How to connect airpods to oculus?

The Oculus Quest 2 (also called the Meta Quest 2) is one of the top VR headsets on the market right now, but some users find the integrated sound to be disappointing.

The obvious fix for this is to use your own headphones with the VR headset. And for AirPods owners, what better device to try and connect than your AirPods?

However, connecting your AirPods to the Oculus Quest 2 can be confusing, especially with the continually changing updates on how to do so.

In fact, there are two ways to connect your AirPods with Quest 2: natively or via a Bluetooth dongle. So, to help you figure out which to go for, here’s a complete guide!

The Oculus Quest 2 makes no official claims that it can support Bluetooth headphones. Case in point, Meta only states that the headset ‘supports both 3.5 mm headphones, as well as USB-C headphones’.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t connect your AirPods or any other Bluetooth headphones!

While this change is made primarily for other Bluetooth accessories such as wireless keyboards, this still made headphones such as AirPods a real option when using the Oculus Quest 2.

Here’s how you can connect your AirPods to the Oculus Quest 2:

Now your AirPods are connected! You can test if it was successful by playing audio from the Oculus Quest 2.

Unfortunately, just because it’s possible to connect your AirPods to the Oculus Quest 2, that doesn’t mean the audio will work perfectly. Many users have reported issues when they use their AirPods, including:

Audio latency is the fancy term for audio lag. This usually happens when the sound from the Oculus Quest 2 takes a few seconds to reach your AirPods.

For instance, this can be frustrating when you’re on a call as it would delay your conversation. It can be equally annoying if you’re gaming because the audio will not sync with the on-screen action.

However, audio latency is a common problem with Bluetooth headphones. It happens because wirelessly transferring sound from your device to the headphones takes time.

Bluetooth’s audio latency can range from the best case of 34 ms to 100-300 ms. Usually, this range depends on different factors like the codec and Bluetooth version.

Wired headphones, on the other hand, have much less audio latency (5-10 ms) because they don’t need to change the sound into a wireless signal.

Transmitting sound through Bluetooth is far more complicated than using wired headphones. Effectively, this can cause your Oculus Quest to lag in other areas as well, causing frame drops.

When frames start to drop from your video media, you will experience a laggy and stuttering video feed. It can be frustrating if you’re playing a video game or watching a video or movie. However, if your frame drop gets really bad, it can make the Oculus Quest 2 unusable with your AirPods.

Though a small amount of audio lag is inevitable with any Bluetooth headphones, there is something you can do to reduce it.

A Bluetooth transmitter is a small device that reduces audio lag. It does this by essentially doing the audio processing for the Oculus Quest. As a result, this lowers the strain on the headset, which speeds up the Bluetooth transmission, leading to less audio lag and frame drops.

When your device broadcasts Bluetooth audio, it encodes it into a compressed form to speed up the transmission. Your Bluetooth headphones receive this compressed data and decode it into a playable audio file.

The Bluetooth codec is the software that compresses and decodes the audio file. Imagine it as being a little like the key to a code. Without the codec, all you have is a useless pile of data.

Here are a couple of Bluetooth transmitters that support the AAC codec and will work with your Oculus Quest 2:

The eppfun AK3040C is a great Bluetooth transmitter if you just want to plug it in and go. This device has an automatic pairing mode and long-lasting battery life, making it convenient and easy to use. It can also send audio to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously so you can share your audio with a friend.

In addition, the AK3040C also comes with an eighteen-month warranty. So, if you find that it isn’t working with your AirPods, you’ll be able to send it back.

The Antank Bluetooth Audio Transmitter is another convenient choice of Bluetooth transmitter. This option is great if you play multiplayer games or want to make voice calls, as it supports connected microphones and earbuds.

You will need to pair your AirPods with this transmitter to use it.

Virtual Reality or VR is one of the newest and most fascinating pieces of technology gamers and currently enjoying. It offers a wireless experience that a wired headset can ruin if you are tangled in cables to have audio. However, these devices aren’t without limitations, whether compatibility with gaming consoles or linking with other accessories to help users immerse themselves in VR.

Officially, Oculus Quest 2 does not support Bluetooth connections, which would mean you can’t use Airpods with it. However, there are ways of using Bluetooth devices with an Oculus. Still, there are limitations to the quality, such as game stuttering and audio being out of sync with the video. Luckily, devices like Bluetooth transmitters help boost the headset’s processing power to avoid these issues.

Keep reading to learn how you can pair AirPods and other Bluetooth devices with your Oculus Quest 2. Some limitations include linking these two devices, such as stuttering and lagging while gaming, and some tricks to help improve the experience.

Oculus wants users to use a wired connection when using headphones or the built-in sound system in the headset. Using a wired connection is far more reliable than wireless options, especially if you’re gaming. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use wireless earbuds like AirPods, and it just takes a few steps to set everything up.

To connect your AirPods to your Oculus:

Since this isn’t an official feature of the Oculus, some Bluetooth devices will not work using this method. AirPods seem to work for the most part, but it could depend on the model or even take a few tries before the pairing works. Remember that the problem is unlikely because something is wrong with your AirPods.

