Afraid your next smartphone might ditch the headphone jack? While some might scramble to buy an adaptor, early adopters know that it’s only a matter of time before Bluetooth headphones are par for the course. Thankfully, What Hi-Fi?, a leading independent audio and home-entertainment-tech magazine, has taken the guesswork out of finding the 5 best wireless headphones—and all of them feature Qualcomm aptX audio codec technology.
Sound quality used to be the top priority for audiophiles, but these days, most consumers also expect crystal clear audio from their headphones. aptX is an innovative codec that enables CD-like quality audio over Bluetooth. With traditional Bluetooth comes limited bandwidth. By applying a bit-rate efficiency algorithm to large files at the source, and then restoring them for playback on the device, aptX cleverly answers the challenge of how to reliably and consistently transmit crisp audio over a wireless connection. And with Qualcomm aptX HD, a newly enhanced version of the codec, it’s never been easier to achieve high-resolution wireless audio. In addition to being backward compatible with its previous version, devout audiophiles can rejoice as aptX HD delivers 24-bit, end-to-end audio that surpasses CD quality.
When all's said and done, it’s not hard to understand why Qualcomm aptX has been adopted by over 330 leading audio brands. Here’s a look at the five aptX-powered headphones that topped the What Hi-Fi? list.
