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by neals 3486 days ago
2x the speed.

4x the range.

8x the capacity "to send messages"

Not using the x.x versioning anymore. Just Bluetooth 5 and the next will be 6.

Also, apprently, there's 30.000 companies in the 'Bluetooth Special Interests Group' ?

[Thanks Krasin, gerardnll for correcting me]
7 comments
inopinatus 3486 days ago
Does Bluetooth 5 improve the reliability, latency, or the UX? I didn't need more speed, range or capacity from Bluetooth. But I did want it to cease being synonymous in my household with lag, dropouts and pairing failures.
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Navarr 3486 days ago
well I mean, 4x range bumps it to over 100 ft, where as it used to be 30 right? (Or am I just out of date?)

But lag and dropouts is definitely my same concern with Bluetooth as well..

That said, it's still my preference if only because it's a standard - but it's getting damn hard to find decent Bluetooth mice now

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Someone 3486 days ago
4x range also may mean you get interference from 16x the number of other devices. In a frequency band where everyone and their dog broadcast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2.4_GHz_radio_use), that may not be a net win.
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user5994461 3486 days ago
"4x range" means the marketing guys could say anything they wanted. Just like how 4G LTE is multiple Gb per second, 10 times faster than the previous generation! :D

Bluetooth can already do 100 ft... in very good conditions and with the rights devices and drivers.

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gt565k 3486 days ago
The range is quite important, a 4x improvement is a pretty big accomplishment.

Although, obstacle/wall penetration is probably still fairly poor.

The range is really the limiting factor in IoT uses IMO...

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wlesieutre 3486 days ago
If the range can reliably get from my front pocket to my earbuds I'll be much happier with it.
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markrages 3486 days ago
You earbuds are not low-energy, so no change for you.
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wlesieutre 3486 days ago
Welp. I'm sure it doesn't help that I have Soundpeats QY7 earbuds that I got on sale for <$10. Higher end ones must work better?

OTOH my Sony bluetooth speaker has stutters when I'm too far away in a 1-br apartment, so who knows.

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pogo 3486 days ago
It's important to note that these improvements only apply to BLE. Classic Bluetooth (EDR) is not changing, at least not significantly.

Also, there will continue to be minor spec revisions (5.1, 5.2, etc). The "Bluetooth 5" terminology is for marketing and PR, to simplify the message. They don't want to confuse the general public with spec revisions.

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moonbug 3486 days ago
> They don't want to confuse the general public with spec revisions.

I'd say its about 13 years too late to start worrying about that

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krasin 3486 days ago
The press release above has somewhat different numbers: "four times range, two times speed, and eight times broadcast message". For the speed it's just 2x, and the 8x is only about broadcast messages.
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gumby 3486 days ago
> Also, apprently, there's 30.000 companies in the 'Bluetooth Special Interests Group' ?

You need to pay to join the SIG to put the logo on your device (and to advertise support). So the vast majority of those "members" are just people who paid for that.

Same applies to USB and HDMI.

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IshKebab 3485 days ago
Not that it's not 2x the speed and 4x the range. It's one or the other. In fact the 4x range version is 8x slower.
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gerardnll 3486 days ago
web says

2x Speed 4x Range 8x Data

https://www.bluetooth.com/specifications/bluetooth-core-spec...

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