Bluetooth 5 vs. Bluetooth LE Audio
Comparing 2 standards across 14 specifications. 14 key differences identified.
Bluetooth 5 (encompassing v5.0 through v5.3) significantly expanded Bluetooth Low Energy with 2 Mbps high-speed (2M PHY), up to 4x range extension via forward error-corrected Long Range (Coded PHY), 8x advertising broadcast capacity (Advertising Extensions), and Isochronous Channels (v5.2).
Bluetooth 5.4 and LE Audio represent a complete architectural overhaul of Bluetooth audio and retail IoT. Powered by the Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3), Isochronous Channels, Auracast broadcast audio, and Periodic Advertising with Responses (PAwR), it delivers superior audio quality at half the bitrate and supports multi-thousand device Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) networks.
Specification Comparison Table
14 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Bluetooth Versions
|
v5.0 (2016), v5.1 (2019), v5.2 (2020), v5.3 (2021) | — |
|
2M High-Speed PHY
|
2 Mbps (halves transmission on-air time) | — |
|
LE Coded Long Range PHY
|
500 kbps (S=2) / 125 kbps (S=8, 4x range, up to 1km line of sight) | — |
|
Advertising Payload Capacity
|
255 bytes (up from 31 bytes via secondary channels) | — |
|
Direction Finding (v5.1)
|
Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) | — |
|
Isochronous Channels (v5.2)
|
Time-synchronized streams for LE Audio | — |
|
Connection Subrating (v5.3)
|
Fast switching between low-latency and low-power states | — |
|
Bluetooth Version
|
— | v5.4 (2023) / LE Audio Architecture |
|
Standard Audio Codec
|
— | LC3 (Low Complexity Communication Codec) |
|
Audio Bitrates Supported
|
— | 160 kbps (High quality) down to 32 kbps (Speech) |
|
Broadcast Audio Standard
|
— | Auracast (Unlimited simultaneous listener sinks) |
|
Multi-Stream Audio
|
— | True independent left/right earbud streams |
|
PAwR Capability
|
— | Periodic Advertising with Responses (Sub-event bidirectional polling) |
|
Encrypted Advertising Data
|
— | EAD (Standardized payload encryption) |