Being a software developer, I keep seeing bluetooth audio as a Rube Goldberg machine. It's using a battery that you have to keep charged, a lot of software, multiple CPUs, lossy codecs, forward error correction, and an entire stack of mind-bogglingly complex protocols (that no one has ever implemented 100% correctly) that run over an inherently unreliable medium so what? So you don't have to untangle the wire? It never made sense to me. I've never really taken bluetooth seriously. To me, it's a tradeoff that I just don't see ever making. I don't trust software this much. I also prefer something that's easy to troubleshoot when things go wrong.

Wait until you see how Wi-Fi and cellular work.

I know how Wi-Fi works, and how it sometimes doesn't, and this is why I'm using ethernet whenever possible. Cellular operates in a much more controlled environment with more stringent certification, it's much more reliable for me than anything 2.4 GHz, but it does still get frustrating at times. The lack of requirement of a low delay also helps both wifi and cellular I guess.

Exactly. If I had to score reliability, I would give 1 to WiFi, 10 to Bluetooth, one million to cellular and ten million to cable.

It's incredible how much better cellular works compared to other wireless "techno", but nothing replaces a cable.

Yet BT just “works” hitting 80% of expectations, 80% of the time. That’s why the solutions sell.

Apple’s BT has actually been pretty solid for me. My AirPods Pros work rally well with my iPhone, Macbook Pro and Windows laptop. I can switch easily and it already is connected to my last device when I put the AirPods in my ear.

Imagine my Sennheisers working perfectly well with my phone, laptop, computer and even the 20y old radio on my toilet. No connection issues at all, even on busy places.

Just plug the wire and enjoy the very best music quality.

It must be only me who doesn't care about a wire for all the added bonus like quality, stability and no battery.

Definitely not just you. I use a pair of noise cancelling headphones for music practice and they are always plugged in.

I have headphones with Bluetooth and a cable (Sony). I never use the Bluetooth. My use case is listening at work though. Bluetooth seemed to work ok when I tested it, but didn’t confer any significant advantage for me.

Clear startup opportunity?

Seriously. More of us would jump on board if it were not Bluetooth.

Apple has pretty much solved all Bluetooth problems in their AirPods and Beats lines.

No, they haven't. Comments are here and elsewhere, easy to see.

Apple has done well, make no mistake. I applaud them for that.

But the fundemental issues remain, despite what appears to be a solid effort.

I've had really good experience with the SteelSeries Arctis 7. It uses some kind of low latency 2.4GHz protocol, but requires a USB transmitter dongle.

Interesting. I should look those over just to understand what is out there.