Bluetooth 4 Verses 5

By Scott Duck, 3 July, 2020

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have a bluetooth question. I am currently using a iPhone 6s, which has Bluetooth 4. When I get my next phone, which may be a used iPhone 8 but will probably be a new SE, it will have Bluetooth 5. What kind of audio difference can I expect? Specifically, I have a set of second gen AirPods. They said that the second gen AirPods would have 30% less lag as compared to the first gen. However, when I went from the first to second gen, I didn't notice a difference in lag and I'm wondering if this reduction in lag they talked about required Bluetooth 5. Then again, there was so little lag to begin with that it's a little hard to tell. Also, when there has been no VO speech or other sound for several seconds, it can take the AirPods a second to wake up, not long but long enough to be a bit annoying when I am accessing notes when I am speaking. I'm wondering if this would be better with Bluetooth 5.

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Comments

By Roxann Pollard on Sunday, July 5, 2020 - 13:39

Hello Scott. Although I can't speak to the AirPods question, I will share my experience, in hopes that it will help you.

Recently, I purchased a pair of ear buds that were Bluetooth 5.0, which were paired with my iPhone XS. Previously, I had a 4.0 headset paired to the same phone. With the 4.0 version, there was much Voiceover lag. When I set up the new earbuds, I was shocked to see the remarkable difference. I was able to be on a call, and surf the web or read E-Mail without any interpherence. Also, when listening to music, I was able to utilize SIRI without Voiceover freeking out and studdering madly. Absolutely amazing the difference that Bluetooth 5.0 makes, at least in my specific case.

I hope this helps.

Enjoy Bluetooth 5.0.

By Ishkabibble on Sunday, July 5, 2020 - 13:39

Hi,

I have a set of AirPods which I use both with my iPad Air 2 (Bluetooth 4) and my iPhone and Mac (Bluetooth 5). I haven't noticed a major difference in lag between the iPad and the other Apple devices I have, although there is an almost imperceptible increase in delay when I use my AirPods with a Bluetooth 4 device. Hope this helps.