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Steve asked: “Calling to find out why I can’t pair my bluetooth headsets to three different devices. I have a work phone, a personal phone and an iPod Touch. I’d like to link all three of them Is there a reason why you can only link them to two different phones? In my car, I can link up to 5 phones. “
Different bluetooth devices can pair to a different number of other bluetooth devices, having a limit of 2 paired devices at once is not uncommon.
Cars take families into account, so a limit of 5 is reasonable, but bluetooth headsets are usually personal devices, so they tend to stick to lower numbers, especially the cheap ones.
For example, the Jaybird X2 bluetooth earbuds we had been giving away can pair to up to 8 different devices at once, but they also cost the better part of $200.
Odds are your headset is just not designed for more than 2 devices because that’s already more than most people pair their headsets with. Unfortunately there’s no way to change that.
Do remember that in your car, the phone is taking the role OF the headset. So you’re comparing apples to oranges. The fact that your headset only pairs with two devices doesn’t have any bearing on the fact that your car will pair with five phones.
That would be like asking how many headsets your phones and iPad will pair with? But it doesn’t really matter. Like we said already, headphones pair with as many devices as they are designed to pair with. If your headset doesn’t pair with enough devices, then your only option is to buy a better, more expensive headset.
All Jabra headsets, which is another brand we’ve used and like, will pair with at least four devices. The term you want to look for on the spec sheet is “multipoint” and, even better, “advanced multipoint.”
We hope we’ve put you on the right path, Steve!