Bluetooth Music Receiver Dongle

I have been looking for a bluetooth music receiver dongle device for sometime now and now I managed to get one for review today. I bought this of Jumia Market place or as it was formally known, Kaymu. There are a lot of projects using this dongle on YouTube. From bathroom speakers to coca cola speaker and Bluetooth boom boxes.

How does it work?

The Bluetooth music receuver dongle works by converting any HiFI, Car stereo or Amplifier into a Bluetooth music streaming music system.

It does so by receiving the Bluetooth signal and passing it out as an analog signal through a 3.5mm earphone jack. It comes with a short portable cable for that purpose but you can also use the earphone jack to RCA connector cable too.

This cable is important because you can connect it to the AUX input port of your amplifier or HiFi. Car stereos with a USB port and a portable IN port can use the accessories provided easily.

How to power it

The Bluetooth dongle resembles a USB flash drive and the USB connector is what is used to power the dongle. You can power it from any USB port be it from-

• A charger
• A power bank (if you have the back to back USB cable)
• The USB port on your stereo, DVD player,Home Theater or TV
• A laptop or computer USB port
• Or you can choose to take it apart and solder a 5Volts line directly.

The soldering option is used by the Youtube DIY enthusiasts who make a HiFi stereo from scratch or want a more permanent solution instead of the dongle hanging from the outside of the music system. Taking apart the dongle plastic casing is however required.

Video Version

Watch how I connected the Bluetooth dongle to my vintage pioneer amplifier.

Range

The packaging says that the Bluetooth music streaming dongle has an effective range of 10 meters and it didn’t dissapoint.

The power consumption is very low and I could pull the charger I was using from the extension and it would continue working for about a minute. This is because of the capacitors in the charger itself.

Humming Sound

When the device was off and still connected to the amplifier, it introduced this annoying high pitched hum into the amp. When connected to power the him goes away.

Verdict

You need a powerful amplifier that you can crank the volume to a high level because of the low volume output of the dongle. Using it on a low power music system will be disappointing.

Although the volume output was low, the dongle is a good device. I can recommend it to anyone who wants to change their music system into a Bluetooth music streaming device.