What is Bluetooth 5.3?

You may have seen that this feature is present on a particular product, but what does it actually mean for you?

Most of us are familiar with what Bluetooth can do, such as using our true wireless headphones. However what does it mean if a product has Bluetooth 5.3? Is this a great advantage over devices with Bluetooth 5.2 or lower? Read on to find out.

What is Bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology which allows file transfer over short distances. It uses Ultra High Frequency radio waves (in the 2.402 GHz to 2.48 GHz spectrum), and generally has a range of around 10 metres.

This technology is immensely useful for such gadgets as wireless headphones, wireless game controllers, wireless keyboards, and more.

The technology takes its name from the historical figure Harald Bluetooth, who united the Danish tribes into a single kingdom; his namesake technology is similarly meant to bring different technological devices together.

What is Bluetooth 5?

Bluetooth 5 is the latest major version of this wireless communication standard, and it boasts some significant upgrades on its predecessors, apparently offering “2x the speed, 4x the range and 8x the amount of transferable data” compared to what came before. What’s more, due to its 2Mbps bandwidth, it can support two sets of wireless devices at the same time.

What is Bluetooth 5.3?

Bluetooth 5.3 is a minor update to the Bluetooth 5 standard, with the following changes:

• Periodic Advertising Enhancement. Typically, Bluetooth transmitting devices will send the same information out multiple times to ensure that it is received, but this improvement means that the received data has to only be scanned once and duplicates will be discarded immediately. This efficiency can even provide an energy-saving benefit to receiving devices.
• Encryption Key Size Control Enhancements. Bluetooth devices often use encryption to protect the transmitted data, and the security of this encryption is partly determined by the length of its key. This improvement cuts down on back and forth communication between the transmitter and receiver on this subject, by allowing the host to specify a minimum key size.
• Connection Subrating. This feature allows rapid switching between low duty and heavy duty cycles, which is intended to deliver a better user experience; for instance, users with Bluetooth hearing aids will normally have their device on a low duty cycle, but if they receive a phone call or play music from their smartphone then the quicker it can switch the a high duty cycle the better for the user experience.
• Channel Classification Enhancement. This upgrade lets peripheral Bluetooth devices perform channel classification, when packets of data are transmitted across different frequencies. Previously this was only possible via the Central device, but this new method will make packet collisions less likely and therefore improve throughput.