Fix: Samsung Galaxy S7 won’t connect to wireless headphones

The headphone jack is slowly but steadily on its way to history. However, that doesn’t mean the older phones with 3.5mm audio jack won’t thrive when combined with a wireless headset: headphones or nowadays-popular earbuds. At least, when they behave. Namely, a lot of Samsung Galaxy S7 users reported connection issues concerning wireless headphones.

For some reason, allegedly, the Bluetooth connection is simply out for good and the pairing can’t be done whatever they try. For that purpose, we prepared a list of possible solutions, in hope that one (or more) will help you resolve the issue at hand.

If your S7 and wireless headphones/earbuds won’t connect, make sure to check them out below.

How to resolve wireless headphone connection issues on S7

Solution 1 – Hold the Power button longer

The pairing sequence issues are commonly wrongly predicated on the S7 itself. Each headphone, depending on manufacturer and the model, carries a different pairing sequences. And you’ll need to follow it carefully in order to pair the handset and wireless headphones.

For example, the common reports of the aforementioned problem include Plantronics wireless headphones. Users initially paired headphones with the Galaxy S7, but after an update, Bluetooth settings where gone and the issues emerged. They were just unable to pair it again.

For that purpose, we advise you to check the instructions provided with the headphones or on the official support site. One thing which seems to be commonly helpful includes holding the power button on headphones for an extra few seconds until the visual/sound signal confirms pairing is successful.

Solution 2 – Update your firmware

Even though Android updates come as fixes, security patches, and stability improvements, they can, sadly, be just the opposite. Sometimes they bring the bag of issues, plaguing handsets with a plethora of issues that weren’t there before.

However, even though Samsung isn’t exactly as good as Pixel in regards to ‘fixing fixes’, some of the updates might’ve addressed this issue. Additionally, taking into consideration that this is a commonly-reported problem, chances are that updating firmware will provide the resolution.

Here’s how to update the firmware on your Galaxy S7:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap System update.
3. If the update is available, tap Install Now.

Solution 3 – Restart the Bluetooth service

On the other hand, we can’t be certain that the device itself isn’t causing the issue at hand. Namely, some users tackled the issue by resetting the Bluetooth service in the Applications menu. This can come in handy whenever you try to troubleshoot the system-related services, which Bluetooth certainly is.

If you’re unsure how to reset Bluetooth service, follow the instructions we provided below:

1. Expand Control pane and enable Bluetooth.
2. Open Settings.
3. Choose Applications.
4. Click on the 3-dot menu and tap Show system services.
5. Find Bluetooth service and open it.
6. Choose Storage.
7. Clear both Cache and Data.
8. Restart your device and try pairing with headphones again.

Solution 4 – Disable wireless and mobile data

Another thing you could try out (we won’t invest too much hope in this, though) is disabling wireless and mobile data while pairing with the wireless headphones via Bluetooth. For some unknown reason, wireless and mobile data block Bluetooth connection.

This, of course, means that you should disable all other available connections for the time being until the handset and headphones are paired. After the pairing is finally finished, you can re-enable wireless or mobile data.

Solution 5 – Enable NFC

Various modern earbuds and headphones require NFC Easy Connect in order to work in a seamless manner. Those are still rare, but if you can find the ‘N’ letter on your wireless speaker driver, make sure to enable NFC before moving to a pairing procedure.

The procedure is simple. Once you’re in the Main menu, you should see NFC Easy Access under the Connectivity.

Solution 6 – Reset phone to factory settings

Finally, if none of the previous solutions proved fruitful, we can only advise you to, either wipe the cache partition data or reset your device to factory settings. Samsung Galaxy S7 is a brilliant device on paper. However, after some time, due to updates and pilled cache, the problems will start occurring more frequently rather than occasionally.

Some even say that the full functionality is to be expected for 2 years. After that, both software and hardware can cause issues. Hardware-wise, there’s only so much you can do. On the other hand, by resetting the phone to factory settings, the software will liven up.

Nonetheless, don’t forget to backup your data on a PC, an external drive, or cloud service of your choice.

Here’s how to reset S7 to factory settings and, hopefully, manage to connect to wireless headphones afterward:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Backup & Restore.
3. Choose Factory Data Reset.
4. Tap Reset Device.
5. Tap Erase Everything.
6. Confirm selection and insert your passcode or PIN.

With that, we can wrap it up. We can only hope that this was an insightful article. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share your suggestions, additional issues, or questions in the comments section below.