Creative BT-W5 review: A worthwhile audio upgrade

As I wrote back in December, one of my favorite ways to play the Nintendo Switch is on the couch, next to my girlfriend. She can watch TV while I try to make a dent in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Even if we’re not doing the same thing, we’re still spending time together. And I get to play my favorite games on the Switch OLED’s fantastic screen.

When I play the Switch handheld, I use my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. It’s a win-win for all involved. My partner isn’t subjected to noise bleed from my open-back Sennheiser HD 58X headphones, and I can’t hear the TV. But I recently noticed there was something missing.

If you know anything about the Switch, you probably know where this is going. Nintendo’s handheld has had Bluetooth support since 2021, but that support is limited to SBC. Even if you’ve never heard of SBC, you’ve used it. When people associate Bluetooth with subpar audio quality, SBC is almost always the culprit.

Think of it this way, SBC is to Bluetooth codecs what SMS is to messaging. Every Bluetooth device works with SBC. And if the two devices you’re trying to pair together don’t support the same set of protocols, they will default to SBC for audio playback. That’s great for interoperability, but the problem with SBC is that it doesn’t sound particularly good. It’s a lossy format, meaning not every bit of audio information your source device sends is preserved during transmission. For gaming, SBC can also suffer from latency issues.

In the last decade, there’s been a lot of innovation in the space, with much of it coming from Qualcomm. In 2024, the company has a few different codecs to its name, but all them essentially offer a better experience than SBC. Again, the problem is interoperability.

Take my WH-1000XM3 headphones as an example. Outside SBC, they support AAC, Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX HD codecs, as well as Sony’s proprietary LDAC protocol. Since the Switch is limited to SBC, my Sony headphones sound a shade worse when they’re connected to the Switch, then say the iPhone. It’s not a huge difference, but enough that I have at times thought to myself certain background tracks or audio cues felt flat while playing a game.

Thankfully, I’ve found an easy and affordable way to make the Switch — and nearly every other device I own — sound better over Bluetooth: the Creative BT-W5.

Recommended

BT-W5

The Creative BT-W5 is a USB-C dongle that extends the Bluetooth capabilities of Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation, Mac, and PC devices to allow them to transmit Bluetooth audio over Qualcomm aptX codecs.

Pros

• Small, easy to use
• aptX, aptX HD, and aptX Adaptive support
• Switch, PlayStation, Windows and Mac compatible

Cons

• USB-A adapter not included
• A bit pricey

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Price, availability, and specs

The BT-W5 is available to purchase on Amazon and the Creative website for $50.

If you want to save money, Creative also offers the BT-W3X, which offers everything the BT-W5 does aside from aptX Adaptive compatibility. As a result, it normally costs $10 less.

What I liked about the Creative BT-W5

A nearly perfect package

Creative’s pitch for the BT-W5 is simple. It’s a thumb-sized dongle you insert into your Switch, Windows PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 or PS5 to extend the Bluetooth capabilities of those devices. Without the need for any additional software, the device will transmit the audio signal your computer or console produces over the best aptX codec supported by your Bluetooth headphones. In order from best to worst, the W5 supports aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX and SBC. In the case of Qualcomm’s latest protocol, you can configure the W5 to default to either the codec’s High Quality or Latency mode.

I didn’t get a chance to test the W5 with Sony consoles, but on Switch, Windows and macOS, the experience of using the accessory is seamless. For instance, when I plugged the W5 into my Switch, the console immediately recognized the device and switched to its built-in USB DAC mode. At that point, I could continue to use the Switch’s physical controls to adjust the volume. Over on PC and Mac, the process of using the W5 was only slightly more complicated. On those platforms, I had to first change the sound output, which meant digging into the respective quick settings of each operating system. In any case, Creative has made the W5 about as user-friendly as possible, and it works as promised.

No matter what device I used the dongle to connect my headphones to, I immediately noticed a difference in audio quality and latency. It was especially noticeable on Switch, where the W5 allowed my headphones to connect to the console over aptX HD. Playing Hollow Knight, for instance, Christopher Larkin’s haunting soundtrack felt fuller and more nuanced, with better separation between instruments. Meanwhile, audio cues like the Knight’s nail strikes sounded more impactful. I was already a huge fan of Hollow Knight’s audio design, but after experiencing the game with better sound, I ended up appreciating it even more.

Now, if all the W5 did was give me an easy way to obtain better Bluetooth audio from my devices, I would recommend it to people, but this device does so much more than that. To start, it smooths over one of the more annoying aspects of using older Bluetooth headphones.

In the case of my Sony cans, they don’t support Bluetooth multipoint, meaning whenever I want to connect them to my iPhone, Switch or Mac, I need to first disconnect them from whatever device I was using them with previously. With the W5, there’s no need to do that. Instead, I simply plug the dongle into the device I want to use my headphones with, power them on, and the W5 does the rest. It can remember four connections at once, and switching between those is as easy as pressing the one and only button on the accessory. In my testing, the W5 was also faster at connecting with the WH-1000XM3, and did a better job of maintaining a solid connection.

I’m also a fan of the Creative app. You don’t need to install it on your computer to use the W5 with Windows or Mac, but the software allowed me to set a custom EQ, which I find is essential for making a bass forward pair of headphones like the WH-1000XM3 sound their best. I also appreciated the fact I could change the order the W5 cycles between paired devices.

Related

How the aptX HD codec boosts Bluetooth performance

Bluetooth technology isn’t quite the same as wired audio quality, but aptX HD helps bridge the gap.

What I didn’t like about the Creative BT-W5

Not much

My only complaint about the BT-W5 is that doesn’t come with a USB-C to USB-A adapter. A few competing aptX dongles, most notably the Sennheiser BTD 600, do. Thankfully, I had a spare adapter, but the fact you don’t get one inside the box is worth considering since the W5 is one of the pricier aptX dongles on the market.

Should you buy the Creative BT-W5?

Yes, if you want to upgrade your PC or console’s audio, and you own a pair of headphones that can take advantage of the W5’s aptX connectivity, I can’t recommend this device enough.

Separately, I think it’s a great way to extend the life of an older pair of Bluetooth headphones. After six years of use, I was thinking of replacing my Sony WH-1000XM3 due to just how annoying it had become to switch between connections. Between the W5 and a fresh set of earpads, I know feel like I’ll get a decade of use out of my Bluetooth headphones. I love gadgets that allow you to do that.

Recommended

BT-W5