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Music cuts out while swimming

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‎06-30-2019 17:46

‎06-30-2019 17:46

I have a pair of Mpow Flame bluetooth headphones.  I purchased them to use with my Fitbit Ionic while swimming.  However the music cuts out while I am in the water.  In addition while in the water, my Ionic jumps around to different apps. It doesn't always respond to my touch. 

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8 REPLIES 8

‎06-30-2019 18:49

‎06-30-2019 18:49

Don't expect bluetooth headphones to work in water.  Bluetooth does not transmit well, or at all, in water.

Before posting, re-read to see if it would make sense to someone else not looking at your Fitbit or phone.

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‎07-01-2019 00:23

In response to JohnnyRow

‎07-01-2019 00:23

Water has always been known to cause problems with touch screens. 

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‎07-21-2019 04:09 - edited ‎07-21-2019 04:13

In response to JohnnyRow

‎07-21-2019 04:09 - edited ‎07-21-2019 04:13

My bluetooth headphones are designed to be in the water (there are dozens out there) and  work fine in the water if my phone is nearby.  I have no issues with the headphones.  It's when I am in the water and trying to get my fitbit Ionic to transmit music that I have issues.  I am ok with the limitation of my touchscreen not working in the water, but it would be great if I could start my music, get in the water and let it play while I am swimming without it cutting out.  

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‎07-21-2019 05:55 - edited ‎07-21-2019 06:43

In response to blue_yucca

‎07-21-2019 05:55 - edited ‎07-21-2019 06:43

Hello @blue_yucca your phone has a larger BT antenna, radio waves travel through water differently than the do through air.. 

 

Your ionic has a touch screen and water tends to conduct electricity touching a wet screen tends to make the touch seem like it is as big as the water spot. It is the same thing with a wet phone that is practically impossible to control. 

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‎07-21-2019 06:40

In response to blue_yucca

‎07-21-2019 06:40

I'm very curious about your headphones.  I have never seen any that claim to get bluetooth in the water.  What I see is either they say they are waterproof, and therefore don't worry about sweating.  Or that they are submersible, but with the disclaimer they will not actually get signal underwater.  Basically you won't damage them if you get in the water but they will not play in the water.

 

If you can find a link to some description that says a bluetooth headphone actually plays while in the water, I would like to see that.

 

Here is a quote from a description of one on Amazon:

"Waterproof Bluetooth Earphones: waterproof and sweatproof; withstand heavy perspiration, submersible to 3 M underwater for 120 minutes, IP68 waterproof rating.(Please notice that bluetooth signal can not be propagated underwater.)"

Before posting, re-read to see if it would make sense to someone else not looking at your Fitbit or phone.

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‎07-21-2019 06:47

In response to JohnnyRow

‎07-21-2019 06:47

@JohnnyRow I thought the same thing. My thoughts are that the phone is not in the water like the Fitbit is. I would expect that when the Fitbit goes under the surf save the signal does and if the headphones also do, we have a double whammy. 

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‎07-21-2019 11:28

In response to JohnnyRow

‎07-21-2019 11:28

@JohnnyRow thanks for the questions.  The research I did (apparently posting url's is not allowed on this forum) showed that while there is significant attenuation in the water because of the low signal strength between Bluetooth devices, there are indeed solutions that combine overcoming the distance between the streaming/data source and the headphones along with ease of use.  I am willing to sacrifice the ease of use because of the inherent problems of touchscreens getting wet but the distance between my wrist and my head should not be that big of a problem at the depth I am swimming.  One website offered the solution of leaving my phone on the side of the pool and keeping my headphones on.  That helps with getting music to my headphones, however, the reason I even considered purchasing a smartwatch in the first place was to have most of my needed apps for swimming and performance analysis easily accessible; the added bonus was being able to listen to music. 

Since the GPS on my Ionic doesn't work that well (if at all) indoors and the apps on my Ionic jump around in the water and now the crazy inability of my watch to transmit my music to my headphones, I am not sure this was a good purchase after all. 
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‎07-21-2019 11:58

In response to blue_yucca

‎07-21-2019 11:58

Urls are allowed on this forum @blue_yucca. notice your name has a url attached.

You can type the url out or link the url to a word. Screenshot_20190721-145211_Chrome.jpg

 

That is true about GPS not working well inside buildings. For this you will need a Military grade receiver. 

You might notice that simply walking by a tree line will affect the gps on the phone and tracker

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