| v5.0 |
LE Coded |
Robust, reliable connections indoors and outdoors |
4 x Range |
Whole house/building coverage/outdoor e.g. Nordic Semi tests drone connectivity to 750m outdoor range |
| 2M PHY |
Faster data transfer, reduced TX/RX time |
2 x Speed |
Lower latency, increased performance & faster data transfer for critical data e.g. swifter FW updates, download of logged sensor data |
| Advertising Extension (AE) |
More data capacity in Connectionless Services |
8 x Increase broadcast message capacity |
Beacons & location/tracking services can be improved for greater data & information e.g. enhanced user experiences in facility tours |
| Periodic Advertising |
A more power-efficient way to perform scanning |
A more power-efficient way to perform scanning |
Bluetooth LE in connectionless scenarios, such as broadcast audio applications. |
| High Duty Cycle Non-connectable Advertising |
Reduced the minimum advertising interval for non-connectable advertising |
Reduces the minimum allowed Advertising Interval from 100ms to 20ms |
Allows a rapid recognition of and response to advertising packets from devices like beacons |
| LE Channel Selection Algorithm #2 |
Improved Frequency Hopping |
Improve communication reliability through reducing the probability of packet collisions |
Improves performance in busy radio environments. More optimal for LE Audio and co-location of devices operating in the 2.4GHz ISM band such as Wi-Fi and other BT devices |
| v5.1 |
Enhanced Direction Finding |
Angle of Arrival/Departure (AoA/AoD). |
Allows Bluetooth devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal transmission |
AoA and AoD in conjunction with RSSI create high accuracy, interoperable positioning systems such as real-time locating systems (RTLS) and indoor positioning systems (IPS). |
| GATT Caching Enhancements |
Consumes less energy by allowing clients to skip service discovery when nothing has changed. |
Improved Energy efficiency and user experience issues for some types of products |
Bluetooth smart locks, Service discovery need only be performed the first time the user attempts to pass through a door with a smart lock. The user may perceive a delay during this first occasion but all subsequent times the user will experience a near instantaneous response from the smart lock. |
Advertising Enhancement 1: Randomized Advertising Channel Indexing |
Reduces the potential for advertising packet collisions occurring |
Improved scalability and reliability in busy radio environments |
Improves performance in busy radio environments for co-location of devices operating in the 2.4GHz ISM band such as Wi-Fi and other BT devices |
| Advertising Enhancement 2: Periodic Advertising Sync Transfer |
Scanning device more energy efficient and can make possible some use cases that require precise timing in the exchange of data. |
Allows resource constrained devices to utilize periodic advertising |
A smartphone could scan for sync packets from a TV and then pass them over a connection to an associated smart watch so that the watch can then benefit from using periodic advertising and scanning to acquire data from the TV. |
| v5.2 |
LE Isochronous Channels (LE Audio) |
Designed to support LE Audio |
Allows the communication of time-bound data to one or more devices for time-synchronized processing. |
LE Audio Music sharing, new standard for hearing aids and support assisted hearing systems in diverse locations, such as theaters, conferences, lecture halls, and airports, multilanguage audio systems |
| Enhanced Attribute Protocol |
EATT supports concurrent transactions from different applications and has security advantages over unenhanced ATT |
Provides an improved user experience on devices where there are multiple applications using the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) stack at the same time |
Multiple concurrent applications such as announcements, audio and data |
| LE Power Control |
Possible for devices to dynamically optimize the transmission power used in communication between connected devices. |
Maintain an optimal signal strength from both a signal quality and low- power-use perspective |
Improves performance in busy radio environments for co-location of devices operating in the 2.4GHz ISM band such as Wi-Fi and other BT devices |
| v5.3 |
Periodic Advertising Enhancement |
Improved energy efficiency and RX duty cycle |
Reduced number of packets received from the controller and the associated processing requirements |
All applications |
Connection Sub-Rating |
Able to switch up to a high duty cycle more quickly. Connections are also able to handle variable packet rates or bursty traffic in an efficient way./td>
| Improved user experience |
Bluetooth LE Audio products such as hearing aids and monitoring systems which use sensors. Sensors which can switch the connection up to a high duty cycle quickly so that accumulated sensor data can be uploaded over a higher bandwidth connection. |
| Channel Classification Enhancement |
