music outside your home, because you can use it for portable speakers, car stereos and so on without needing to be close to a power socket or wifi router. However, it’s a real drain on the battery life of whatever device you’re streaming from.

The connection can also be temperamental, varying on some devices more than others. If one of the gadgets you like to listen on often drops out, it’s worth trying a different method.

Using wifi without Spotify Connect

Most devices that can play music, such as speakers, TVs, games consoles and even smartwatches have an app that helps you connect them to your home wifi network, and from there you can link up your streaming source.

For instance, a smart speaker such as Google Home gets connected to wifi during setup, using its app. Once it’s ready, you just open the app settings and choose your preferred service for streaming music and podcasts, then start issuing voice commands – such as “OK Google, play Spotify”.

The benefit of using wifi rather than Bluetooth is that you don’t have to worry about keeping your devices close together. As long as whatever’s playing the music is connected to wifi, you’re good – and you can use your phone for calls without cutting off the tunes.

Spotify Connect runs on wifi, so you’ll see all these benefits, plus the added bonus that it will automatically seek out and connect with compatible devices. So if you are going to connect over wifi, it makes sense to do it via Spotify Connect.

Spotify Premium gives you music without the interruptions. To find out more, click here