Bluetooth Adapter for PC, BT 5.0 EDR Nano USB Dongle, Fast Transfer, Bluetooth Headphones Headset Speakers Keyboard Mouse, Win 10/11 Plug-n-Play, Linux/Mint 21 Plug-n-Play, BT-8500

I got this bluetooth adapter for my pc, since it doesn't have bluetooth built-in. The reason I chose this adapter in particular was because of the advertisement of the "plug and play" functionality and compatibility with Linux Mint machines, which I hadn't seen any of the others say. This was definitely as advertised! The bluetooth adapter was compatible with my Linux Mint 22 system out of the box. The installation was super easy, I just had to plug it in and it worked, which is refreshing to see, being a Linux user, usually there's some fiddling around with things, but not this! I looked around a little, and it turns out it DOES actually require drivers, but for Linux Mint 21 and up, the drivers are already included in the OS on-install. So yes, it is plug and play, if you have an updated Mint system, as advertised. However, in the package for the bluetooth adapter, it also includes instructions on how to download the drivers for Ubuntu systems, or if you just don't have it on your Mint system, which is nice (I THINK I remember seeing options for Debian systems on the driver download page, but don't quote me on that. I think some of the other reviewers have used other distros with this though, I would check their reviews to see). I haven't tested it on a Ubuntu OS, but I'd imagine it works, since it works on Mint and they're fairly similar. Slightly more work, but it does still seem to be possible to use this adapter for other Linux systems, even if it isn't plug and play, which is more than can be said for a lot of other bluetooth adapters on the market which don't even make an attempt to cater to the Linux-user market. Now, the actual performance of the bluetooth adapter. I'm no audiophile, in fact, I'm actually pretty tone deaf. But so far, the sound quality has been great! It just sounds like if I connected my wireless headphones to my phone, I don't notice any difference in sound quality due to the adapter. I've been using this adapter for over a month or so, now, and it's still working just the same as it did when I got it. One thing to note is that sometimes, the audio seems to kind of cut out? Like it just drops out for a second every few seconds, pretty annoying. This problem is pretty easily solved by just taking it out of the USB port and plugging it back in. I don't know if this is a problem with the bluetooth adapter or my computer, though. I do have a somewhat older, refurbished computer, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was my computer rather than the adapter itself. Other than that minor issue, I've been perfectly happy with this adapter! I totally forget it's there most of the time, my computer just runs with bluetooth like it was built-in. The little dongle itself is pretty well-built. It's small, smaller than some of the other ones on the market, which I like as I keep it plugged in to the front of my computer. It feels solid and well constructed, but overall pretty standard for a bluetooth dongle. Perfectly average, that's how I like it. It does what it does and I don't need to think about it often. Now, for the price. This adapter is priced a few dollars higher than a lot of the other really similar ones on here (about 4-5 dollars, last I checked), and I'd bet it runs about the same as those other ones too. BUT, the most notable advantage that this particular adapter has, in my opinion, is the out-of-the-box compatibility with Linux Mint. That's the main reason I chose this one over the others, and I'd be willing to guess from the other reviews that that's a major selling point for a lot of others, too. I'd say that if you have a Linux system, definitely pay a couple extra dollars to get this adapter. The Linux functionality is good, and from the other reviews, it seems like their customer support is responsive enough to get it working on your system if you have issues, which is a major, major plus for Linux users. However, if you have windows, I don't really see why you would buy this, honestly, because you could buy something incredibly similar and save a couple of bucks, to boot. TLDR; It works perfectly on Linux Mint 22, plug and play as advertised. No glaring issues with the device. I'm happy with my purchase, and would recommend this to anyone using a Linux distro, particularly Mint.

I'm running this with openmandriva with no issues. I had an 8bitdo keyboard that wouldn't pair with linux in bluetooth mode with its default dongle. This worked just fine (typing on that keyboard with linux right now). No drivers, downloads or software needed. Just plug in, go to the bluetooth setup, your device will show up and you type the key combination and its linked. The only drawback is limited range and doesn't support > BT 5, but for a keyboard and mouse in your living room this is not an issue.

