Is it technically possible to connect Galaxy Buds to the fitbit Versa?

[foxp3]

I've seen a post in which another user drew the conclusion that because of the type of "low energy" blue tooth used by the Versa that the new Samsung Galaxy Buds will not pair. While this is the "accepted solution" to the issue, there was no response by the thread moderation or a fitbit representative. In my own experience my Versa can identify the wireless buds but will not connect, no matter what I've tried. I'd like a fitbit representative to address this issue or conclusively state that this connection cannot occur, if true, thus ending my continued trial and error. thanks.

After 6 months I'm receiving the same response from fitbitsupport. "Hello. We're sorry for the inconvenience and our engineering team is now working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience while we're working on this. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to assist you in the meantime." I doubt there will be a resolution for this issue.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, I flagged your post, so it will be under the attention of the Moderator team. Hope that someone will contact you soon about your problem. Good luck!!

[foxp3]

Thanks! I did manage to get a response from @fitbitsupport on twitter which said "We’re aware of this and are working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible." So, it might be that the two are simply incompatible, but possibly there will be a resolution. I'm hoping that someone will get back to me before I lose the ability to return the Galaxy Buds.

Update: after 10 days, @fitbitsupport on twitter "Hi there. Thanks for checking. While we don't have much information to share at this time, our team is still working on a fix to help get you back on track soon. We appreciate your patience and let us know if you have other questions."

Update: after 21 days, @fitbitsupport on twitter "Thanks for getting back. Our team is working to determine the needed resolutions. You'll surely get notified the soonest possible time when the issue is fixed. We appreciate your continued patience!"

[Rich_Laue]

The Versa has both BT Classic (for music control on phone and connecting headphones) and BT Low Energy, along with the ability to host a bluetooth connection with a headphone. 

However users have discovered that not all headphones seem to be able to connect to the Versa and I think this is what Fitbit is aware of. 

[AD211]

I didn’t know this, and am glad I came across your post. It’s baffling to me $20 and $50 wireless earbuds work fine, but a $130 or $150 set won’t. I finally found a pair of flagships that did in the Beoplay E8 1.0s, but those came with their own issues...

[b-bowling]

Wanted to chime in here.

I finally got my Galaxy Buds to connect to my Versa today.  I think the trick was to turn off bluetooth on my phone when I tried to pair between the watch and buds.  Maybe the buds can't be connected to more than one device at a time?

Once I opened the buds' case to start pairing, with the phone's bluetooth off, they showed right up on my Versa and paired.  They didn't play music at first but after shuffling songs for a second it started playing.

[Auntiecin]

You are correct . I turned off the Bluetooth on my phone and the Bluetooth on my computer and my Versa paired with my Galaxy ear buds right away.  No problem.  Thank you very much.

[Rich_Laue]

@b-bowling I never thought of this possibly,  I had assumed that every one already knew that most BT headphones can only connect to one audio source at a time. And if connected to a source another device trying to search for the headphone will not get a response. 

Thanks for bringing this up. 

Of course some rules have an exception and if the headphones support RFCIMM then yes it will be able to connect to the phone and Fitbit at the same time. 

The Fitbit Flyer is such a device. 

[foxp3]

@b-bowling and @Rich_Laue Thanks for the comments and suggestion. My Versa has always been able to detect the Galaxy Buds, but never connect. Even after turning off all bluetooth devices in my vicinity the same "connection failed" msg is displayed after attempted pairing. Have your buds connected every time you've tried to pair them?

[b-bowling]

Well after trying again today, no sound is coming through the ear buds 😕

[foxp3]

Also, with respect to the bluetooth situation and the galaxy buds in general, if I connect my buds to my phone, and then want to connect them to my computer, I don't have to turn off the bluetooth on my phone. I just hit connect on my computer and they connect to that. So I don't think that that's the complete issue. It must also be the communication between the buds and the tracker, somehow. Additionally, if it were just an inability of the buds to connect because of competing bluetooth interactions, I would have expected @fitbitsupport to comeback with a solution much sooner. They've acknowledged that there is a deeper issue at play and, I guess, are trying to troubleshoot.

[Mom2ktaw]

In response to the issue of galaxy buds not connecting to the versa:

I got my versa last year in June for my birthday. I received my galaxy buds in March of this year. I used them in conjunction with my galaxy buds on runs daily for about 3 weeks and they suddenly wouldn't connect. If I shut down my versa and reconnected them they would work for a short period and then lose connection again. Eventually my versa screen quit working completely (second versa in a year) and last month I got a replacement again but went to the ionic instead. I was excited to use my Fitbit and run again but i have only been able to connect my ionic to the buds twice since mothers day. Yesterday being the second time i connected and 5 minutes into my run they disconnected. I have tried other bluetooth options for music and am having the same result. It appears to me that something has happened with FitBit and has nothing to do with compatibility at least not as far as the versa goes bc as I said before I used mine with my galaxy buds for weeks. Please fit this issue. 

[b-bowling]

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@foxp3 wrote:

Thanks! I did manage to get a response from @fitbitsupport on twitter which said "We’re aware of this and are working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible." So, it might be that the two are simply incompatible, but possibly there will be a resolution. I'm hoping that someone will get back to me before I lose the ability to return the Galaxy Buds.

Update: after 10 days, @fitbitsupport on twitter "Hi there. Thanks for checking. While we don't have much information to share at this time, our team is still working on a fix to help get you back on track soon. We appreciate your patience and let us know if you have other questions."

Update: after 21 days, @fitbitsupport on twitter "Thanks for getting back. Our team is working to determine the needed resolutions. You'll surely get notified the soonest possible time when the issue is fixed. We appreciate your continued patience!"

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Have you heard any more updates from the Fitbit support team?

[foxp3]

@b-bowling no. I haven't bothered to ping them back on twitter because I seem to be getting the same response.

[Tanitta]

Was having the same problem : connecting fine but no sound and you can see the music is playing . As someone above suggested i started shuffling the songs without too much hope  and on the 10th it started playing, the sound really startled me  ! Not sure how consistent this is going to be but happy at the moment .

I am off to find out why my Ink'd headphones stopped working with my Versa...

[iyiyi]

I was able to pair but get no music. I followed Samsung's directions for pairing and my Versa located and displayed my buds. However, when I press a song nothing happens. Oh well....

[SunsetRunner]

I have the same issue. This is what I do:

1. Take one bud (doesn't matter which side) out of the case
2. Leave the other bud in the case, then close it
3. Connect Samsung earbud to your versa
4. Play a song, you should see on the versa screen that the song is playing. You won't be able to hear any sound from the bud yet
5. Open the earbuds case, you should hear the music this time (only from the first bud that you used when connecting)

sometimes I'm able to use both buds at the same time, but im not able to finish a song and it will lose the sound.

so i only use one bud when listening from my versa.

[SunsetRunner]

try connecting one bud first. play a song, when you see it playing on your versa, open the case and wear the other but. Sometimes both buds work at the same time, i don't know how to say but its kind of dropping the signal and it's more annoying than using one bud. XD

[b-bowling]

So sad that it takes so much to get such a basic thing to work

[Mom2ktaw]

Thank you! That worked, however it sounds fuzzy but an improvement never
the less.