Modern smartphones, from the iPhone 8 and iPhone X to the Samsung Galaxy S8, support Bluetooth 5.0. Compared to predecessor 4.2, some improvements have been made. We list which ones they are.
First of all, you should know that not only your phone, but also your accessories must support bluetooth 5.0 to take advantage of the improvements. For example, Apple's AirPods still only use bluetooth 4.2. If your accessories do not support the latest Bluetooth standard, you can of course continue to use them with the latest phones.
Already with the introduction of bluetooth 4.0, the strong reduction of the energy requirement of devices was anticipated by means of the Bluetooth Low Energy mode. This theoretically allowed headphones or wearables to last longer before you had to put them back on the charger.
In practice, many peripherals did not work with the Bluetooth Low Energy mode, so you were still dependent on the classic Bluetooth standard.
With Bluetooth 5.0, all audio devices automatically support the Bluetooth Low Energy option, which means that accessories immediately consume less power and therefore last longer.
dual audio
The new dual audio function also makes it possible to play your music via two different Bluetooth speakers instead of one. This way you can provide several rooms with your favorite music. This also makes it possible to connect two headphones to one phone, so that you can listen to your favorite songs with two people at the same time.
Is your boyfriend or girlfriend not so charmed by your taste in music? It is even possible to link the two headphones to different audio sources. You then both listen to a different song, at the same time and with each your own headphones. And all on the same phone. For the time being, you will only find this option on the Samsung Galaxy S8, but it will be a matter of time before other devices support it.
Speed and Range
One of the most significant changes in bluetooth 5.0 is probably the improved speed and range. With older bluetooth versions you have a range of approximately 10 meters and with the latest version this is 40 meters. So you can easily leave your phone at home when you enjoy the music from your wireless speaker in the garden.
In terms of speed, bluetooth 5.0 would be twice as fast as the older versions. In practice, this means that you can connect to your accessories faster and also send files via Bluetooth faster than before. But here too the following applies: your accessories must support the current standard.
