aptX Low Latency Headphones: What Still Supports It

A low-latency codec only helps when both ends use it. Headphones with aptX Low Latency drop to an ordinary, slower codec unless the phone, TV or transmitter sending the sound has aptX Low Latency too.

So start with what you are connecting to. For a TV, buy headphones and a transmitter that name the same codec, or a set sold together. For an Android phone, look for aptX Adaptive on both the phone and the headphones. An iPhone does not use aptX of any kind, and there is a section on that below.

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What Qualcomm says now

Qualcomm owns aptX and runs aptx.com. The site still gives aptX Low Latency its own page and still counts it as one of four aptX types, next to aptX, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive. It quotes a delay of about 40 milliseconds, which it says is the level needed to keep sound and picture together.

aptX Adaptive is the one Qualcomm calls the next generation. Its page describes a low-latency mode for video and games that switches on by itself according to what the phone is doing, and gives a system latency of about 80 milliseconds. The same page says aptX Adaptive is backwards compatible with aptX and aptX HD. aptX Low Latency is not named there.

Qualcomm’s product list shows where the makers went. It tags one phone with aptX Low Latency, the Sony Xperia 10 VIII, and that phone’s own entry describes it as supporting aptX Adaptive. More than 300 phones carry the aptX Adaptive tag. Among true wireless earbuds it is one model against more than 120.

Over-ear headphones look closer, with 46 tagged Low Latency and 49 tagged Adaptive. But the Low Latency list is a back catalogue. All seven products this page recommended in 2020 are on it, and only one of those is still on sale at its maker.

So aptX Low Latency has not been withdrawn, but the makers have moved on. It survives in TV transmitters and in a few headphones built for them.

Both ends have to match

• aptX Low Latency headphones with a phone: if the phone cannot send aptX Low Latency, and almost none is listed as able to, the pair connects with plain aptX, AAC or SBC. Nothing is gained.
• aptX Adaptive headphones with an aptX Low Latency transmitter: Qualcomm lists aptX and aptX HD as the fallbacks for aptX Adaptive, so do not count on low latency from this pairing.
• aptX Adaptive at both ends: the low-latency mode is available. Bose and Sennheiser both attach conditions, covered below.

MEE audio, which still sells aptX Low Latency gear, publishes its own delay figures for each codec: 30 to 40 milliseconds for aptX Low Latency, 90 to 150 for AAC, 130 to 170 for plain aptX and 170 to 270 for SBC. Those are one maker’s figures, but they show what a fallback costs.

Does the iPhone support aptX?

No. Apple’s Accessory Design Guidelines, the document it gives to companies making Bluetooth accessories, describe three codecs for audio sent from an iPhone, iPad or Mac: SBC, AAC-LC and AAC-ELD. aptX does not appear anywhere in it. There is no Apple device on Qualcomm’s aptX product list either.

With an iPhone, aptX headphones of any type run on AAC if they support it, and on SBC if they do not. For low delay on an iPhone, look at the dongle and cable options further down.

Headphones that still list aptX Low Latency

We went through the makers’ own pages. Three models still on their makers’ sites name it.

MEE audio Matrix Cinema, about $120

MEE audio lists SBC, aptX and aptX Low Latency for these over-ear headphones, with Bluetooth 5.0 and up to 28 hours of media playback. They come with a 3.5mm cable for when the battery is flat. They are built for television, and MEE sells them alone or with its transmitter as the Connect T1CMA system. MEE audio Matrix Cinema on Amazon

final UX3000

The Japanese maker final lists SBC, AAC and aptX Low Latency for its noise-cancelling UX3000, with up to 35 hours of playback and a cable in the box. Its own store sells in Japan and prices it in yen, so we have no maker’s dollar price to give. final UX3000 on Amazon

Master & Dynamic MG20

Master & Dynamic lists aptX HD for music and aptX Low Latency for mobile gaming on this $449 gaming headset. It showed as sold out on the maker’s store, so treat it as one to find elsewhere if you want it.

Avantree was on our old list for this codec. Its Aria Me, which lists aptX HD and aptX Low Latency, is marked not available on its store, and the original Aria Pro is the same.

Headphones with aptX Adaptive

These are current models whose makers list aptX Adaptive. Prices are from the makers’ own US stores, rounded.

Having the codec is not the same as getting the low-latency mode. Read the small print:

• Bose says the Gaming Mode on the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones is for users with Snapdragon Sound sources, meaning a phone that carries Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound badge.
• Sennheiser lists the gaming mode on the Momentum 5 Wireless as available with its BTD 700 dongle. The dongle is about $60 on its own. Sennheiser claims latency as low as 30 milliseconds for it in Game Mode, and marks the claim with an asterisk.
• Avantree says the Audition 3 reaches low latency when used with its own transmitters and dongles, and names them.
• EarFun lists a Low Latency Mode on the Wave Pro X without giving a figure for it.

For earbuds the story is the same. Sennheiser lists aptX Adaptive and Lossless on the Momentum True Wireless 5 at about $300. EarFun lists aptX Adaptive on the Air Pro 4 at about $90 and claims a low-latency mode under 50 milliseconds.

Amazon searches for the ones we would shortlist:

• Avantree Audition 3 on Amazon
• EarFun Wave Pro X on Amazon
• Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless on Amazon
• Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) on Amazon
• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 on Amazon

For TV, buy the pair together

A set with its own transmitter removes the guesswork, because the maker has matched the two ends for you.

