Bluetooth- this popular wireless networking technology is named after the nick name of a powerful 10th century Danish king- Harald Blatand. His close ones often fondly called him as Harald Bluetooth due to his penchant for snacking on blueberries. Moreover, he is known for uniting different tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom. This trait of connecting different diverse tribes into a sole territory inspired the company- Ericsson to name this diverse device connecting technology as “Bluetooth” in 1994.
During its fascinating journey since 1994 until now, Bluetooth has touched the life of almost every person who uses an electronic device and empowered them to connect multiple devices in a hassle free manner with no cost. Interestingly, what started as a way to connect headsets has now grown into a robust wireless protocol that links everything from headphones to heart monitors, wearables to weather stations.
During its glorious journey, people have witnessed various versions of Bluetooth from 1.0 to Bluetooth 4.2, and now the latest Bluetooth 5.0 has also entered into the market and is pulling everyone’s attention towards it. Therefore, let’s know more about why this new version of ubiquitous wireless technology is getting immense praise and worldwide acceptance.
Less Power Usage and Longer Battery Life
Bluetooth is a wireless networking technology that allows nearby devices to communicate over radio waves. But Bluetooth’s power hungry nature in its earlier versions made it infeasible to use, especially among smaller devices. However with “Bluetooth Low Energy” functionality, which is embedded in Bluetooth 5.0, even every tiny device can communicate with other electronic equipment with reduced power usage and attain much longer battery life as compared to the previous versions of Bluetooth.
It’s not that this feature was not there in earlier version but there was a limitation of using Bluetooth Low Energy. Previously, this feature was used only for connecting wearables, beacons, and other low power consuming devices. However, with Bluetooth 5.0, power hungry wireless headphones and all other audio devices can also communicate with other electronic devices via Bluetooth Low Energy. This ultimately results in low power consumption, and longer usage in a single complete charge than earlier. What’s more interesting is the buzz that tells many more types of devices will get benefitted from Bluetooth Low Energy in the near future.
Dual Audio
Invention of Bluetooth 5.0 is a great boon for music enthusiasts. With this new version of popular wireless technology, anyone can connect two wireless headphones to a single source. The same music can be played on both the wireless devices at the same time and thus eliminates the annoying task of sharing the ear-bud with your dear ones. Moreover, end-users can also play music on two different speakers placed on two different rooms with the assistance of single mobile phone. Just connect the two Bluetooth audio devices to your gadget, turn on the Dual Audio feature, and play whatever you want. It’s as simple as that!
The only catch here is – all your wireless Bluetooth headsets and speakers should support this new version of Bluetooth. The name given to this new feature is Dual Audio and it is gaining popularity all across the world. Samsung was the first leading manufacture that embedded Bluetooth 5.0 in its mobile phones and now-a-days from Apple’s iPhone X to Motorola’s Moto X4, many devices support this popular- dual audio feature.
However, if you want to play two different songs from the same mobile on two different devices, you need to wait for further up gradation in Bluetooth technology. As with 5.0, at the present moment, it is not possible as 5.0 still supports a peer-to-peer connection (even though it allows for more “peers”). But the pace with which this telecom revolution is going on, playing two different songs on two different devices can become a reality in near future.
Speed, Range, and Broadcasting Capacity
Speed of data transfer, range of a Bluetooth-enable device and message broadcasting capacity are the real metrics that tells us the true strength of any wireless network. Bluetooth 5.0 has won customers’ appreciations with its improved speed, greater range and impressive data throughput.
According to trusted sources, Bluetooth 5.0 provides four times more range; two times more speed, and eight times more broadcast messaging capacity as compared to its older version. In this improvised form, Bluetooth 5.0 empower its users to transfer data at the speed of up to 2Mbps, and enable devices to communicate over long distances of up to 800 feet which is four times more the 200 feet allowed by Bluetooth 4.2.
Earlier form of Bluetooth supported data packets of 32 octet to 255 octet packages, this new version supports 8X more data packets to broadcast through its channel. Thus, it increases more data transfer in the same time as compared to the older version.
Moreover, it also assists users to make fast over air connection and thus reduces the pairing time substantially that too without consuming much energy.
What exactly will change from this improved speed and greater range? Well, it depends on device to device. If the communication devices are mobile and earphones then increased speed will reduce the latency and offer end-users a very good quality streaming of audio and when a smart appliance want to communicate with your handheld device, greater range will transfer its benefit to the customer and allowing it to get connected even at farther distance.
It’s Backward Compatible
Even if you buy a new gadget having Bluetooth 5.0, you do not need to worry about connecting it with older devices. This new form of Bluetooth is backward compatible, which means any device that comes with 5.0 features can be connected without any hassle to older device. You can connect your fitness tracker, headphones, speaker and other devices within a few seconds but in order to reap the benefits of this new version, the end-user needs to buy new hardware that supports Bluetooth 5.0.
Improved Beacon Technology
Another area that has got refurbished with the arrival of Bluetooth 5.0 is- Beacon Technology. With this improvised version of wireless network, a retailer can detect its customer location better and push promotional messages, offers, discounts and more (only if the customer has opted for) whenever beacon detects customer’s presence near to its shop location. This technology benefits both the customer and retailers. As retailer’s messages capture customer’s attention and persuade them to enter the shop, customers get benefitted from personalized offers, speed checkout processes and pretty much anything else a shopper dreams about.
There are many other fascinating features that are augmenting Bluetooth 5.0’s popularity across the oceans like strengthening IoT applications and many more. Although, every technology has its own cycle of growth, it will be interesting to watch- what new features the world will witness in the next version of this prevalent wireless networking technology.
