Lossless Bluetooth just got a lot closer, but your current earbuds won't get it

If you’ve ever wondered why your wireless earbuds can’t quite match wired headphones, the short answer is that Bluetooth can’t carry enough data. That’s finally starting to change.

The Bluetooth SIG, the group that sets the Bluetooth standard, just made a new feature called High Data Throughput (HDT) official. In plain terms, it lets Bluetooth send much more data per second (up to 7.5 Mbps), almost four times as much as today’s fastest Bluetooth LE connection. That capacity, known as bandwidth, is what has held back the quality of wireless audio.

The SIG says the first big use for all that room will be lossless audio, meaning music that reaches your ears with nothing stripped out. The first standardized version is expected in 2027.

Why more bandwidth means better sound

Every pair of Bluetooth headphones uses a codec to compress music so it fits over the air, and compressing that hard means throwing some detail away. Even the newer LE Audio standard and its LC3 codec work this way.

CD-quality lossless audio needs more room than regular Bluetooth can reliably provide. So far, the only way around that has been Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless, which works only when your phone and earbuds both support Snapdragon Sound, or with an add-on dongle.

HDT would make lossless part of Bluetooth itself. That means it could work with any brand of phone or earbuds that supports it, the same way basic Bluetooth does today. The extra room could also help with spatial audio and wireless surround sound, plus non-audio perks like faster smartwatch syncing.

What’s standing in the way

• You’ll need new hardware. HDT requires a new radio chip, so a software update can’t add it to the earbuds or phone you already own.
• “Bluetooth 7.0” on the box isn’t enough. HDT is an optional part of the new Bluetooth 7.0 standard, so look for HDT by name on the spec sheet.
• Your phone needs it too. Pair HDT earbuds with a phone that doesn’t support it, and you’ll get today’s speeds. As we noted in our recent Qualcomm interview, Samsung, Google, and Apple haven’t said whether their phones will support it, though Samsung’s chip division did back HDT in today’s announcement. Apple, in particular, hasn’t made lossless easy so far, as we found when we looked at why Apple Music makes its best-quality tracks so hard to play.
• The lossless format isn’t finished. HDT adds the bandwidth, but the SIG is still working on the standard lossless format that will run through it.

So when can you get it?

Not this year. Chipmakers are already building HDT-ready parts, and Qualcomm’s FastConnect 8800 chip supports HDT, so the first products could arrive in 2027, possibly as early as CES. Expect them to cost a bit more at first.

If you want lossless Bluetooth today, aptX Lossless is still your only real option, and it’s mostly limited to certain Android phones. HDT is the most promising sign yet that lossless wireless listening could work for everyone, not just people who happen to own the right phone. Until then, our best wireless earbuds list is a good place to start.