Tech question: how do external speakers work with a laptop?

Do they plug in the headphone slot or is it an hdmi thingy?

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All of them are possible, USB is also possible, it is like a regular computer. Depends on the speaker, you need to check what it uses to connect
- I think I'm gonna settle on this pair of amazon basics that use a wall outlet and plug into the headphone jack, easy enough pretty much what I'm looking for when I don't want to wear headphones all day.
I connect mine to an external sound interface and then the speakers are connected via AUX.
- Got it. I found these which connect to via aux to the laptop. Do I need to buy a cable too or are these wired with one?
  
  They are wired with one but they also require wall power
  I would recommend something with usb power for a laptop use case so that you don't have to be near a wall any time you want to use your speakers
  Maybe something like this
Headphone jack or Bluetooth (if your laptop has BT). USB speakers also exist, but those aren't a good choice.
- Ok, pretty sure I have bluetooth, I've never used a bt device before, how does that work?
  
  You put whatever BT device you're trying to connect in pairing mode and then add them in the Bluetooth settings on your laptop. The device you're trying to connect will have instructions on how to enter pairing mode.
  
  Just fyi, if you're trying to game you might have some horrendous lag through Bluetooth.

13 comments