Microsoft improves Bluetooth audio in Windows 11 while using a mic

According to a recent Windows blog post, you’ll no longer experience drops in Bluetooth audio quality on Windows 11 while also using voice. Microsoft will soon be rolling out a new feature called super wideband stereo for Bluetooth LE Audio on Windows 11.

In short, Microsoft is adding support for a new LE Audio compression algorithm that supports even higher “super wideband” audio fidelity even while using voice. In other words, Windows 11 will soon be able to play audio in high-quality stereo while using the microphone.

Previously, Bluetooth headsets automatically switched to an 8 kHz sampling rate when the microphone was used, and could only play “super wideband” audio in mono. The sampling rate now goes up to 32 kHz and supports “super wideband” in stereo.

The update also makes it possible to use spatial audio in Microsoft Teams even with wireless Bluetooth headsets. All chat participants’ voices should now come from the direction their video stream is on your screen.

To take advantage of this, you’ll need an audio device that supports Bluetooth LE Audio as well as a Windows 11 PC running the latest 24H2 version (or later) that also supports LE Audio.