The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which oversees the wireless standard, has formally adopted Bluetooth High Data Throughput (HDT) as an optional feature of the Bluetooth Core 7.0. It’s an upgrade the Bluetooth SIG has been previewing over the past year, and it increases Bluetooth LE’s maximum supported bit rate from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps. It will allow for higher-resolution audio streaming as well as improvements to battery life and reliability.
Bluetooth is getting a big boost to data transfer speeds
The maximum bit rate of Bluetooth LE will increase by nearly four times.
The maximum bit rate of Bluetooth LE will increase by nearly four times.
Image: Bluetooth SIG
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The primary application for Bluetooth HDT once again will be for wireless audio, with the first devices supporting the new feature expected to appear sometime in 2027. The increased bit rate will support high-resolution audio but also new wireless audio experiences, including spatial audio and multichannel surround sound without requiring proprietary wireless formats.
Bluetooth HDT will benefit other wireless devices beyond headphones. Smartwatches could sync more training, health, and fitness data to a phone without a reduction in battery life because HDT can transfer more data in less time, requiring the Bluetooth radio to be on for shorter periods. Spatial computing and extended reality devices could offer more robust experiences without needing a Wi-Fi connection, and HDT will benefit the ever-growing number of personal AI devices, allowing them to more efficiently hand off data to be processed by a smartphone so they can be lighter and smaller.
Even the simple act of updating the firmware on a smartwatch or smart home accessories could feel faster and become a task that doesn’t need to be put off until later when you’re not using your device. “Bluetooth HDT brings a new level of performance to Bluetooth technology, expanding the role it can play across consumer, commercial, and industrial markets and creating a powerful foundation for the next generation of wireless innovation,” says Neville Meijers, CEO of the Bluetooth SIG. “As the world’s most widely used wireless standard, Bluetooth technology has continually evolved to meet the growing demands of an increasingly connected world.”
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