Bluetooth 5 vs. Bluetooth Classic
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 Classic encompasses Bluetooth Core Specifications v1.0 through v3.0 + HS. Operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band across 79 channels with Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), it established wireless audio (A2DP), hands-free telephony (HFP), and serial peripheral connectivity (SPP/HID) at data rates up to 3 Mbps.
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 Generations
|
— | v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v2.0 + EDR, v2.1 + EDR, v3.0 + HS |
|
Frequency Bands
|
— | 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz (79 RF channels @ 1 MHz spacing) |
|
Modulation Schemes
|
— | GFSK (Basic Rate 1 Mbps), π/4-DQPSK (EDR 2 Mbps), 8DPSK (EDR 3 Mbps) |
|
Max BR/EDR PHY Rate
|
— | 3 Mbps |
|
Frequency Hopping Rate
|
— | 1,600 hops/sec (AFH–Adaptive Frequency Hopping) |
|
Key Audio Profiles
|
— | A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), HFP, HSP, AVRCP |
|
Supported Audio Codecs
|
— | SBC (Mandatory), AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC |