The world is soon going be truly wireless, yet most TV’s today don’t include Bluetooth, and thus, you are unable to connect your Bluetooth headphones to your television. Don’t worry since we are going to teach you a workaround on how you can do this easily.

There can be multiple reasons as to why you would want to listen to television through your headphones. Either you don’t want your mom hearing, or you don’t want to disturb the kids or something: There are a plethora of reasons to do so. Yes, TVs do offer a headphone jack, but then again you would need to go through the hassle of wires and sit uncomfortably near the TV, just about the length of the Headphone cable.

Using Bluetooth Dongle or Transmitter

Therefore, what you simply need is an external Bluetooth adapter. This adapter known more commonly as a Bluetooth dongle will attach itself to a USB port on your TV or in case of a Bluetooth transmitter, it would connect to the headphone jack or an audio output port. Thus, the Bluetooth adapter will act as an interface between your headphones and the television.

There is a caveat while using Bluetooth transmitters. In case, you connect your transmitter to a headphone jack of the television, the sound would only come from the headphones, and not from TV’s own speakers. Therefore, if you actually wanted that, then it’s good, else you will have to plug in the transmitter to an audio out port, so that sound would still come from the external speakers and your headphones simultaneously.

Once you have attached the adapter, you just need to pair it with your Bluetooth headphones. For that, just consult the user manual that comes in with your transmitter.

These transmitters are usually cheap, and you can easily get one for $15 or so.

Using Set-Top Boxes

There are some set-top boxes out there through which you can connect your Bluetooth headphones and enjoy the privacy these offers. Apple TV, Android TV, and Roku etc. are known to have this capability. Therefore, if you already have one of these, you need not bother the hassle of buying transmitters and setting them up.

On Android TV

Bluetooth capability isn’t on every Android TV out there; Some have it, some don’t. Even if some have Bluetooth its function doesn’t extend beyond a wireless keyboard or mouse. Still, there are some that do allow a Bluetooth connection with headphones. Typically, you would need to head over to Settings-> Bluetooth like you do on your Android device, and just pair your Bluetooth headphones by tapping on its name in the list of devices available that appear.

On Apple TV

Thankfully, every Apple TV supports Bluetooth connectivity. Again just go to Apple TV’s Settings and then choose Remotes and Devices and then Bluetooth. Once you are there, set up your headphones like you normally do.

On Roku

It all depends upon the model of the Roku device you have since some would allow Private Listening through the Roku app, or you can plug in wired headphones directly into the headphone jack of the remote control.

In case your device allows private listening, you just need to download the Roku app on your iOS or Android device. It should be noted that your smartphone should be on the same wireless network as your Roku device. Once, you have installed the application, just open it and pair your Bluetooth headphones accordingly. This will enable Private Listening. Soon as you disconnect, private listening would be disabled automatically.

On Amazon Fire TV

You can pair your Bluetooth headphones with both the Amazon Fire TV and even the Fire TV stick. For that, you just need to head over to settings on either of the devices and then choose Controllers and Bluetooth Devices. Then select Other Bluetooth Devices, which will show a list of Discovered Devices, where you just need to tap on your respective Bluetooth headphone to pair it up.

Using dedicated Wireless Headphones

These headphones are dedicated in the sense that they have their own base station which plugs into the 3.5 mm headphone jack and instead of Bluetooth, they use Radio technology. This has an advantage since Radio Waves are known to have the highest wavelength and thus, their range is far more superior i.e. 300 feet compared with a ten times small Bluetooth range of just 30 meters.

These headphones range anywhere from $20 to more than $300, depending on the quality you may want to choose.