How to use your phone as a microphone for a Bluetooth speaker

Short answer: pair your Bluetooth speaker with your phone, open a microphone app such as Mic Bluetooth Speaker, allow the microphone permission and tap Start. Whatever you say into the phone plays through the speaker. The rest of this guide covers the details that make it sound good.

What you need

• An Android phone (Android 8.0 or newer for Mic Bluetooth Speaker).
• A Bluetooth speaker, or Bluetooth earbuds or headphones, that can play music from your phone.
• A microphone app. Android has no built-in way to send the microphone to a Bluetooth speaker, so an app does the routing.

Step by step

1. Pair the speaker. Turn the speaker on and put it in pairing mode. On your phone, open the Bluetooth settings (often Settings → Connected devices → Pair new device; the path varies by phone) and choose the speaker. Check that it plays music from the phone before you go further.
2. Open the app and allow access. Mic Bluetooth Speaker asks for the microphone, and on Android 12 and newer for Nearby devices, so it can hear you and see the paired speaker.
3. Choose the output. The app shows the connected speaker. If it still says "Phone speaker", connect the Bluetooth speaker in Android settings and come back to the app.
4. Set the levels. Use the left fader for microphone sensitivity and the right fader for the app's volume. Start with the sensitivity near the middle and raise it only if people cannot hear you.
5. Tap Start and speak. Your voice now comes out of the speaker. The live level bars show that the app is hearing you.
6. Optional: add a voice effect. Open Voice changer to pick an effect such as Megaphone, Echo or Robot. You can switch while you talk.

Get clear sound

• Hold the phone close to your mouth, about a hand's width away, and talk across the microphone rather than directly into it.
• Keep the phone away from the speaker. The further apart they are, the less likely you are to get a whistle. See how to stop speaker feedback and echo.
• Use the Audio tools for a noisy room: noise gate, auto gain, feedback reduction and a two-band equalizer.
• Switch microphones if needed. A switch under the Start button changes between the phone's bottom and top microphone.

About the delay

Bluetooth speakers receive audio over a standard called A2DP, which buffers sound to keep it smooth. That buffering adds a delay of roughly 0.2 seconds between your voice and the speaker. It is fine for announcements, talks and singing along, but you will notice it if you try to speak in time with a video. If you stand far from the speaker, you will hear your own voice in the room first and the amplified voice just after it, which sounds like a slight echo. Standing behind or beside the speaker, so that it points at your audience, avoids that.

Troubleshooting

• No sound from the speaker: check that the speaker is connected for media audio, that its volume is up, and that the app's volume fader is not at zero.
• The app does not see the speaker: connect it in Android's Bluetooth settings first, and allow Nearby devices for the app.
• Your voice is too quiet: raise the microphone sensitivity, switch on auto gain, or move the phone closer to your mouth.
• The sound whistles: that is feedback. Lower the volume, move away from the speaker, and switch on feedback reduction.

Is it private?

Mic Bluetooth Speaker processes your live audio on your phone and never uploads it. There is no account. Nothing is recorded unless you choose to record and save a clip. You can read the full privacy policy.