• MEE audio Connect T1CMA, about $170. The Matrix Cinema headphones with MEE’s Connect transmitter. Both list aptX Low Latency. This is the one entry from our 2020 list that is still on sale. MEE audio Connect T1CMA on Amazon
• Avantree Ensemble, about $110. Headphones with a charging base that is also the transmitter. Avantree lists aptX Adaptive and SBC for both parts, and up to 35 hours per charge. Avantree Ensemble on Amazon
• Sennheiser RS 275, about $300. Headphones bundled with a transmitter that works over Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast. Sennheiser lists LC3, aptX, aptX Adaptive, AAC and SBC for the headphones and up to 50 hours of playback. Sennheiser RS 275 on Amazon

Check the listing before buying any TV set on the strength of the words low latency. Avantree’s Opera set is sold as low latency, and its transmitter lists aptX Low Latency, but the headphones in the box list FastStream and SBC, with no aptX at all. If aptX is what you are after, that is the wrong set.

If you already own headphones with aptX Low Latency or aptX Adaptive, a transmitter alone will do. The Avantree Oasis Plus 2, about $80, lists aptX Adaptive, aptX Low Latency, aptX and SBC, so it covers both kinds. Avantree quotes a delay as low as 40 milliseconds with aptX Low Latency. Avantree Oasis Plus 2 on Amazon

Sony and Bose

People search for Sony and Bose headphones with aptX Low Latency. We found it on neither maker’s pages.

Sony’s help guide for the WH-1000XM6 lists SBC, AAC and LDAC over ordinary Bluetooth, and LC3 over LE Audio. There is no aptX of any kind. Bose has aptX Adaptive on the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, as in the table above.

Other ways to cut the delay

A headset with its own USB dongle. This is the route HyperX took. Its Cloud Mix was on our old list for its aptX Low Latency. The replacement, the Cloud MIX 2 at about $200, lists SBC, AAC and LE Audio for Bluetooth, and no aptX. For low delay it uses a 2.4GHz USB-C dongle instead, with latency as low as 20 milliseconds by HyperX’s figure. HyperX says the dongle works with Android phones and with iPhones that have a USB-C port. Avantree’s Aria Pro 3, about $110, takes the same route.

LE Audio. The newer Bluetooth standard uses a codec called LC3. Sennheiser says of its LE Audio TV transmitter that the codecs offer very low latency, and Avantree quotes roughly 60 to 70 milliseconds for LC3 on its Auracast headphones. Both ends have to support it, as with aptX.

A cable. A wire has no codec. The MEE Matrix Cinema, the final UX3000 and the Sennheiser HDB 630 can all be used on one.

What happened to the old list

• Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd Gen): gone. B&O’s US headphone page shows the Beoplay H100, HX and H95.
• Avantree Aria Pro: marked not available on Avantree’s store. The newer Aria Pro 3 uses a USB-C dongle.
• Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3: sold out on Sennheiser’s US store. The Momentum 4 and 5 list aptX Adaptive, with no Low Latency.
• Aukey B80: not in Aukey’s store, which sells other earbuds now.
• MEE audio EarBoost EB1: no longer in MEE audio’s store.
• MEE audio Connect with Matrix Cinema: still sold, and in the TV section above.
• HyperX Cloud Mix: replaced by the Cloud MIX 2, which has no aptX.

Which to pick

• For a TV, as cheaply as possible: the Avantree Ensemble set at about $110.
• For a TV, and you want aptX Low Latency itself: the MEE audio Connect T1CMA at about $170.
• You already have aptX headphones: the Avantree Oasis Plus 2 transmitter, which lists both Low Latency and Adaptive.
• For an Android phone on Qualcomm’s list: any aptX Adaptive pair from the table. The Audition 3 and Wave Pro X are the cheap ones.
• For an iPhone or a games console: a headset with its own USB-C dongle, or a cable.

If you watch on a phone, the phone matters as much as the headphones. We have a separate guide to phones for watching YouTube and Netflix.

Quick answers

Is aptX Low Latency discontinued?

Qualcomm has not said so, and aptx.com still has a page for it. But new headphones from the big names list aptX Adaptive, and Qualcomm’s product list tags only one phone with Low Latency.

What is the difference between aptX Low Latency and aptX Adaptive?

Qualcomm quotes about 40 milliseconds for aptX Low Latency and about 80 milliseconds of system latency for aptX Adaptive, which also changes its bit rate to suit the connection. Adaptive falls back to aptX and aptX HD. Low Latency is not on its compatibility list.

Do I need a transmitter for aptX Low Latency headphones?

Almost certainly. The source has to support the codec too, and hardly any phone does. A TV transmitter that lists aptX Low Latency, such as the Avantree Oasis Plus 2, is the usual answer.

Are there aptX Low Latency earbuds?

Qualcomm’s list shows a single true wireless model with it. Earbuds use aptX Adaptive now, on models such as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 and the EarFun Air Pro 4.

Which phones support aptX Adaptive?

Qualcomm’s product list has more than 300, from makers including Sharp, Motorola, Xiaomi, ASUS and Sony. Qualcomm says the list may not be complete, so check your phone’s own spec page for aptX Adaptive or Snapdragon Sound if it is missing.

Prices move, so confirm on the maker’s store before you pay.