It’s clear that since this Bluetooth feature is under the “Experimental Features” menu, there will be some drawbacks to using your AirPods with the Oculus Quest 2. It depends on what you are trying to get out of your VR experience and whether having issues with the overall sound is an issue for you.

Some issues that you might encounter:

But is it even possible to use AirPods with Oculus Quest 2?

Yes. But there are some catches you must be aware of.

This post will clear all your doubts and show you the process of connecting AirPods to Oculus Quest 2.

Let’s begin.

The Oculus Quest 2 is one of the most popular VR headsets in the market. If you have a pair of Apple AirPods, you might be interested in using them with the Oculus Quest 2, as the Oculus Quest 2 headset doesn’t have top-quality audio.

But you’d be quite confused while looking for an official guide to connect AirPods with the VR headset, as Oculus Quest 2 doesn’t officially support AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones.

If you go through the official website, you will see that Oculus Quest 2 “supports both 3.5 mm headphones, as well as USB-C headphones”. But there’s no mention of connecting Bluetooth headphones with your Oculus Quest 2, like your AirPods.

However, don’t be disappointed, as Oculus Quest 2 has Bluetooth functionality and supported connecting wireless earbuds (including Apple AirPods and Galaxy Buds) via the Experimental Feature in Settings in its beginning days.

Later in March 2022, the Bluetooth setting was moved into the device settings, eliminating the need to turn on Experimental Features to use a Bluetooth connection.

As AirPods is a Bluetooth headphone, it can connect to the Oculus Quest 2 like a regular Bluetooth headphone. However, you would not get any special functionality of using AirPods or leverage the high-quality codec of the AirPods.

That means there will be some optimization, compatibility, and performance issues, as Oculus Quest 2 doesn’t officially support using wireless headsets and there are no optimizations.

But, if you can deal with these issues and still want to use Oculus Quest 2 and AirPods together, then you can do it. Or, you can resort to an alternative for dealing with quality issues.

Keep reading to know about the detailed process of connecting your AirPods to Oculus Quest 2, and also about the issues and their workarounds.

Check out our expert-recommended Can You Use AirPods For PS5.

You can connect Bluetooth headsets like AirPods Pro or AirPods Max to Oculus Quest 2 the same way you connect any other Bluetooth device by going inside Device Settings and connecting the Bluetooth headset using the Bluetooth pairing option.

Follow these steps to pair AirPods with the Oculus Quest 2:

After completing the pairing process, you’ll see the AirPods in the list of connected devices in the Oculus Quest 2. You have successfully paired the AirPods with the Oculus Quest 2. Now you can listen to the Oculus Quest 2 wirelessly using the AirPods.

But one thing to note about using this method is that there are still some limitations on using the AirPods with the Oculus.

Here’s a complete guide to know the difference between Gear VR vs Oculus Quest.

Since the Oculus Quest 2 doesn’t support Bluetooth headsets officially, the virtual reality headset is not optimized for the best Bluetooth audio quality. There’s no information on the Bluetooth features like codec and version that the VR headset uses.

As a result, there are some frequent issues while connecting the Oculus Quest 2 with AirPods.

Here is a list of issues using the AirPods with Oculus Quest 2:

However, you should keep in mind that these issues are less noticeable if you are just streaming a movie or TV show on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

So, you must be wondering whether there is a workaround to these limitations of using AirPods with an Oculus device. You can find the answer to that in the next section.

Go through our epic guide on Fix Discord Airpods Not Working.

Your Oculus Quest 2 VR headset will have a much easier time processing the audio from the Bluetooth transmitter than the AirPods.

The Bluetooth transmitter is a separate device that’ll plug into the 3.5mm audio jack of the VR headset. It’ll receive the audio from the Bluetooth headsets, process it and then send the audio to the VR headset. The VR headset will receive the audio as if it’s from a 3.5mm wired audio headset.

One of the main problems of using Bluetooth audio devices like AirPods with Oculus Quest is that the VR headset needs to process the audio alongside playing games or whatever else you’re doing on the VR. This wireless audio results in latency issues and frame drops.

But as you use an external Bluetooth transmitter, it will do a major portion of the transcoding and processing. Hence the burden on the VR headset processor will be removed and it can focus on processing the game.

It’s not like there will be zero latency when listening to audio using a Bluetooth transmitter but typically, there is around a 40ms lag when using the transmitter which is decent enough for gaming.

Another important point to consider is that the quality of your Bluetooth transmitter must be above average if you want to have a truly immersive VR experience. You should look for a transmitter that supports at least Bluetooth 4.2 and has a range of 10m.

Once you have found the perfect Bluetooth transmitter, all you need to do is connect the Bluetooth/wireless headset or AirPods to the transmitter after it’s properly plugged into the 3.5 mm port of the Oculus Quest 2.

Most people make the mistake of connecting their AirPods with the Oculus Quest 2 with the transmitter plugged in. If you do this, you won’t notice any latency improvements because you are not using the transmitter at all.

I would also like to add that if you want to get the ultimate and immersive wireless experience out of your Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, simply use wired earphones with it. You will be listening to almost zero latency and uncompressed high-quality audio.

