Creative BT-W3X

So I have a pair of earbuds that have aptx built-in and was using them on a Microsoft surface pro 8 without a dongle. Without the dognle i'd have to turn up the volume to 100% for it to sound good enough but it wad still low. Low latency worked before the dongle. After I downloaded the creative software, I inserted the dongle and updated the firmware and drivers and got quite a surprise. I guess with the firmware update it brought 24-bit 96khz as a playback option and now I watch movies at 50% volume and really makes my bowers and wilkins Pi7 S2 earbuds come to life. Its like when Takumi learns that his new suzuki motor can rev higher and has more power, this dongle gives more oomph and doesn't drop connection. Way better on the pocket book than the W5 imo and still has the new 24-bit 96khz on the w3.

There's no easier way to listen to your music than just to open up a folder and press Enter on whatever file you want to listen to. Yet for years it was impossible to do something this basic without compromising on fidelity. If you wanted HD audio you were mostly stuck having to buy something like a Bluesound and navigate your music collection through its horrible app interface. Finally there's a better option in AptX HD. If you have an AptX HD-compatible receiver or amp, you can play wireless music not technically lossless but still at 24bit better-than-CD quality - *almost* realizing the dream of pressing Enter in your Windows folders and having the file play through a real stereo system. The "almost" is because Windows itself has no AptX HD compatibility so you need a solution like this to take over. I bought it to pair with Emotiva's TA1 amp, which has a built-in AptX HD Bluetooth receiver so requires no extra hardware beyond this little dongle: the complete system is 1) laptop, 2) dongle, 3) TA1, 4) speakers. I did experience some frustration at first with Windows trying to output through its regular Bluetooth instead of this dongle, which seemed stuck in an interminable pairing mode. The solution, which the help line at Emotiva helped me figure out after web searching proved fruitless, is to turn OFF Bluetooth on Windows. Then you plug this thing in, it automatically takes over as the audio output source, the amp automatically finds its signal - press enter on a FLAC and a little orange light pops up confirming your 24-bit signal as your room fills with music. It's been working flawlessly and as an essential component in an HD audio system for twenty-five bucks, it's hard to beat the value. It also felt pretty good buying another Creative Labs product after my first SoundBlaster circa 1991.

I bought this to enable use of my bluetooth headphones for my Zoom or Team calls for my Corporate job. This product has equalizer and mixer settings that will enhance your microphone voice to sound rich and strong. This product will pair 4 devices, and the companion app (i installed this on my personal computer) is how you would configure the dongle. I was able to configure HFP mode to automaticaly turn on when I join calls. So be aware you DO NOT have to always press the button twice to manually enable it. I don't have aptX earbuds, so cannot comment. What I can say is I tried also two other popular brands (I don't think Amazon will let me directly call them out) that are top results when searching for a solution to my problem. These others performed unacceptably or had technical problems with maintaining a connection. I was considering waiting for the Creative BT-W6, but my research shows there are some growing pains here, and I am not an early adopter. There are two competing manufacturers (Qualcomm and Mediatek) that seem to be building different implementations of LE audio in their chipsets used by these consumer product companies, so it will be a long time before I will have confidence in buying any dongle and LE device and expecting them to work together. So the Creative BT-W3x will have utility for me in the years to come. With information security lockdowns on corporate equipment likely to increase, the need for a solution to pair your personal headphone to the corporate equipment is going to increase. Good job, @Creative!

I paired this with my Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 headphones. They make the regular bluetooth codecs found on Android and Windows devices - like AAC and SBC - sound muffled and flat. The aptX HD codec is the way to go if your device supports it. The latter provides more than adequate bandwidth of 576Kbps at 24-bit/48kHz. You really can't do better unless you go with a USB-C cable and an expensive PC motherboard. The only cons: 1.) Early teething issues when pairing. 2.) And then there's the fact you can't get this to fit on your phone if it's wearing a case.

I don't recommend buying this for your PS5. I have several bluetooth headphones & earbuds. Trying to watch youtube using this is unbearable the audio is out of sync. Even if you want to use it to just broadcast the audio while cooking/cleaning the audio breaks up - even if you're in the same room. I think if it gets too hot it the audio starts to break up. I had this thing for several months and forgot about it within the first week. Tried it again today just to see if it would work better with a different set of earbuds. I wouldn't recommend buying this. I regret my purchase.

This creative adapter for Bluetooth works good, easy setup, sounds great even with my trond 4.2 bt headphones. Only down side is short range no where near 146 ft so keep that in mind. Maybe 30 to 40 ft inside your house only

First, the audio is about 25% better when connected to the BT-W3X. I have the SoundPeats Air4 Pro and they connect seamlessly with this product. However, when you play audio files from YouTube or music files, there's a noticeable moment of no audio as the file/video plays. You have to pause the audio/video and replay it to get it going. It's become quite annoying. I can't return the product so I'm stuck with it. If there wasn't that delay, then I'd rate it a 5 for audio quality.

Read this first! Don't be like me and just try to figure out blindly how to use this thing. I wasted 30-minutes before I broke down and looked for the manual online. In addition, I finally realized that I had to use the Creative desktop app to "repair" the firmware, not just update it, but repair it. Now that I went through these annoyances, I'm able to listen to my B&W Px8's at AptX-HD finally. Works great! (The Creative desktop app will also tell you what codex you're streaming with, which is a nice feature.)

Works great with OpenBSD. Recommend for value at 40 dollars. Don't waste you time with those cheap ones on Aliexpress. They drop to HFP profile and the audio quality sucks!

I use Debian 12.10 Linux worked like a charm.

Nothing complicated. Just plug it in and connect your headphones (set them in pairing mode, often just by tapping or pressing).

Connects fine to my ps5 enabling me to use my AirPods Pro 2nd gen and AirPods Max. Not perfect but, better than others I tried.

Je l’ai acheté pour brancher mes Razer Kraken bt v2 édition kitty, ça fonctionne le son est très bon, mais en mode écoute seulement. Quand vous utilisez le mode pour utiliser le micro, le son est horrible! Je le recommande que pour ceux qui ne font pas de multi joueur en ligne