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What’s the Difference Between AirPlay & My JBL BlueTooth Speaker?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
i have an JBL FLIP 4 Bluetooth speaker that provides great quality sound, especially for its size and the JBL app even allows for two of these speakers to become connected via Bluetooth to my iOS device and provide a much more rich stereo sound.

In order for me to use the speaker I have to enter setting on my iOS device, go to Bluetooth and click on the speaker I wish to connect to.

It’s been years since I used AirPlay and the only time I did was with an old AirPort express I had that was connected to Logitech speakers via an audio jack.

I’m wondering how much more beneficial AirPlay is today and why I would want to use that exclusively instead of the dozens and dozens of great quality Bluetooth speakers that are usually turned on at all times in my home. The one difference I foresee is that if I don’t play audio for a while, say an hour, I have to go back into settings to reconnect the speaker, so long as the speaker is powered on.
 
Not sure how it works but there is a JBL app.

I have a UE Boom 2 speaker and the app will turn on the speaker using BLe and then automatically connect. Doesn't require going into BT settings again and picking it.
 
AirPlay has its pros and cons.

AirPlay is an Apple proprietary protocol so an android user wouldn't easily be able to stream music. To the best of my knowledge AirPlay requires more power so you won't find battery operated AirPlay devices, at least that are using the AirPlay protocol.

There are benefits though. Bluetooth uses lossy compression whereas AirPlay is lossless. AirPlay isn't just limited to audio but video can be streamed as well. AirPlay 2 can be used for multiple speakers from a single device (living room and bedroom playing the same music in sync or different music from the same iOS device). AirPlay has a longer range.

AirPlay 2 in an Apple centric home is great (I have Sonos, HomePods, AppleTV's and an AirPort express connect to a receiver). However friends without an iPhone can't easily play music through their devices. HOWEVER since I have Apple Music they can just say "Hey Siri play xxxxxxx in the living room/bedroom/office/etc" to my HomePod and it will play the music they want to hear exactly where they want to hear it so its not really a problem.
 
As mentioned above, AirPlay is lossless, and runs over your local network (either WiFi or wired) so it may have better range and stability than Bluetooth.

One *downside* to AirPlay, though, is latency. There is a 1-2 second delay when using AirPlay, and while this is fine when listening to music or watching video, it can be annoying when you want to pause video, seek around, or change songs when playing music. It also makes AirPlay useless for audio when playing games.

AirPlay definitely sounds noticeably better than Bluetooth, though, especially Bluetooth devices that only support the older SBC codec.
 
zorinlynx said:
As mentioned above, AirPlay is lossless, and runs over your local network (either WiFi or wired) so it may have better range and stability than Bluetooth.

One *downside* to AirPlay, though, is latency. There is a 1-2 second delay when using AirPlay, and while this is fine when listening to music or watching video, it can be annoying when you want to pause video, seek around, or change songs when playing music. It also makes AirPlay useless for audio when playing games.

AirPlay definitely sounds noticeably better than Bluetooth, though, especially Bluetooth devices that only support the older SBC codec.
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed any sync issues with homepod + apple tv when watching content.
 
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