Bluetooth 5 now available and coming to your next gadget – see what it can do

Bluetooth 5 has just been officially adopted as the latest version of the wireless technology by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) with significant improvements to performance and capacity.

Expected to appear in the next wave of devices within two to six months, Bluetooth 5 will enable wider range, faster speeds and larger broadcast capacity.

These new features will benefit Internet of Things (IoT) smart products with simpler and more efficient interactions between wireless devices.

Bluetooth 5 will also maintain it low power functionality, will reduce the amount of potential interference and offer even more flexibility for developers.

It will have four times the range of the previous version of Bluetooth along with twice the speed and eight times the broadcast message capacity to enable more data to be sent between devices.

This longer range will enable whole home coverage with more reliable connections and faster speeds for increased responsiveness.

“Bluetooth is revolutionizing how people experience the IoT. Bluetooth 5 continues to drive this revolution by delivering reliable IoT connections and mobilizing the adoption of beacons, which in turn will decrease connection barriers and enable a seamless IoT experience,” says Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG.

“This means whole-home and building coverage, as well as new use cases for outdoor, industrial, and commercial applications will be a reality.

“With the launch of Bluetooth 5, we continue to evolve to meet the needs of IoT developers and consumers while staying true to what Bluetooth is at its core: the global wireless standard for simple, secure, connectivity.”

Bluetooth is already being used across more than 10 billion devices across the world with that number set to increase to almost 14 billion by the end of the decade.

By 2020, one on three will have Bluetooth onboard.