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(Image credit: Spotify)

With 217 million active users worldwide (almost half of which are paying subscribers), Spotify is the world's largest and most popular music streaming service. But you're no longer restricted to listening to music through your smartphone's app.

Using Spotify Connect, you can fire your tunes over wi-fi to any compatible audio product (more on that later) you have in your home. And with just two clicks of a button! This feature is a godsend for house parties – as long as you trust your friends with the controls! – but it's really for anyone who wants to easily access Spotify's 30-million-song-catalogue and curated playlists on hi-fi and AV kit and smart speakers without the hassle of any Bluetooth pairing.



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What is Spotify Connect?

It's a way of playing Spotify through your wireless speaker, soundbar, AV receiver, voice-control smart speaker – or any other compatible device – over wi-fi. That means you can play your favourite tunes anywhere in the house, all without the need for any convoluted Bluetooth pairing between devices every time you want to listen to music.

Best of all, Spotify Connect doesn't use your smartphone (or tablet or desktop) app to stream music. It plays music directly from its servers to the device, leaving your smartphone free for making calls and all other uses. You only have to use your smartphone to identify the speaker in the first place and then control music playback.

And to ensure the best quality possible, Spotify Connect always streams in 320kbps, which is the highest bitrate Spotify currently offers.

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How does it work? What products support it?

Just like Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect works over wi-fi. It seeks out compatible devices that are connected to the same wi-fi network and links them together to wirelessly to stream music.

To use Spotify Connect, you'll first need a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer with the Spotify app downloaded on to it. To use Spotify Connect with most devices you'll also need a Spotify Premium subscription, although some (the PlayStation 4, for example) are happy to work with Spotify Free.

And then you just need the right product. Chances are you might already have a speaker or amp that supports Spotify Connect: there are tons of products, across smart speakers, streamers, smart displays, wireless speakers, smart TVs, wearables, hi-fi components and car audio systems.

They can be as varied as the Amazon Echo Plus smart speaker, Sony STR-DN1080 home cinema amp, Naim Mu-so 2 wireless speaker and Cambridge CXN network streamer. In fact, it's become so ubiquitous it's usually the first feature you'll see on a streaming-capable product's feature list. 

You can find the full list of compatible kit here.


There is one caveat, however. In order to play through a Spotify Connect-compatible amplifier or speaker, you will need a Spotify Premium account, costing £9.99/$9.99 per month. Perks include no ads, being able to pick songs (instead of just shuffling) on the mobile app, and using Spotify Connect on any relevant device.

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How do you set it up?





Spotify claims using Connect lets you switch between multiple products "without skipping a beat". In reality, there's always a tiny bit of delay when you swap products, but it's much quicker than having to pair to Bluetooth every time.



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How do you use your smartphone while using Spotify Connect?

You can use it normally without worrying that whatever you're doing – sending a text, playing a game, watching a YouTube clip – will interrupt the music.

All songs are streamed directly from Spotify's cloud servers to your Spotify Connect product; your phone acts purely as a controller.

First of all, this means playing Spotify won't sap your smartphone's battery – a fine reason to invest in a Premium account. Since you're only using your smartphone or tablet to control playback, it goes a long way in prolonging the battery life.



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What about voice control?




We hope that if and when it does happen, Spotify finally unveils that lossless Hi-Fi tier – we've had our fingers crossed for over a year now.


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