You’ve set up your brand new Roku TV and you’re ready to binge-watch your favorite show.
Unfortunately, your Bluetooth speakers don’t seem to work with it. How can you fix it?
Roku TVs can’t connect to third-party Bluetooth speakers directly. However, you can connect it using the Roku Private Listening feature with these steps:
- Get the Roku App From Google Play Store or App Store
- Find Your Roku Device on the App
- Turn On Roku Private Listening
- Connect a Bluetooth Audio Device to Your Smartphone
- Do Some Basic Troubleshooting if Bluetooth Speakers Aren’t Working
According to this support suggestion from Roku, the easiest way to get Roku TV Bluetooth connectivity is to either have the Roku TV Wireless Speakers or the Roku Smart Soundbar.
However, even if you have neither of those — I’ve got you covered. In this article, I’ll share pointers on how to hook Bluetooth speakers to a Roku TV.
Is Roku TV Bluetooth-Enabled?
A Roku TV is Bluetooth Enabled. In fact, its Private Listening Mode relies on Bluetooth and your home’s WiFi to stream sound to wired and wireless audio devices through a Bluetooth connection.
Later on in this article, we’ll discuss how to use the Roku Private Listening Mode.
This is one of the main ways to stream audio wirelessly from a Roku TV to a set of Bluetooth speakers.
Can I Use Any Bluetooth Speaker With My Roku TV?
You’d think that all smart TVs in 2021 would feature direct Bluetooth connectivity to any wireless Bluetooth speaker out there.
When it comes to Roku though, that’s unfortunately not the case.
While Roku TV has Bluetooth, it still can’t connect to any Bluetooth speaker out there (without indirect workarounds). But it connects seamlessly to the Roku TV Wireless Speakers, or the Roku Soundbar. The Soundbar isn’t just a speaker but has a sound system and a streaming device in one package.
Call it a way to maximize profit or an actual hardware or software design flaw; that’s just how it is.
It happens to be one of the biggest complaints that Roku haters have against their lineup.
So, if you haven’t already bought a pair of Bluetooth speakers for your Roku TV, I’d suggest going with the ones I’ve linked above.
All they need is a power connection, and they’ll connect directly to your Roku TV without requiring any Bluetooth dongles, Roku App, or mobile Private Listening.
If you get your hands on these speakers from Roku, you don’t really have to read the rest of this article as your problem is solved.
However, for those of you who already have a pair of third-party Bluetooth speakers at home or want to buy a set that’s not from Roku — I’ve got you covered.
You can still indirectly connect your Roku TV to provide audio output through any Bluetooth speaker, but the connection process is a bit less straightforward.
Check out: How To Stop a Roku From Streaming When TV Is Off (3 Steps)
Ways To Connect Roku TV to Bluetooth Speakers
While Rokus don’t have an inbuilt feature to connect to external Bluetooth speakers directly, there are other ways to get Roku’s audio output to a wireless Bluetooth speaker.
These include using the Roku Private Listening feature via the Roku app or connecting Bluetooth speakers to the Roku remote.
All you need is a smartphone with Bluetooth connectivity and a stable WiFi connection. Here are the steps you need to follow:
1. Get the Roku App From Google Play Store or App Store
The Roku app is available on both platforms — android and iOS. Make sure your Roku TV and smartphone are connected to the same WiFi connection.
Download the app on whichever device you’re using and start it up.
2. Find Your Roku Device on the App
Get to the Roku app’s home screen. There should be a menu on it — click on ‘more’ to see additional options. From there, tap on Device.
In the device section, find your Roku device name and tap it. Once the app recognizes the Roku device, it should be connected.
If your Roku TV and smartphone aren’t connected to the same WiFi connection, the Roku will not appear in the device section.
A common mistake is to have your phone’s mobile data turned on instead of WiFi.
Get back to the home screen and see if the more menu has your Roku device listed as a connected device. If so, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
3. Turn On Roku Private Listening
We’re close! Find the Control button in the menu and tap it.
From there, tap Private Listening which has a headphones icon next to it.
With that said, your smartphone is now connected to your Roku TV and ready to provide its audio output wirelessly.
4. Connect a Bluetooth Audio Device to Your Smartphone
Once you’ve got Roku Private Listening set up with your smartphone, all that’s left to do is connect it to a Bluetooth speaker.
Once your smartphone is connected to a Bluetooth speaker, play something on your Roku TV to see if it works.
All sound from the Roku TV should now come out of your Bluetooth speaker connected to your smartphone.
5. Do Some Basic Troubleshooting if Bluetooth Speakers Aren’t Working
Hopefully, you’ve followed the steps above and haven’t run into any issues.
However, if there’s no sound coming out of the Bluetooth speakers — try the following solutions:
- Make sure that your smartphone and Roku TV are connected to the same WiFi connection. They will not be able to see each other if they’re not both on the same WiFi network.
- Restart your WiFi router. If all else fails, you can always try rebooting the router.
- Make sure the Bluetooth device is connected properly to your smartphone. Do this by playing media on your phone and see if there’s any sound output. If yes, then move on to the next solution. If not, the Roku TV connection isn’t at fault — try disconnecting and connecting your Bluetooth device to your phone once again.
- Bluetooth devices have a limited range to maintain a stable connection with your smartphone. Make sure your Bluetooth speakers aren’t too far away from the smartphone they’re connected to.
At some point, you will want to deactivate this indirect Bluetooth speaker connection.
To do so, simply open your Roku app and tap the Private Listening icon.
Read next: Do Rokus Ever Go Bad? Common Problems, Signs & Tips
Bonus: Connecting a Bluetooth Dongle With Roku Remote
Thanks to the Roku Private Listening mode, users can listen to audio from their Roku TV through wired headphones connected to the Roku remote.
However, you can take this one step further by connecting a Bluetooth dongle to it. It allows you to get
For this method, you do not need to access the Roku TV mobile app.
All you need to do is turn on the Private Listening mode and connect a Bluetooth speaker with your Roku remote (with a dongle installed).
Final Thoughts
It’s worth noting that many people aren’t tech-savvy or patient enough to mess around with Bluetooth dongles or an entire procedure of setting up Private Listening through their smartphone.
In that case, there’s no other option besides buying one of the two available speakers from Roku.
Roku TV doesn’t support a direct connection with Bluetooth audio devices — unless they’re from Roku, of course.
The Roku Smart Soundbar and the Roku TV Wireless Speakers can connect with your Roku TV without an issue.
Luckily though, there are quite a few workarounds to this problem, as I’ve mentioned in this article.
You may also wonder: Can you use Roku and Firestick at the same time?