Airpods Pro: very bad quality in Headset mode on Windows 10

Anonymous
2020-04-02T12:50:11+00:00

Dear all,

I've got my new Airpods Pro, they work well with my iPhone.

Also on Windows 10 via bluetooth, sound quality is good when using the "Airpods stereo" mode.

However, in the headset mode ("Airpods Hands-Free AG Audio") sound and especially microphone quality is extremely bad. I tried to change the default format (see screenshot, it's only 8000Hz), but I cannot change it as it's grey. Any advice to get a better microphone quality?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2022-01-17T19:57:00+00:00

According to this post it should be fixed already in Insiders Build (currently Dev Channel only).

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  1. JosephT71 9,220 Reputation points
    2020-11-05T22:25:37+00:00

    Do you people understand that they specifically designed a low bitrate, low sample rate codec for skype and teams?

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/calls-and-meetings/real-time-media-concepts

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SILK

    Even if you can pair your airpods with your pc's with a high bitrate audiophile codec, your audio will be re-encoded to a low bitrate codec anyway to go back to the cloud.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-10-23T09:58:16+00:00

    This very informative video helped me out a great deal:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5ipSrWjacQ&ab\_channel=BLOVE

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-09-07T09:05:19+00:00

    we need to flood the Feedback Hub with this issue https://aka.ms/AA9k7uk

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-09-07T08:57:17+00:00

    Apparently this is not a Windows issue but a lack of support from Bluetooth. You can get a better idea of what's happening in here: https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/fqf71z/wh1000xm3_can_only_use_stereo_or_handsfree_but/

    it's absolutely a Windows issue. Mobile phones can do it and so can Macs. Did you actually read it?

    I read it and understand it. Did you?The difference is that when using bluetooth headsets with cellphones or airpods with macs they are smart for switching between the HSP and A2DP profiles.

    I see that your problem is the mic quality, the are some reddit posts that mentioned using a BT dongle and installing their drivers to connect to the airpods. They report good call quality.

    If you have problems switching between the profiles, it is easy to do it. You just click on the speaker icon and select between headphone and headset.

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