Short answer: A Bluetooth codec is how audio is compressed before it travels wirelessly to your earbuds. Your phone and your earbuds must both support the same one, and the phone decides. iPhones support only SBC and AAC, so paying extra for LDAC on an iPhone buys you nothing. Android phones vary. For most people on compressed streaming, the difference between AAC and LDAC is small — fit, tuning and ANC matter far more. A Sony WF-C510 at Rs 2,990 with a good seal beats a poorly fitted LDAC earbud.

Prices are live as of 6 September 2026 and move with stock — check the linked product page for the current figure before you decide.

Why do codecs exist at all?

Bluetooth does not have enough bandwidth for uncompressed CD audio. A CD stream is about 1,411 kbps; a Bluetooth audio link realistically carries a few hundred. So the audio is compressed before transmission and decompressed in the earbud. The codec is the method used.

Both ends must speak the same codec. If they do not share anything better, they fall back to SBC, which every Bluetooth audio device is required to support.

The codecs you will actually encounter

Codec Max bitrate Works with Notes
SBC Around 328 kbps Everything Mandatory fallback. Fine in modern implementations.
AAC Around 250 kbps iPhone, most Android Very efficient. Excellent on iPhone; inconsistent on some Android.
aptX 352 kbps Many Android, Qualcomm chipsets Lower latency than SBC. Never on iPhone.
aptX HD 576 kbps Select Android 24-bit capable.
aptX Adaptive 279-420 kbps Newer Android Adjusts to signal conditions. Good for gaming.
LDAC 330 / 660 / 990 kbps Android 8 and newer, Sony devices The highest bitrate in mainstream use. Drops rate when the link is weak.
LC3 Variable, very efficient Bluetooth LE Audio devices The future standard. Better quality per bit, lower power.

What your phone allows

This is the part that decides everything, and most buyers never check it.

iPhone: SBC and AAC only. Apple has never supported aptX or LDAC. If you use an iPhone, LDAC support on an earbud is inert. Buy on tuning, fit and ANC instead.

Android: depends on the chipset and the manufacturer. Most Qualcomm-based phones support aptX variants. LDAC has been part of the Android open-source project since Android 8, so many phones support it. To check yours: enable Developer Options, then look for Bluetooth Audio Codec, which lists exactly what the current connection can use.

Windows laptops: historically SBC and AAC, with aptX on some Qualcomm and Intel wireless modules. Do not assume.

Can you actually hear the difference?

Honest answer: less often than the specification gap suggests.

The chain has a weak link, and it is usually the source material. Spotify, YouTube Music and most Indian streaming at standard quality deliver compressed audio in the region of 128-320 kbps. Passing an already-compressed 160 kbps stream through LDAC at 990 kbps does not recover the detail that was discarded before it reached your phone.

Where a better codec genuinely helps: lossless or high-resolution files stored locally, Apple Music lossless on Android, and low-latency needs for gaming and video. Where it barely helps: standard streaming on a commute, which is what most people do most of the time.

What matters more than the codec

  1. Ear tip seal. Changes the sound more than any codec upgrade. Every time.
  2. Tuning. The manufacturer’s frequency response choice. This is why Sony and Sennheiser sound consistent across price points.
  3. ANC quality, if you commute. Background noise masks far more detail than codec compression does.
  4. Streaming quality setting. Free and worth doing right now: raise it to High or Very High in your music app. This gains more than any codec change.
  5. Connection stability. LDAC at 990 kbps drops out in crowded places. Many people get better results on the 660 kbps setting.

Who should NOT pay extra for LDAC or aptX

  • Every iPhone user. Your phone cannot use them. This is the single most wasted spend in Indian audio buying.
  • Anyone streaming at standard quality. The detail was removed before the codec ever saw it.
  • Commuters. Ambient noise masks the difference, and high-bitrate LDAC is least stable in crowded spaces.
  • Anyone with poorly fitting tips. Fix the seal first. It is free and it matters more.

Do pay for it if you listen to lossless files on Android in a quiet room, or if you play games and need low latency, where aptX Adaptive or LC3 genuinely help.

What we can ship today

Every unit below is in stock as this page was last checked, with a 6-month NewAsNew Assured Warranty, GST invoice, 7-day returns and no-cost EMI. If it is listed here, we can dispatch it.

Model Price MRP You save
Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones with Mic
50Hrs Battery · Quick Charge · Multipoint Connectivity		 ₹2,790 ₹5,990 53%
Sony WH-CH720N Active Noise Cancellation Wireless Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones with Mic
Up to 35Hrs Battery · Customized EQ		 ₹5,890 ₹14,990 61%
Bose Noise Cancelling 700 Bluetooth Wireless Over-Ear Headphones with Mic
Alexa Enabled & Touch Control		 ₹14,790 ₹34,500 57%
Sony WH-1000XM5 Best Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones with Mic
30 Hours Battery Life		 ₹21,990 ₹34,990 37%

Prices checked on 29 September 2026 — stock and prices move, so the linked product page is always the truth.

Browse all headphones in stock · Ask us on WhatsApp which one fits you

Frequently asked questions

Which Bluetooth codec is best?

LDAC has the highest bitrate at 990 kbps, but best depends on your phone. On an iPhone, AAC is the best you can get and is very good. A codec your device cannot use is worth nothing.

Does iPhone support LDAC or aptX?

No. iPhones support SBC and AAC only, and always have. Apple has given no indication of adding either.

How do I check which codec my Android phone is using?

Enable Developer Options by tapping Build Number seven times in Settings, About Phone. Then open Developer Options and find Bluetooth Audio Codec while your earbuds are connected. It shows the active codec and the alternatives available.

Is SBC bad?

No. SBC has a poor reputation from early, badly implemented versions. Modern SBC at higher bitpool settings is perfectly acceptable, and most listeners cannot reliably distinguish it from AAC on compressed streaming.

Does the codec affect latency for video and gaming?

Yes, noticeably. SBC has the highest lag, often over 200ms. aptX Adaptive and LC3 are considerably lower. Most modern earbuds also include a dedicated low-latency game mode that helps regardless of codec.

Will a better codec fix bad-sounding earbuds?

No. Codec choice is a small effect compared with driver tuning and seal. If earbuds sound bad, the cause is almost always fit or tuning, not compression.

Related guides

Still deciding? Talk to a human

Send us the work you do and your budget on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly whether we have something for you — or whether you should wait. Chat with NewAsNew on WhatsApp (+91 79822 35917).

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Written by Atul Pandey, co-founder of NewAsNew (NextG Serve Private Limited, New Delhi). We came from four years of offline electronics retail in Prayagraj before building NewAsNew. Only 2 to 3 out of every 10 devices that reach our QC bench pass; the other 7 to 8 go back to the supplier. The exact figure moves month to month with the stock we are offered, so we publish the range rather than one flattering number. Read our story.