This Tiny Hi-Fi Gadget Solves Your iPhone’s Biggest Audio Problem

The iPhone notoriously doesn’t support the highest-resolution Bluetooth codecs such as aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD and Sony’s LDAC. Instead, it’s limited to Apple’s AAC Bluetooth codec, which has a substantially lower bitrate.

For context, AAC has a max bitrate of 320kbps, which is lower than aptX Lossless (up to 420 kbps), aptX Adaptive (up to 420 kbps), aptX HD (up to 576 kbps) and LDAC (up to 990 kbps).

This is a bummer because a lot of today’s most popular headphones, wireless earbuds, and speakers now support these highest-resolution audio codecs, and you simply aren’t getting the most out of them if you’re streaming over Bluetooth from an iPhone.

The good news is that this first-of-a-kind gadget can add support for all those high-resolution audio codecs to your iPhone (or any USB-C device). And it’s relatively inexpensive.

FiiO BT11

FiiO

FiiO BT11

• $44 at FiiO

Up to 24-bit/96kHz

The FiiO BT11 is a tiny USB-C transmitter that adds Bluetooth 5.4 to your iPhone as well as support for high-resolution Bluetooth codecs, including aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD and LDAC.

This allows you to stream audio up to 24-bit/96kHz — the highest resolution Bluetooth currently allows — right from your iPhone.

Of course, to achieve this high-resolution audio, you’ll also need a compatible device (headphones, earbuds or speaker) and be subscribed to a lossless streaming service (such as Apple Music, Amazon Music or Tidal) … but there’s a good chance you already do/have both.

FiiO

Light the way

The FiiO BT11 plugs into your iPhone via USB-C — so you’ll need an iPhone 15 or 16, or have a Lightning adapter for an older iPhone — and works with the FiiO Control App. You’ll use this app to control the device as well as unlock some additional features (like multi-point pairing).

A neat feature is that the BT11 has an integrated RGB indicator light that changes color depending on the Bluetooth codec being used. For example, it pulses white light when playing LDAC, yellow when playing aptX HD, and green when playing aptX Lossless. This way you always know what you’re listening to.

It’s worth noting that the BT11 is compatible with most USB-C devices, not just the newest iPhones. So, it can also add high-resolution Bluetooth streaming to your laptop or Nintendo Switch.

FiiO

Price and availability

The FiiO BT11 comes in two different finishes, silver or black, so you can hopefully get one that matches your iPhone or laptop. It costs just $44, making it a relatively affordable hi-fi upgrade.

Excited to unlock your headphones’ full audio potential when streaming from your iPhone? You’ll have to wait just a little to order.

The FiiO BT11 goes on sale on October 8th.

FiiO

FiiO BT11

• $44 at FiiO

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