If your laptop, phone or tablet doesn't have aptX HD or aptX Adaptive, Sennheiser's tiny USB dongle delivers exactly that for a very reasonable price.
It'll set you back just £44.99 / €49.90 (about $60 / AU$94).
Even the best headphones have a weakness if they're wireless – they're only as good as the device you're streaming audio from.
If the Bluetooth module inside your device isn't a good or a recent one, and the ones in many computers aren't, then you're probably not getting the best sound quality your headphones are capable of. That's why Sennheiser has made the BTD700.
The Sennheiser BTD 700 is a Bluetooth dongle that brings key wireless streaming codecs to your device, in the form of aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless. And it's priced keenly.
You can find it for a very reasonable £44.99 / €49.90 (about $60 / AU$94).
Sennheiser BTD 700: key features
The BTD 700 is Bluetooth 5.4 and delivers Hi-Res Audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz. It supports Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless streaming, Auracast transmission to compatible headphones, and according to Sennheiser, superior audio quality in voice and video chats too.
The dongle is also designed for gaming, with a low latency mode to reduce lag.
It's very small – just 24mm long, and weighing 2.2g – and has a single USB-C connector. A USB-C to USB-A adapter is included for older laptops.
The BTD 700 was made to be compatible with a wide range of devices. It's a class-compliant audio device that as Sennheiser says, "Can bypass the native audio output on practically any Android, iOS/iPadOS, Windows and macOS device."
That's an interesting one for Mac, iPhone and iPad owners in particular, as even the most recent Apple hardware doesn't support aptX codecs natively.
Sennheiser's dongle is small enough to stick on your phone or tablet and expand your audio options quite considerably, by enabling you to use aptX HD and aptX Adaptive rather than AAC.
The Sennheiser BTD 700 is available now from sennheiser-hearing.com and the usual retailers.
