Bluetooth headphones have always been fairly popular, but with the rapid termination of the 3.5mm headphone jack, that point is only going to become more and more prominent over the next few years. Pairing Bluetooth devices to your phone has never been a beautiful process, but Google is aiming to alleviate this pain with the announcement of Fast Pair.
Similar to Apple's W1 chip that was introduced with AirPods last year, Fast Pair lets you connect to a new pair of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds by simply being within close proximity of them. Just turn on pairing mode on the Bluetooth accessory you want to pair, put it near your Android device, and you'll automatically get a notification to pair said accessory without having to jump through convoluted menus.
The only two headphones that currently work with Fast Pair include Google's Pixelbuds and Libratone's Q Adapt On-Ear, but Plantronics' upcoming Voyager 8200 wireless headphones will also support the new tech.
Unlike accessories for iOS that only work with the special W1 chip built inside of them, Fast Pair is a technology that can be pushed out to virtually any pair of Bluetooth headphones – upcoming or existing ones already on the market. Better yet, as long as you're using Google Play Services v11.7 or greater, you'll be able to take advantage of Fast Pair on devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later.
How much longer do we have to fight for the headphone jack?