Check out our separate post on Airpods Not Working in Zoom on Mac.

Question: Can I use my AirPods pro with Oculus Quest 2?

Answer: Yes, you can connect your Apple AirPods Pro with Oculus Quest 2 by connecting them like a regular Bluetooth device.

Question: Can you use the AirPods Max with Quest 2?

Answer: Yes, you can use the AirPods Mac with Quest 2 like any other Bluetooth earphone.

Question: Can I use any headphones with Oculus Quest 2?

Answer: Oculus Quest 2 officially supports 3.5mm and USB-C earphones. To use a Bluetooth headphone, you have to connect Bluetooth headphones to Oculus Quest 2 like a regular Bluetooth device. You might face frame drops and high latency while using Bluetooth earphones.

That’s all I have to say about how you can connect your AirPods or any other wireless Bluetooth headphones to Oculus Quest 2 and what problems you might be experiencing.

• Switch on your Quest 2.
• Go to the Settings menu.
• Select Experimental Features.
• Next, switch on your AirPods, and put them into pairing mode.
• Go back to your Quest 2, and look for the option marked Bluetooth Pairing.
• Select Pair new device and connect them up to the AirPods.

If you own a pair of Apple AirPods as well as the Quest 2 headset, you might want to follow our guide on how you can connect your Apple AirPods to your Meta Quest 2. Let’s get started.

The Quest 2 is a VR headset that runs independently without the need for any PC. The headset is equipped with several sports and connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth. When it comes to connecting wired earphones or headphones, you can easily make use of the 3.5mm headphone jack and the included Type C cable.

However, the official documentation for the Quest 2 doesn’t state anything about whether you can connect Bluetooth earphones and headphones to the device. But considering that the headset has Bluetooth, there is no harm in trying to connect your Apple AirPods to your Quest 2 headset.

Here are the steps you need to follow if you plan on connecting your AirPods to the Quest 2 VR headset.

If you plan on your using the Apple AirPods along with your Quest 2 headset, you might want to follow these steps.

You can also connect your Apple AirPods with the old method, in which we first need to go to the Settings and enable Experimental Features, then pair the headsets using Bluetooth mode.

The above-mentioned steps will work all models of Apple AirPods, Yes, you can pair the first generation Apple AirPods, or even second or third-gen AirPods, AirPods Pro (1st and 2nd gen), as well as the AirPods Max. Apart from the Apple AirPods, you can also connect other wireless headsets to your Oculus Quest 2.

Considering that the Bluetooth feature is still an experimental mode, you will be facing some issues such as loss of audio, connectivity issues, aspiring problems, issues with the microphone, and a couple of other audio-related issues, these issues are to be expected since the Bluetooth feature is not in its final form for the Quest 2.

Conclusion

This concludes our guide on how you can pair your Apple AirPods to your Quest 2 VR headset. In this manner, you can connect almost any and every type of Bluetooth headset to your Quest 2 VR headset such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds, OnePlus Buds, Huawei Freebuds, and numerous other brands out there.

However, you need to understand that there will be some issues that may or may not affect your experience while using the Apple AirPods with Meta Oculus Quest 2. If you have queries, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Oculus Quest 2 is a highly advanced virtual reality headset that allows you to explore the fascinating world of awe-inspiring games and non-stop fun and entertainment. If you want to enjoy seamless gameplay without worrying about wires, Airpods are the perfect solution.

Oculus Quest 2 has not made an official statement regarding compatibility with Bluetooth headphones; however, there are ways to pair the two. We’ll share why you need to connect AirPods to Oculus Quest 2 and guide you on how to do it with our step-by-step instructions.

There are several reasons why many people prefer to use AirPods to connect to Oculus Quest 2 for audio output. Some of these reasons are the following.

It is possible to connect AirPods to Oculus Quest 2, but it will take some effort to get the desired audio results. With our step-by-step instructions, the slightly complicated process of connecting the two will become easy for you.

We have already discussed the reasons for connecting AirPods to Oculus Quest 2. Now let’s go through the methods to connect the two devices.

Oculus Quest 2 supports wired 3.5mm headphones and USB-C headphones. This does not mean that wireless earbuds such as AirPods can’t connect to your Oculus Quest 2. Follow these steps to connect them via Bluetooth.

In the first step, you need to set up both devices.

First, charge your AirPods, and don’t remove them from the case yet. Next, press and hold the small circular pairing button located on the back of the AirPods case until the light on the front starts to flash. Now turn on your Oculus Quest 2 VR headset and wear it.

Next, you’ll access Oculus Quest 2 Settings to configure Bluetooth.

After switching on the headset, click on the “Settings” icon. Next, select the “Experimental Features” option from the sidebar. Now find the “Bluetooth Pairing” option under Experimental Features and click on the “Pair” button to its right.

Wait for 30 to 60 seconds till the “Ready to Pair” option appears, and select the “Pair New Device” option from the list of devices. Finally, choose your AirPods to complete the pairing process and enjoy wirelessly listening to your favorite music, shows, and other videos.

To resolve the general Bluetooth pairing limitations between your AirPods and Oculus Quest 2 and for a better audio experience, you can use an external Bluetooth transmitter.