I love Chromebooks, but I’m not blind to their faults. Despite partnering with Brydge to sell a Bluetooth keyboard for the new Pixel Slate, the Bluetooth stack on Chrome OS is still terrible. But it can be fixed.
The fact that this is fixable isn’t to excuse the sorry state of Bluetooth support that Chromebook users have to deal with though. Wired accessories are going to be more stable on any operating system, but on Chrome OS they’re almost a necessity. Trying to pair Bluetooth headphones, mice and other accessories leaves most users just staring at the Bluetooth page in frustration.
And when you do get your accessories paired, the experience isn’t much better. Headphone audio typically cuts in and out, while using a Bluetooth mouse will often leave you with a pointer that lags and bounces around.
How to Make Your Chromebook’s Bluetooth Magically Better
Google is testing out a new Bluetooth stack for Chromebooks, and you should be able to use it now. Jump into your browser, open a new tab, and enter chrome://flags.
Type “newblue” into the Flags search box near the top. Select the drop-down menu next to Newblue, then select “Enabled.”
Save anything you’re working on, then select Restart Now.
That’s it! New Bluetooth devices should pair much easier and they’ll work much better. After changing this setting on my Chromebook, I didn’t have any issues with my Bluetooth keyboard mistyping, headphone audio being choppy or my mouse pointer being inconsistent.
