Bluetooth connection goes both ways. You can connect your Android phone to a third-party device, and you can connect a third-party device to your phone. It’s all good and good and pretty simple. However, it can be a bit confusing when you have multiple Android phones in your house. For example, there are two people in my house who both have Pixel 7 Pro phones. So when I connect my phone to one device, it can show two different Pixel 7 Pro phones. Which one do I choose?
This is not a deal breaker. And even if you try to connect to the wrong phone, you can always start over and connect to the other phone. But wait…if both phones have the same Bluetooth name, how do you know which phone “other” is? You may not know.
Let’s solve that simple problem, so you can simplify your Bluetooth connection.
Request
The only thing you need is an Android phone. It doesn’t matter what phone you use or what version of Android you’re using. Unless you bought your phone years ago, chances are you’re running at least version 10 or 11 of your OS, so the process should be the same or similar. I’ll demonstrate this on a Pixel 7 running Android 13.
Also: How to Enable UWB on Android (and Why You Should)
Let’s rename our phone, shall we?
How to rename Android device Bluetooth
Open your App Drawer, search for the Settings icon and tap to launch the app.
From the Settings app, tap Connected devices near the top.
Navigate to Connected Devices settings in Android 13. Photo: Jack Wallen
In the Connected devices page, tap Connection Options at the bottom.
You will find the Bluetooth name option in the Connection Options. Photo: Jack Wallen
In the Connection Options page, tap Bluetooth at the top, and then, in the resulting window, tap Device Name.
The default name of the Pixel 7 Pro. Photo: Jack Wallen
In the resulting pop-up, give your device a new name and tap Rename.
A little advice on renaming your phone
I tend to be a bit paranoid about my privacy. Therefore, I will not give my phone a full name. Why? When in public, you never know if someone is trying to hack your device via Bluetooth. Therefore, I am not going to make it easier for someone to target me by giving my phone a name. Instead, I’ll give my phone a random name or number to prevent anyone from knowing which phone belongs to me. I would know which phone the name belongs to but no one else knows. I would even go so far as to change the name from time to time.
But that’s all for renaming your Android phone for a simpler Bluetooth connection. Use a little caution with this feature and it will serve you well.
