Some mobiles have built-in FM radio, so that it is possible to listen to stations in the region, without using data of any kind. Cell phones use the headphone cable as an antenna for the radio, so what if you want to listen to the radio with your new wireless headphones favorites?
Some cellphones have FM radio, some don’t, and if they all have something in common, it’s that they have a mini headphone jack. Even though it has a headphone jack, you might prefer to use TWS headphones or those new headphones with excellent noise cancellation. You can listen to FM radio with wireless headphones, although the solution is not very elegant.
FM radio in wireless headphones
If you want to listen to your Android mobile’s FM radio on wireless headphones, you will face two issues. The first is that the mobiles use the headphone cable as an antenna therefore without connecting a headset, you will not be able to receive any station unless you live under its antenna.
This problem has a simple solution: connect a headphone cable to the mobile, even if you are not going to use it for listening to music. It works with any pair of headphones you have at home, even if they sound bad or are half-broken – you only need them to act as an antenna. It is not a very elegant solution, but you can always keep these headphones next to the mobile, in your pocket.
After connecting the headphone cable, you can now open the radio app and search for your favorite station. Then connect your headphones wirelessly and hopefully the radio will start playing from them, rather than from the wired headphones.
Otherwise, you just encountered the second problem: that sound comes out of wired headphones and not wirelessly, whether or not you connect the Bluetooth headset later.
You will need to use wired headphones for the antenna and configure the mobile to use the wireless ones for audio output
If this is your case, look for the option to change the device used for audio output. In some mobiles you will find the option in the volume control, in mobiles with EMUI in a permanent notification and in the Android stock it is in the section Play multimedia content on, in audio settings.
Change the output to wireless headphones and you should listen to FM radio for them and not for those with cable, which will only serve as an antenna. Some mobiles, especially those with older versions of Android, may not have this option and insist on prioritizing wired headphones.
If nothing worksYou will still have the apps to listen to the radio, which use data, but at least don’t require you to wear a wired headset hanging from your mobile. In summary, this is the whole process to listen to the FM radio of an Android mobile on wireless headphones:
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Connect any wired headset
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Open the radio app and check that it is working
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Connect wireless headphones to mobile
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If the sound is from the wired headphones, please change the output device in the Android sound settings