is a senior reviewer covering TVs and audio. He has over 20 years experience in AV, and has previously been on staff at Digital Trends and Reviewed.
It’s been a few years since the official introduction of the Bluetooth technology Auracast, which allows devices like earbuds, headphones, speakers, and hearing aids to connect to a single source without the need for pairing. Like a radio picks up your local radio stations, all you have to do is connect to the right broadcast. These could be flight announcements from your gate at the airport, the microphone a teacher is using during a presentation, or the TV you’re watching while on the treadmill at the gym.
By letting you link directly into one of these broadcasts, Auracast can increase auditory accessibility for those who are hard of hearing, or just more easily pick the relevant information out of a noisy environment. Auracast is available today, but many tech companies don’t yet support it, and others barely talk about it — even when it’s in their products.
Every year since 2023, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) has shown off Auracast’s capabilities in invite-only meetings at CES. But then news dwindles, journalists move on, and life in the audio world continues for another 11 months before the cycle continues. There has been an uptick in announcements recently, with Sony adding what it calls Audio Sharing support, which uses Auracast, to its XM5 and XM6 headphones, as well as support on recent phones from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus. But you’d be forgiven for missing them.
JBL is one of the few companies that consistently touts the Auracast capabilities of its compatible products — so much so that some are under the impression that Auracast is a JBL-exclusive tech (one of my colleagues, in fact, thought this). It’s included in JBL’s Bluetooth speakers like the Charge 6, Clip 5, and PartyBox Stage 320, as well as headphones like the Tour One M3, which even include a separate Auracast audio transmitter to share with compatible nearby headphones.
But as an early adopter, JBL ran into some issues. “Integrating Auracast into our products presented several technological challenges, particularly because we committed to supporting it across multiple platforms during its early development phase,” says Sharon Peng, the SVP of global engineering at JBL. “While Bluetooth SIG offered a foundational framework, they did not cover all the nuances required for robust implementation. Early adopters like JBL had to navigate a degree of ambiguity, but Bluetooth SIG has since introduced more structured compliance and testing protocols.”
That might explain issues reported by Reddit users, specifically with JBL PartyBox speakers, which can only receive Auracast broadcasts from JBL devices. Peng said JBL is aware of the issue and is working to correct it with OTA firmware updates. “In short,” Peng said, “JBL’s Auracast architecture is designed for compatibility, and we’re committed to expanding support across our product lineup to ensure users can enjoy seamless connectivity—whether they’re using JBL gear or third-party devices.”
Henry Wong, the director of market development at Bluetooth SIG, echoed Peng’s commitment to interoperability. Wong was also aware of the issues with the JBL party speaker mode. “We’ve been in communication with JBL, and they are actively working to align their products with the full Auracast requirements to ensure broader compatibility and clarity for consumers.”
The LG G5 has an Auracast transmitter built in. Not that you’d know it from the spec sheet. Photo by John Higgins / The Verge
Not every company that supports Auracast is as vocal about it as JBL. Samsung has supported Auracast in its high-end 8K TVs since 2023, and LG added support on its 2025-model-year OLED and quantum dot LED TVs. Neither company mentions Auracast support on the product pages. I only found out that LG includes it when I dug into the C5’s menus while reviewing the TV in the spring.
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