How to Check Which Bluetooth Codecs Your Phone Supports

Your phone already knows which Bluetooth codecs it can use - the list is just behind a switch that nobody tells you to turn on.

On Android it takes about a minute, and the same screen tells you what your headphones can do as well.

On an iPhone there is nothing to check, and this guide will explain why in one line rather than sending you looking.

Once you know what is on the list, the companion question is which codec is worth having in the first place.

Turn On Developer Options

The codec list lives in Developer Options, which every Android phone ships with hidden. Unlocking it does not change anything on its own and it can be switched back off afterwards.

1. Open Settings, then About phone.
2. On a Samsung, tap Software information first - Build number is one level deeper there than on other phones.
3. Tap Build number seven times, entering your PIN or pattern if you are asked for it.
4. You will see a short confirmation that developer mode is on.

Developer options then appears under Settings, System on most phones, and at the bottom of the main Settings list on Samsung. Older Android versions tuck it under System, Advanced.

Open the Bluetooth Audio Codec List

Connect your headphones or speaker first. This matters more than it sounds: the list is only meaningful while something is actually connected, because half of what it shows you is about the other device.

Scroll down inside Developer options to the Bluetooth audio section and open Bluetooth Audio Codec. You will get a list along the lines of SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, LDAC and, on newer hardware, LC3.

Reading What You See

The selectable entries are the codecs both devices support, which is the only list that matters. The one already marked is what you are listening to at this moment.

If LDAC is selectable, you have the highest-bitrate option Android offers, and there is a separate guide on turning LDAC on in Windows 11 if you want it on a PC too. If only SBC and AAC are there, that is your ceiling and no app can raise it.

On a Galaxy phone paired with Galaxy Buds you may see SSC instead, which is Samsung Seamless Codec. It only works between Samsung devices, which is roughly what Samsung said when Samsung introduced them.

An aptX entry means Qualcomm silicon at both ends, which became rather more common after Qualcomm opened aptX and aptX HD up to Android builders. An LC3 entry means both devices do Bluetooth LE Audio, and its hi-res sibling LC3plus is a separate option again.

Why Your Choice Keeps Reverting

This is the part most guides leave out, and it is the reason people think they did the procedure wrong. On most Android builds the codec is renegotiated every time the headphones reconnect, so a setting you picked this morning can be back on AAC by lunchtime.

Three things commonly cause it. The connection was too congested to hold the higher bitrate, the headphones' own companion app has a stability or connection-priority mode overriding the phone, or the codec was never really supported and the phone fell back.

The fix for the second one is in the headphone app rather than in Android: look for a sound quality versus stable connection choice and put it on sound quality. For the first, move closer to the phone and take it out of your back pocket.

Checking Without Developer Options

If you would rather not unlock developer mode at all, the headphones' own app usually reports the active codec somewhere in its settings. Sony, Samsung, Bose and Sennheiser all surface it, though every one of them calls it something slightly different.

The other route is the box or the product page for the headphones, which lists what they support. That tells you half the answer, and your phone's spec sheet tells you the other half.

On an iPhone, an iPad or a Windows PC

Apple does not expose a codec list because there is nothing to choose from. iOS and iPadOS use AAC, falling back to SBC, and no app, adapter or setting adds LDAC or aptX to them.

If you want the AAC story on the desktop side rather than over Bluetooth, the site hosts the AAC encoder itself.

On Windows 11 you get SBC and AAC as standard, LDAC on supporting hardware, and an audio quality choice on the device's own page in Settings once you are on 24H2 or later with factory-fitted Bluetooth LE. There is usually more to gain on a PC from spatial sound than from codec hunting.

Before You Go Shopping On The Strength Of This

A codec list is a ceiling, not a promise. Feeding a 990 kbps codec a low-bitrate stream gains you nothing, so it is worth settling FLAC against MP3 for your own library first.

Past that, the headphones themselves change what you hear far more than the codec badge does. It is also worth reading up on whether hi-res audio is worth the money before rebuying an album to suit a setting.

Quick questions

The codec list is a one-minute check that answers two questions at once - what your phone can do, and what the headphones on your head are actually capable of.

Grab Bluetooth Codec Changer for Android if you would rather not visit Developer options every time it reverts, or tell us what your phone offered you if you have just been through it.

Nearby: Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos and DTS compared, and tuning your output with Equalizer APO.

The full audio codec downloads section covers the desktop side of all of this.