Galaxy S III just the latest with apt-X Bluetooth audio
There's a trend going on right this second in the streaming audio world and Samsung's Galaxy S III has just gotten on board – high definition Bluetooth-sent audio with aptX. This technology has been working for a while now on such products as Apple's Snow Leopard, Lion, the Motorola DROID RAZR, and Samsung's own Galaxy Tab 7.0, but up until now here with this newest range of smartphones has the scale tipped. Both the Galaxy S III and the hero range HTC One with the X, S, and V, will soon bring about a revolution in Bluetooth streaming media with aptX (aka apt-X) – let's see why!
Before aptX, there was Standard Bluetooth Codec, also known as SBC. This technology has quite a bit of weakness built-in simply because it was made public and spread across the earth before it was really perfected. What the teams working with aptX technology have done is to bring the tonal quality a whole lot closer to CD-quality and certainly have made its reliability for quality much-improved over SBC. Have a peek at an extremely easy to visualize chart made by one of the groups working with aptX on the speaker end of the equation, Cambridge Audio, to see the difference in delivery.
What you're seeing here is RED for SBC and GREEN for aptX. The scale shows distortion which occurs when 32 pure equidistant tones are fed into both of these technologies. What you're seeing here is SBC having a whole heck of a lot more distortion (bad) than aptX which stays relatively well balanced throughout the test.
What this means for you, the Samsung Galaxy S III or HTC One device owner is that you'll be able to rock out over Bluetooth without worrying about distortion as you have in the past – time to break out the bluetooth earbuds, headphones, and speakers – though good luck finding them on the market! Check out the Sennheiser PX 210 BT apt-X headphones for an example of "true hi-fi quality." And check the timeline for a couple more!
Update: we've now got a full list of aptX enabled products – have a look!
aptX enabled products available April 2012
HTC Products
HTC One X
HTC One S
HTC One V Smartphone
HTC Car StereoClip (Aux) Bluetooth Adaptor
Creative Products
Creative Inspire S2 Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Speaker
Creative ZiiSound D5 Bluetooth Wireless Speaker
Creative Products
Creative T12 Wireless 2.0 Wireless PC Speakers
Creative D200 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Creative T6 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
WP-300 Stereo Bluetooth Headphones
Creative ZiiO 10" Android Tablet
Creative ZiiO 7" Android Tablet
Creative BT-D5 iPhone/iPod/iPad transmitter
Creative BT-D1 USB transmitter
Creative WP-450 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Creative WP-350 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Creative ZiiSound D5x Bluetooth Modular Speaker
Creative ZiiSound D3x Bluetooth Modular Speaker
Creative Zen XFi-3 Bluetooth MP3 Player
Sennheiser Products
Sennheiser PX 210 BT Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Sennheiser PX 310 BT Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Sennheiser PXC 360 BT Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Sennheiser PX 360 BT Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Sennheiser BTD300i Wireless stereo transmitter for iPhone/iPod
Sennheiser BTD 300 Audio Wireless stereo transmitter for portable audio devices
Sennheiser BTD 300 USB Wireless stereo transmitter for PC and laptop
BTD 500 USB Dongle
MM 400 X Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
MM 450 X Travel Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Products from Apple
Apple Mac Mini Desktop computer
Apple Macbook Air Laptop computer
Apple Macbook Laptop computer
Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard Operating System
Apple Mac OS X Lion Operating System
Products from Jaybird
Jaybird Sportsband SB2 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Jaybird iSport Bluetooth adaptor for iPhone/iPod
Jaybird Sportsband SB2 Universal Bluetooth adaptor
Products from Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing inMotion Air Bluetooth Stereo Speaker
Products from Chord Electronics
Chordette Gem Bluetooth Audio Receiver
Chordette Peach DAC with Bluetooth
Chordette Maxx Amplifier
Products from QED
QED Uplay Bluetooth Audio Receiver
Products from Conran
Conran iPod Dock iPod Dock with Bluetooth
Products from Samsung
Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus Android Tablet
Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Plus Android Tablet
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android Tablet
HS6000 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
HS3700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset
Samsung DAE-570 Audio Dock
Samsung DAE-550 Audio Dock
Products from Motorola
Motorola Razr Smartphone
Motorola SF600
Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Products from Logitec
LBT-MPSP100 Bluetooth Speaker
LBT-TVOH02A Bluetooth Headphones and dongle
LBT-AVAR300 Bluetooth Headset
Products from iTech
LBT-MPSP100
Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Products from Nokia
Nokia Play 360 Bluetooth Speaker
Nokia Wireless Music Receiver Bluetooth Speaker
Nokia Essence Bluetooth Headset Bluetooth Stereo Headset
Products from Soundmatters
foxL v2 Plantinum Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Products from NuForce
BT-860 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
NAD VISO 1 iPod Dock
Sharp
DC50 (DoCoMo) & JA07 Softbank Mobile Smartphone
Gear4
Houseparty Rise iPod Dock
Houseparty iPod Dock
Monster
StreamCast Module USB Dongle
Burmester
113 DAC
Cambridge Audio
BT-100 Audio Receiver Bluetooth receiver
Braven
Braven 650 portable speaker