I bought a few others from another place that would not work with Linux. This one specifically mentioned Linux in the description, so I gave it a try. It worked flawlessly from the start. No drivers to mess with either. Thanks so much! Highly recommended!

I bought this one because it was reported to work with Linux and it does, with a couple of "gotchas"... The good: I'm using Linux 22.2 with all upgrades applied and drivers were already there in my HP workstation. Linux users may find that they have to install the "Blueman" application from there pairing was easy. Gotcha 1: A cheap freebee cylinder bluetooth speaker I had did not work with this adapter but it works on my phone. My very old Klazzo "bomb" stereo speakers did flawlessly. Gotcha 2: The unobstructed transmission / reception range is short at about 12'. This is OK for me because my uses are to get rid of my wired stereo speakers at my desk, and to have tunes on my patio only 10' away. I guess I "could" put a long USB3 extension closer to my patio if needed but it works OK for now. If your purpose for Linux compatibility and the useful limits are like mine, I recommend it but if you expect longer range than I discovered you may need to search for another solution.

Was setting up an old PC with Linux that apparently didn't have Bluetooth, only WiFi. Plugged this in before booting, and boom I was able to add Bluetooth devices like it had Bluetooth all along (had it already been running I suspect it would have detected it). A few mouse clicks In Gnome Bluetooth settings and my headphones paired flawlessly.

Bought this adapter so I can switch my keyboard and mouse to different systems (Windows and Linux). In my case I have Windows 11 with the OEM keyboard BT adapter and needed one for my other system running Proxmox 9.2.3. I did not have any technical issues with this BT adapter. One tip is that when you get the passkey, be sure to enter it on the BT keyboard device you are trying to connect and not the physical keyboard you might be using to do the configuration on Proxmox.

False advertising. Doesn't work with Linux. Using Debian Trixie 13. Plug USB dongle in. lsusb shows that the dongle is recognized, but bluetooth manager doesn't add it to list of adapters. Spend couple of hours digging around online. Supposedly the drivers for this should already be in Linux 6.0+ kernels. So, shouldn't have to download or mess around with external drivers. I spent time troubleshooting and looking at online forums to see what was not working. But, I never could get linux bluetooth to recognize the usb bluetooth dongle as a bluetooth adapter. If you're say your product works with linux, it should just work. It should just "plug n play" work. Not "waste hours trying to get it work to no avail". Plugged it into a Windows 11 laptop to verify the product wasn't bad. It told me to reboot to install drivers. Go into device manager and there's a yellow exclamation next to the device saying it needs drivers. So, this thing is not plug-n-play out of the box. Not sure what kind of odd proprietary bluetooth radio chip they're using that doesn't use bog standard bt drivers that have been around forever, but my recommendation is to avoid this product for both linux and windows.

This Edimax bluetooth adapter works very well with Debian 13 trixie (lxde desktop environment), you just need to install the realtek firmware from Debian package manager for the support of the rtl8761bu chip. I also bought the Techkey brand adapter which has a antenna. The Techkey antenna is supposed to pick up more bluetooth devices but it actually picks up only half of the devices that the Edmax can do, from my neighbor houses. To make the bluetooth audio to work in Debian 13 trixie, you need to follow the steps from Debian Bluetooth Audio Setup wiki, and pipewire works better than pulseaudio for high quality audio codecs. You also need to install the package pavucontrol for user interface, to select the bluetooth audio device that you want to send sound signal to.

Sucessfully used this to connect 8bitdo Bluetooth controllers in both Linux Mint and Batocera.

Good bluetooth dongle.as advertised

I have several older laptops running Windows 11, Fedora, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint. When I plug in this bluetooth adapter, they recognize it right away and there is no driver installation required. I use it for bluetooth mouse and for sending audio to bluetooth speakers, and it works fine. So, I am very happy about it.

Worked out of the box What more do you need

It worked perfectly out of the box with Debian. No drivers or extra configuration needed. Just plug it in and it works. Great choice if you’re using Linux and want a hassle-free Bluetooth adapter.