Your TV's speakers (or, better still, a soundbar) enable everyone hear what's going on when you're watching TV with pals. When you're viewing TV alone, there's no need to share the audio with everyone else. In fact, whether you're the sole one watching TV late at night or utilising your TV as a second monitor while working from home, you definitely don't want to wake up your significant other, roommates, kids, or neighbours. If you truly want to stay silent, you can silence the speakers and rely on closed captions, however we offer a better solution: Make use of headphones.

Headphones allow you to listen to whatever you want without disturbing others. You presumably use them on your phone or computer to listen to music or podcasts, or even view movies, but they aren't confined to mobile devices or computers. There are a few different methods to link your headphones to your TV so that you may enjoy the benefits of both private audio and a large screen. Here are some methods to connect your TV to your preferred headphones or earphones.

How to Listen TV While Wearing Headphones

Connection through Direct Wire

This is the simplest and most obvious way to connect your headphones to your television. It's also the least practical option. Simply insert your wired headphones into the 3.5mm headphone socket on your TV. If your TV doesn't have a 3.5mm connector but does have RCA stereo outputs, you can utilise your headphones using an RCA-to-3.5mm adaptor.

The apparent issue is that you'll need a very lengthy cable to listen comfortably away from your TV. You're physically linked to your TV even if you have that cord. It's difficult to work with since you have to be careful not to yank the cable or trip over it. We don't advocate this strategy unless your TV has a little screen in close proximity to you, and even then, it's definitely not the best way to go.


Bluetooth on Amazon Fire TV

You have a wireless option built in if you have an Amazon Fire TV video streamer (such as the Fire TV Cube or Fire TV Stick) or a TV that utilises Amazon's Fire TV platform: Bluetooth. Bluetooth devices like as gaming controllers, keyboards, and headphones can connect straight to Fire TV. This means you can use your favourite Bluetooth headphones (or a dedicated second pair if you want to keep some TV-only headphones handy) to link with your Fire TV device, just as you would with a smartphone.

Select Controllers & Bluetooth Devices from the Settings option on the main screen. Select Other Devices before adding a new device. Put your Bluetooth headphones in pairing mode and pick them from the screen when they appear. When your headphones are connected to your Fire TV, audio will now be streamed to them.


Bluetooth (Android TV/Google TV)

Android TV and Google TV devices, like Fire TV (which is based on Android), can link with Bluetooth devices. This means you can pair your Bluetooth headphones with any Hisense or Sony Android TV, as well as an Nvidia Shield TV or TiVo Stream 4K video streamer. Pairing Bluetooth headphones with a Fire TV device is fairly similar. Google TV, the successor to Android TV, also supports Bluetooth pairing, allowing you to attach Bluetooth headphones to a Chromecast with ease. With Google TV or any other Google TV-enabled device, such as the Sony A90J.

Both Android TV and Google TV follow the same procedure. Select Remote & Accessories from the Settings menu on the home screen. Put your Bluetooth headphones in pairing mode by selecting Add Accessory. When the headphones show in the menu, choose them. Your Android/Google TV device is now connected to your headphones.


Smartphone App for Roku TV

Although Roku media players and Roku TVs such as the Hisense R8F series and the TCL 6-Series lack Bluetooth, they nevertheless allow you to listen to whatever you're watching wirelessly. Private Listening, a Roku feature that sends audio to a connected smartphone or tablet via the Roku app, is the company's response.

Install the Roku app on your mobile device (available for Android and iOS) and configure it to interact with your Roku streamer or TV. Plug headphones into your phone or tablet after the app is connected to automatically reroute audio through the headphone socket.

Some Roku devices, such as the Roku Ultra and Roku Streambar Pro, operate without the need of the Roku app (the same is true if you have a Roku Voice Remote Pro). If your Roku remote includes a headphone port on the side, you may use it to listen to music privately without having to use your smartphone. Simply insert your headphones (or the Roku Ultra's supplied earbuds) into the jack to listen to whatever you're watching in solitude.


Platforms for Other Smart TVs

Even if it isn't one of the three most popular platforms, your TV may feature Bluetooth. Bluetooth headphones and headsets are supported by both LG's webOS and Samsung's Tizen OS. Instructions for each TV platform may be found by clicking on the links. Bluetooth is most likely to be available on higher-end TV models; older or lower-end TVs may not have it.


Transmitter for Bluetooth

If your TV or video streamer doesn't support Bluetooth or audio streaming via an app, you'll need to invest in a wireless transmitter. Bluetooth transmitters are low-cost (usually between $20 and $50) devices that slot into the back of your TV and wirelessly transfer audio to a nearby Bluetooth audio device.

There are a plethora of Bluetooth transmitters available on Amazon, but not all of them are compatible with televisions. Cheaper transmitters just have 3.5mm ports, which are found on certain televisions but aren't the greatest connection. Look for a transmitter that has an optical audio (TOSLink or SPDIF) input; optical outputs are the most popular audio outputs on TVs, and their digital connection provides great, steady audio quality.

While we haven't tested many of these transmitters, they are fairly easy to buy for a low price on the internet. The TaoTronics Bluetooth 5.0 transmitter has one of the highest ratings in its category on Amazon, and it supports both 3.5mm and optical audio (though we can't comment on its quality without testing it).


Headphones for watching TV without wires

You can always acquire an all-in-one solution in the shape of wireless headphones if you don't already have preferred headphones to use when watching TV or don't want to deal with Bluetooth connectivity. All you have to do now is make sure they're not Bluetooth headphones.

Bluetooth is used in the great majority of "wireless headphones," which is good for most users. You'll need a non-Bluetooth pair with a dedicated transmitter if you want headphones exclusively for watching TV. We haven't tried many of these headphones, but the Avantree HT4189 and Makemate BKM2000 are two of the most popular on Amazon.

Of course, you won't be watching TV all the time with headphones on. Check out our instructions on how to set up your speakers to get the greatest sound for your home theatre experience when you put them down. Also, read up on our five easy modifications to achieve the greatest picture for your TV for the ideal home theatre experience.