Bluetooth 5 vs. Bluetooth Low Energy
Comparing 2 standards across 13 specifications. 13 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 Low Energy (BLE / Bluetooth Smart) was introduced in Bluetooth Core Specification v4.0 (2010) and enhanced through v4.2 (2014). Operating across 40 channels in the 2.4 GHz band, it replaced continuous connection streams with an event-driven Generic Attribute Profile (GATT) architecture, enabling devices to operate for years on a single coin cell battery.
Specification Comparison Table
13 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Bluetooth Versions
|
v5.0 (2016), v5.1 (2019), v5.2 (2020), v5.3 (2021) | v4.0 (2010), v4.1 (2013), v4.2 (2014) |
|
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 | — |
|
Frequency Bands
|
— | 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz (40 RF channels @ 2 MHz spacing) |
|
Channel Allocation
|
— | 3 Advertising channels (37, 38, 39) + 37 Data channels |
|
Raw PHY Rate
|
— | 1 Mbps (1M PHY) |
|
Application Layer Architecture
|
— | GATT (Generic Attribute Profile) / ATT (Attribute Protocol) |
|
Max Packet Payload (v4.2 DLE)
|
— | 251 bytes (increased from 27 bytes) |
|
Typical Battery Life
|
— | 1 to 5 years (on CR2032 coin cell) |