While the Apple Watch has a speaker, it's only meant for tones, calls, Siri (on Series 3), and other short and simple sounds. If you want to listen to your music (or any other audio) you've synced with Apple Watch, or Apple Music streaming on Series 3 (and above) watches, you'll need to pair your watch with some wireless headphones.
What headphones does the Apple Watch support?
Your Apple Watch doesn't have a wired headphone port to plug in a set of earbuds. Instead, it sends audio wirelessly. The watch supports any headphones or headset that connects via Bluetooth 4.0 or Apple's W-series chip (like the AirPods and Beats products); pre-4.0 Bluetooth headsets may run into problems or may not show up to pair at all.
How to pair your Apple Watch with wireless headphones or a headset
Note: If you try to listen to local music before you pair with a set of headphones, you'll be prompted to connect headphones during the playback process, as outlined in Step 4.
- Put your headphones or headset into Bluetooth or W-series pairing mode. (This usually involves pressing and holding a button on your headset.)
- Press the Digital Crown to go to your Apple Watch's Home screen.
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Tap the Settings app.
- Tap Bluetooth.
- Tap the name of the device you want to pair with.
Your device's status will switch from "pairing" to "paired" once the connection is established; afterward, you'll see a "Connected" option in your watch's Bluetooth settings, and you can now stream music.