Although many smartphones and other devices still include support for Bluetooth in their 4.x versions, every day the number of those that supports the latest version of the short-range wireless communication standard, Bluetooth 5.0, increases. And if we have to change, this is one of the parameters that we can take into account when purchasing, for example, a new phone.
But what does it mean for a terminal to be compatible with Bluetooth 5.0? What news does it bring and how does it benefit us? To answer these and other questions, let’s take a look at what the new version brings us.
Greater distance and speed
It was logical to think about this type of novelty or, rather, improvements to the possibilities of the standard.
Up to four times greater range, of 350 meters maximum , although this figure occurs in ideal conditions that will hardly occur when we are using the devices.
The data transfer speed is also increased, doubling that of the predecessor version (Bluetooth 4.2) to reach 2 Mbps . However, if we lengthen the distance, the speed decreases, so if we want to make the most of the speed it offers, we will have to work with very close connected devices.
Better low consumption
The BLE ( Bluetooth Low Energy , Bluetooth low consumption) specification was introduced with the previous version of the standard, Bluetooth 4.0, and allows a device compatible with this specification, to work with a single battery or a charge for months or even years , improving largely the traditional consumption of the Bluetooth standard, a reason for complaint by users.
One of the problems with the original definition of BLE was that it could not be used in audio devices , which had to use traditional Bluetooth, with a higher demand for battery consumption.
With Bluetooth 5.0, this is solved, and audio devices can use BLE without problems , with the energy savings that this implies, which results in a longer battery life.
Stereo audio with two sides independent, or more than one audio device connected
The possibility of using audio devices connected via BLE is not the only one related to the audio section that the new standard incorporates.
In headphones, for example, each side can be connected directly to the device that emits the music . Another way to connect them is that it is one of the headphones that connects with the device (for example, the left one), and the other connects to the previous one to receive the data (following our example, the right earphone would connect to the left one, from which you would get the music stream ).
By supporting a capacity of up to two devices, we can connect not only headphones that work in the last way we have described, but up to two pairs . If we only connect one set of headphones and these are 5.0, each of the sides will connect directly to the emitting device, such as the smartphone.
And what is to curl the curl even more: we can even play two streams of music or different audio content for each of the headphone sets, as long as the software allows it , so that two different people can enjoy different content.
It is not enough to change the terminal; the ecosystem must also be Bluetooth 5
Switching from a smartphone to a terminal that is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 will not give us any obvious advantage if it connects with Bluetooth 4.x and even 3.x devices that we can still use.
In other words, if we change for any of the improvements provided by the new version of the standard, we must be clear that we will be forced to carry out the change in the entire ecosystem of Bluetooth devices that we use, such as headphones or speakers.
