If You Own Earbuds, You Need This Affordable Gadget For Air Travel

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For many of us, earbuds are ridiculously convenient daily gadgets, but even with the best earbuds, most of us still run into a handful of problems with them. Maybe you’ve been on an airplane or at the gym and couldn’t manually connect your AirPods to the audio jack or share sound with your travel mate. Or maybe you’re someone who enjoys watching TV before bed and would love to connect your buds so you don’t disturb your partner. In those cases, you may benefit from the AirFly Duo since it can address these issues plus a few more — and it’s just $43.
The AirFly Duo plugs into a headphone jack and lets up to two users connect to it using their Bluetooth earbuds or AirPods, cutting needed cords and allowing you to share the same audio. On an airplane, that means plugging into in-flight movies and wirelessly sharing the same audio so you and a loved one can watch the same film. That could also mean you and a friend sharing the same podcast audio with one iPhone or watching TV with headphones on from the comfort of your couch.
“Want to use your Bluetooth headphones with pretty much anything? Sorted!” explains user R. Lister. “I like being able to use my AirPods (which being so portable are always with me) with my TV, my little Korg Volca synth and watching [a] movie on a plane — anything with a 3.5mm headphone jack. And with the mammoth battery life (25hrs!), I’ve never had a problem yet.”
This device is easy to use and doesn’t require an app. Just plug in to a headphone jack and press a button to pair either one or two Bluetooth headphones. Once that button is tapped, toggle your earbuds, AirPods or headphones into pairing mode and they’ll automatically connect. You can toggle the AirFly on or off using its power button and charge it via USB-C for up to a claimed 25 hours of battery life.
Reviewer Martin Jackson says that the AirFly Duo let him and his partner watch the same in-flight movie without relying on the subpar quality of airplane-issued disposable headphones. He also says the AirFly Duo’s audio quality is terrific: “The true test of any Bluetooth transmitter is its performance, particularly when maintaining a stable connection and delivering high-quality audio. The AirFly Pro excels in both areas. Throughout my flights, the connection to my AirPods Pro 2 remained flawless, with no noticeable lag or dropout. The audio quality transmitted was clear and crisp, allowing me to become fully immersed in movies and music, thus greatly enhancing my in-flight entertainment experience.”
Some reviewers of the AirFly Duo even report using theirs with their Peloton bike, PlayStation 5 and other devices that occasionally have difficulty connecting to Bluetooth earbuds. “It took about 2 minutes to get my Bose Bluetooth earbuds to sync up to the AirFly,” says Mary. “I tested it out by plugging the AirFly into my laptop and into my Peloton bike. It works great. My Peloton bike doesn’t always sync up with my Bluetooth headphones, so I’m going to use the AirFly to help!”
If you’re looking to split your audio connection, whether on a flight or at home, consider grabbing the AirFly Duo while it’s 33% off (its lowest price of the year), and keep reading for more promising reviews of this useful device.
“I ordered the AirFly SE and I’m really happy with it. It took about 2 minutes to get my Bose Bluetooth earbuds to sync up to the AirFly. I tested it out by plugging the AirFly into my laptop and into my Peloton bike. It works great. The sound quality is just fine. There may be a tiny bit of degradation of sound from the device, but not much at all. I’m going to use this both on airplane rides and on my Peloton. My Peloton bike doesn’t always sync up with my Bluetooth headphones, so I’m going to use the AirFly to help!” — Mary

“I love a thing that does a simple job well. This is a great example: want to use your bluetooth headphones with pretty much anything? Sorted! I like being able to use my AirPods (which being so portable are always with me) with my tv, my little Korg Volca synth and watching movie on a plane – anything with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the mammoth battery life (25hrs!) means I’ve never had a problem yet. First time I bought the wrong thing: the receiver mode is for connecting your Bluetooth device to an output (eg imagine connecting your iPhone to something that only has a 3.5mm input jack) but that’s a rare circumstance for me. This little widget has transmitter mode as well, so it transmits a Bluetooth signal from a 3.5mm output for your Bluetooth headphones etc to pick up. The only complaint I have is that the single button interface and tiny led light for pairing is a little baffling: some of the time it ‘just works’ and others I have to keep pressing it, trying to pair, failing, trying again. It’s probably ‘user error’ but it’s not an easy interface to understand.” — R. Lister

“The Twelve South AirFly Pro is an indispensable accessory for anyone looking to use wireless headphones with in-flight entertainment systems or any device with a 3.5mm audio jack. Its ease of use, excellent performance, and broad compatibility make it a standout product. The freedom to use my Apple AirPods Pro 2 during flights, without sacrificing audio quality or dealing with cumbersome wires, has significantly improved my travel experience. The AirFly Pro is a high-quality, versatile device that I would highly recommend to any traveler or audio enthusiast looking to bridge the gap between wireless audio and wired sources.” — Martin Jackson (This review has been edited for length. Click here for the full review.)

“I was trying to find a solution to connect my airpods to ps5. This is it! You connect it to your controller, then pair it with airpods. Because of the size of this dongle, it’s not in the way. There is no latency and the sound is as good as connecting my wired apple headsets to the controller. Also so easy to pair a second pair of airpods with it. I also tried to plug it into my monitor’s 3.5mm jack to get the sound, but from there, the sound is not good. It has a lot of static. However connecting to the ipad, it has no static. I also tried it in my digital piano(casio px870) and it has significant latency. Overall, it’s an excellent product that solved my problem.” — Harry

“I’ve been eyeing this thing for years now but never felt pushed to commit. However, ahead of a 12 hour flight to Italy, I pulled the trigger and I wish I had done so earlier. Before hand, I’d pack my big old Beats over the ear headphones for the flight since they have the headphone jack, but they’d always give me a headache wearing them for so long, they took up so much space in my backpack and then they’d never get used again until we flew home because my phone doesn’t have the headphone jack. It was just way more convenient and comfortable for me to use my beats pros wireless headphones, plus my boyfriend has airpods so I wanted him to be able to connect to this as well. Got it paired before the flight and it was as simple as plugging it in and turning it on. Love that I can charge it while I’m using it as well. Plugged the USB charger into the outlet on the seatback and connected the Airfly to it so I could use it and charge at the same time. But the thing that REALLY pushed me to purchase this was the fact we had a few audio tours set up in Rome and I wanted to be able to plug this into the device and both me and boyfriend be able to listen along without us each having to rent an audio device. This worked perfectly for that and you save some money only buying one audio guide device. We could even be a good distance apart from one another and didn’t disconnect from the audio guide. This is such a great little travel companion for more than just seatback entertainment on a flight. If your laptop or ipad has a headphone jack, you can both watch and listen together as well.” — Sarah