Channel classification in Bluetooth LE may now be performed by the Peripheral device as well as the Central |
Improve throughput and reliability through reducing the number of potential collisions |
Bluetooth LE Audio products such as streaming audio. |
| v5.4 |
Periodic Advertising with Response (PAwR) |
Exchange of application data using connectionless communication |
Energy efficient (Battery Life), bi-directional, communication in a large-scale one-to-many topology |
Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) and applications needing to send and receive messages between a central hub device and a large number of other devices in a network |
| Encrypted Advertising |
Secure broadcasting of data in advertising packets |
Connectionless communication or encrypted advertising and scan response packets |
Broadcast topologies allowing portions of advertisement packet be exposed to any observer while other portions needing confidentiality can be read by an intended observer. |
| LE GATT Security Levels Characteristic |
Devices may now indicate the security mode and level required for all their GATT functionality |
Adds Attribute Permissions |
Door Lock for multitenant dwelling where only authorized users can access entry based on user list. |
| Advertising Coding Selection |
LE Extended Advertising now allows CODED Phy Selection |
Longer range or higher throughput Extended Advertisement |
Beacons & location/tracking services can be improved for greater data & information at longer distances or greater throughput |
| v6.0 |
Channel Sounding |
Provides ToF of RF waves to determine distance within 10cm between two devices. |
Major improvements to ranging accuracy, to 0.5 meter accuracy with a single antenna. |
Proximity in industrial environments, door access control, indoor wayfinding, real-time location and logistics. |
| Decision-Based Advertising Filtering |
Introduces Decision PDUs to allow devices to make decisions about whether extended advertising events are relevant or can be ignored. |
Improves efficiency of scanning devices with extended advertising, improving link utilization and time utilization on the scanning device. |
Improving performance in crowded environments such as busy warehouses and manufacturing environments. |
| Monitoring Advertisers |
Filter advertising events without losing awareness of whether the advertising device has gone out of range since last advertisement. |
Cuts unnecessary high duty cycle scanning that accompanies scanning for out-of-range advertisers, and provides more accurate information about device availability. |
Managing complexity in environments where Bluetooth devices are mobile, such as warehouse robots and mobile medical devices. Improves LE Audio user experience. |
| Isochronous Adaptation Layer (ISOAL) Enhancement |
New ISOAL framing mode which uses a max PDU size sufficient to carry whole larger upper layer data units without the need for segmentation. |
Lower latency, better reliability, and better utilization of available bandwidth for transmitting large data frames. |
Bluetooth streaming connections such as Bluetooth LE audio and Auracast, or high-throughput data streams. |
| LL Extended Feature Set |
Supports more features and mechanisms to read available features from other devices, plus notifications when the feature set changes on the controller. |
Future-proofing for growing LE feature set, better interoperability by exchanging available features, and backwards compatibility to existing feature exchange mechanisms. |
Adding new devices to an existing legacy Bluetooth ecosystem, such as adding to incumbent sensor networks or adding new HMIs to existing industrial equipment. |
| Frame Space Update |
Allows the timing between adjacent packets in a connection event or connected isochronous stream to be negotiable, as opposed to previously fixed 150 μs. |
Flexibility to improve efficiency and throughput with shorter intervals, accommodate slower devices with longer intervals, or coexist with other technologies and avoid interference in crowded environments. |
Better continuous high-bandwidth streaming for audio, firmware updates or better coexistence in busy industrial environments with multiple competing wireless signals. |
| v6.1 |
Privacy Enhancements (RPA Generation Offload) |
Offloads Resolvable Private Address (RPA) generation to the controller hardware, reducing host processor involvement in address rotation. |
Addresses rotate more frequently and efficiently, greatly strengthening device anonymity and making Bluetooth devices much harder to track over time. |
Smartphones, fitness trackers, and Smart home sensors become harder to track by unknown observers, enhancing personal privacy in public spaces. |
| v6.2 |
Shorter Connection Intervals (SCI) |
Reduces the minimum LE connection interval from 7.5 ms down to 375 µs (with 125 µs resolution), enabling faster device responsiveness for high-performance HID devices,real-time HMI systems, and sensors. |
