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Bluetooth 5 Now Available

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Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#121

Post by ksec »

bjt2n3904 wrote: post #28
thearn4 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we'd need an RF engineer to answer this more thoroughly, but it's my understanding that there are a lot of materials capable of absorbing the low-energy microwaves that it uses as its transmission medium. Water is a big one, which I think is one reason that having my phone in my back pocket almost always results in a dropped connection to my headphones over the course of working outside for a few hours, compa…

Hi! RF Engineer here. Bluetooth sucks for a number of reasons, only a few of which actually relate to RF. First, we're bad at naming things. Is it BLE? Bluetooth Smart? BTLE? Bluetooth 4.0, or Bluetooth 4 Low Energy? And what does this have to do with ANT+? This doesn't seem to be a big problem, but it's a sign of deeper problems with the spec. In the long run it makes it very difficult for developers to implement. B…

I think Bluetooth is the worst spec ever. What we need is something that happened to ARMv8, you get a clean room implantation with everything you learned before, and you provide a compatibility layer much like the 32bit ARMv7.

It is a gigantic pile of mess and it never worked well enough for the majority of users.

Talking about design by committees, even the Wifi 802.11 has much improved.

I really wish Apple could design new one and force market adoption with the spec opened.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#122

Post by jansenv »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

I've had a great experience with Bluebuds + iphone 6. The quality isn't perfect compared to wired but they are fantastic for the gym and such.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#123

Post by [deleted] »

pdx wrote: post #83
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

Getting 2.4GHz through the human body is hard. The human body is mostly water, and bluetooth is, after all, the same frequency of your microwave oven, which uses 2.4GHz because it's in a band of frequencies from 1-20GHz that water absorbs. When you're indoors, you don't need to get bluetooth through your body. You're getting reflections off of nearby walls and ceilings which allow your bluetooth devices to communicat…

[deleted]

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#125

Post by intransigent »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

Have you considered possible interference and noise introduced by other rival devices competing for the same spectrum?

This has been my hypothesis, considering the disruption patterns I've noticed.

At home, well removed from other possible bluetooth sources, I rarely experience signal cut-out, or choppy reception.

When I move into high traffic areas, the amount of signal loss skyrockets. The worst areas are areas with lots of cars in motion.

My hunch, is that noise, destructive interference, and fortuitous signals result in dropped packets. And cars especially, tend to broadcast stronger signals that outshine an handset/headphone channel, cause both ends of the connection to drop packets.

This is just based on observation. In crowded train stations and near busy roadways my headphones act like shit. I get the feeling it's the old "poorly shielded blender appliance ruins the t.v. reception" business, except the interference drops out in the same way progressive scan HDMI monitors glitch up without shielding.

I have no proof that this is the case though.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#126

Post by ehnto »

pselbert wrote: post #112
pdx wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting 2.4GHz through the human body is hard. The human body is mostly water, and bluetooth is, after all, the same frequency of your microwave oven, which uses 2.4GHz because it's in a band of frequencies from 1-20GHz that water absorbs. When you're indoors, you don't need to get bluetooth through your body. You're getting reflections off of nearby walls and ceilings which allow your bluetooth devices to communicat…

This was a magnificent explanation, and precisely the kind of comment I hope for when reading HN. Thank you for taking the time to share.

I read the title, clicked the link and thought to myself, "alright HN, teach me something about Bluetooth"

The parent comment is exactly the kind of comment I expected and hoped for!

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#127

Post by Yaggo »

lasryaric wrote: post #9

Why is general bluetooth connectivity so "buggy"? Why am I always struggling connecting my iPhone 6s to my bose bluetooth speaker? I would love to understand that.

Complex consumer standard implementations tend to be "buggy", that's how economy works. More robust implementation after "it mostly works" level would give diminishing returns for average consumer product company.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#128

Post by alex8022 »

joshschreuder wrote: post #81
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

I picked up a pair of Bose QC35 a couple of months ago, and for my first pair of BT headphones I'm really impressed. I use them almost every day on my way to and from work (roughly an hour each way) and I can count the number of interference issues I've had on one hand, and definitely not every 30 seconds. This is with an iPhone 7 and iPad Pro 9.7". They're not cheap, but I'd highly recommend them.

I just got the Jaybird X3s, and paired with an iPhone 7+, haven't had an issue yet. Quite pleasantly surprised, considering all the bluetooth problems I've heard about online. Bluetooth works fine from back pocket, front pocket, coat, inside the house, outside, in the car.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#129

Post by kayoone »

joshschreuder wrote: post #81
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

I picked up a pair of Bose QC35 a couple of months ago, and for my first pair of BT headphones I'm really impressed. I use them almost every day on my way to and from work (roughly an hour each way) and I can count the number of interference issues I've had on one hand, and definitely not every 30 seconds. This is with an iPhone 7 and iPad Pro 9.7". They're not cheap, but I'd highly recommend them.

I've had similar experiences with a pair of Sony MDR-XB950BT which i had for about a year and a half. Super happy, actually i can't recall any connection issues, certainly not recurring but i mostly use them in the office and at home, sometimes also outside though.

Re: Bluetooth 5 Now Available

#130

Post by Bombthecat »

joshschreuder wrote: post #81
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #75

Considering every phone I've tested (iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Samsung Note, Moto X, Nexus 6P) with 7 different bluetooth headphones (ranging from cheap Amazon ones to expensive LG) I have NEVER found a phone, paired with headphones, that stayed connected especially when the phone is in my side pocket and I'm walking in an open space which seems to make connectivity significantly worse. For instance getting on the BART b…

I picked up a pair of Bose QC35 a couple of months ago, and for my first pair of BT headphones I'm really impressed. I use them almost every day on my way to and from work (roughly an hour each way) and I can count the number of interference issues I've had on one hand, and definitely not every 30 seconds. This is with an iPhone 7 and iPad Pro 9.7". They're not cheap, but I'd highly recommend them.

I use the backbeat pros with noise canceling.

The only issue I have is when I'm near high voltage transfer lines. Like near train stops for example.

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