What is the biggest drawback to bringing your Nintendo Switch on vacation? There are plenty of good answers, I’m sure—longer flights requite a portable charger, bringing the device and accessories requires another bag in your already packed carryon, and one could definitely argue that it’s one more screen to distract you from your surroundings in paradise. But, hey, some of us just can’t leave Hyrule Warriors at home, okay?
For us, the biggest drawback is the lack of Bluetooth connectivity. Considering every set of headphones we own and test, from noise-canceling and over-ear to buds and pods of every variety, is wireless, it’s counterproductive to have to dig out our old wired sets just for the sake of keeping our PGA Tour 2K21 championship hopes alive during long flights to Tahiti (just dreaming out loud right now).
Enter: the AirFly Pro.
Hardly bigger than your average keychain, this is a gadget that isn’t just for Switch owners. With its biggest advantage being that it allows two people to connect at once, it serves any pair of travelers looking to watch an in-flight movie or binge a beloved TV series using the screens built into the seats in front of them. But since we specifically picked up the “Switch Edition” to see if it could help with the Bluetooth dilemma, we’ve made it a gamer’s accessory.
How Does It Work?
We’re suckers for anything that’s as simple as pushing a button, and that’s the AirFly Pro in a nutshell. After taking it out of the package and charging the device, it’s a three-step process: turn it on, pair the headphones, and plug the AirFly into the Switch’s headphone jack.
Annoyingly, I failed to read the instructions first and put the AirFly in the wrong mode and then plugged it into the jack first, which resulted in me having to reset it twice, so let’s remind everyone of the 11th Commandment: thou shalt always consult the manual.
How Well Does It Work?
Very well. It’s a blessing to be able to use wireless headphones when I’m sneaking a game of Assassins Creed: Black Flag before bedtime, but what really makes the performance great is the small size of the AirFly. Even as it hangs on top of the handheld system, it’s unobstructive. It’s not clunky or heavy, so if you’re excitedly trying to take down a fort or pillage a munitions warehouse, it won’t annoy or bother you.
We’ll leave that up to the kids asking when it’s their turn to play