Enables sub-millisecond communication cycles, unlocking ultra-low latency for AR/VR, gaming peripherals, real-time HMI systems, and high-performance HID devices that previously could not meet latency requirements over Bluetooth LE. |
Wireless gaming controllers and VR/AR headsets with near-zero input lag; industrial HMI panels with real-time sensor responsiveness; high-performance wireless keyboards and mice for professional use. |
| Channel Sounding Amplitude-based Attack Resilience |
Strengthens secure ranging by detecting and mitigating sophisticated RF amplitude attacks, adding protection against relay and spoofing threats in automotive, smart home, and industrial environments. |
Defends against a new class of Early Commit ranging attacks that manipulate amplitude rather than phase, closing a security gap in Bluetooth Channel Sounding RTT measurements. |
More secure digital car keys and smart locks that resist relay and spoofing attacks; reliable proximity access control in industrial environments; trustworthy asset tracking and indoor positioning systems. |
| HCI USB LE Isochronous Support |
Standardizes isochronous communication over USB by introducing Bulk Serialization Mode, which unifies Host Controller Interface (HCI) packet transmission and facilitates seamless Bluetooth® LE Audio integration. |
Resolves the long-standing absence of a standardized USB method for carrying LE Isochronous traffic, eliminating fragmented vendor implementations. Also fixes a race condition in legacy USB mode where out-of-order data and event delivery could disrupt connection setup and encryption. |
Bluetooth LE Audio USB dongles and headsets that integrate seamlessly with laptops and PCs; streamlined development for manufacturers building USB Bluetooth controllers with LE Audio support. |
| LE Test Mode Enhancements (Unified Test Protocol) |
Introduces the Unified Test Protocol (UTP) as a modern equivalent to Direct Test Mode (DTM), supporting over-the-air (OTA) RF PHY testing via standardized TLV-format messages over 2-wire UART, HCI, or wireless transport — with mandatory ACL encryption for OTA mode. |
Removes the dependency on a physical control interface for conformance testing, enabling RF PHY tests on devices in their final form factor where a wired port is inaccessible. Also adds BER receiver measurements beyond basic PER, providing deeper insight into receiver performance. |
Manufacturers can test final production devices wirelessly without needing physical test ports; enables more thorough post-production quality assurance and over-the-air conformance validation for IoT and consumer Bluetooth products. |
| v6.3 |
Channel Sounding Inline PCT Transfer |
Enhances Bluetooth Channel Sounding accuracy and efficiency by allowing the reflector to transfer phase-aligned tones directly into hardware by adjusting the phase of the tone at the reflector and ceasing to report imaginary (Q) PCT values over HCI. |
Eliminates excess result data and reduces overhead, improving the speed and efficiency of the Channel Sounding procedure — especially in Ranging Service (RAS) and Ranging Profile (RAP) contexts. |
Faster and more accurate distance measurement between devices — improving indoor navigation, door access control, and asset tracking in warehouses and industrial environments. |
| Channel Sounding PHY-specific RTT Accuracy |
Enables devices to declare Round-Trip-Time (RTT) accuracy separately for each PHY, introducing new PHY-specific RTT parameters and an expanded capability structure. |
Systems can select the optimal PHY-accuracy combination, improving precision, performance scaling, and interoperability in multi-PHY ranging scenarios. |
Improved ranging accuracy across device types — from smartphones to industrial sensors — enabling more reliable proximity-based access control and location services. |
| Running Out of Bits |
Extends the HCI architectural limits by expanding the Supported Commands bitmask from 64 to 251 octets and the LE Event Mask from 8 to 255 octets. |
Provides protocol capacity for future feature growth, ensures discoverability of newly assigned commands and events, and maintains backward compatibility through versioned commands and conditional support rules. |
Future-proofs Bluetooth-enabled devices so they can support new features and commands without requiring hardware redesigns or breaking compatibility with existing products. |
| ACP and C/I Limit Relaxation |
Harmonizes RF requirements between Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) and Bluetooth LE by aligning Adjacent Channel Power (ACP) and Carrier-to-Interference (C/I) limits with the LE 1-MS/s framework. |
Relaxes unnecessary constraints on Dual-Mode radios, simplifies transmitter and receiver design targets, and enables more power-efficient, flexible RF architectures without compromising coexistence performance. |
More power-efficient and cost-effective dual-mode Bluetooth chips in devices like laptops, headsets, and IoT gateways that support both Classic and LE Bluetooth simultaneously. More stable connections and better performance in crowded RF environments. |