Wireless tech is about to get a whole lot snappier. On Thursday, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the trade association that oversees Bluetooth, officially unveiled Bluetooth High Data Throughput, a flagship upgrade set to arrive as part of the Bluetooth Core 7.0 standard. The revision supercharges Bluetooth Low Energy by pushing maximum bit rates to 7.5Mbps, effectively quadrupling the throughput of the existing LE 2M technology. Compatible devices are slated to hit store shelves starting in 2027.
That’s good news for phone users, tablet havers, laptop groupies, smart speaker stans and more. Bluetooth is still the most popular medium-to-short-range wireless standard for connecting devices. But this is a big rollout, and the changes will start with premium wireless, such as earbuds, with other applications following.
Those other applications could include spatial computing, exchanging AI-related info with local devices, connecting to health wearables and a host of smart home applications, like playing Spotify through an Amazon Echo Studio or dimming a smart bulb.
More from CNET
“In practical terms, a smartwatch could sync hours of sensor-rich training data to a phone in seconds. A smart home product could complete a firmware update with little visible downtime,” Damon Barnes, Director of Technical Marketing at the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, told CNET. “Smart glasses and other AI-enabled devices could exchange more data with a companion device or the cloud. And in audio, the additional capacity can support richer experiences, including high-resolution, lossless, surround, and spatial audio.”
A representative from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group didn’t respond to a request for comment.
What makes Bluetooth HDT so speedy?
The biggest change in this update is a new physical layer for Bluetooth. Layers are like different sections of the Bluetooth protocol, and the physical layer is the bedrock of the standard, the foundational layer involved in transmitting and receiving data signals.
Improvements in the physical layer can have very significant effects on all Bluetooth communications. In this case, new modulation schemes let the physical layer handle data more efficiently and transmit more data at once, which is why the speed increases are so significant.
These improvements also make the new standard more efficient, saving battery life in many applications. So your smart lock may last longer before you need to exchange the AA batteries, earbuds won’t need to go back in the case as fast, and so on.
When and what you can expect with Bluetooth HDT
We know the first flagship devices are expected to appear with the technology in early 2027, but don’t have an exact date.
Barnes also told use that since the update is starting with wireless audio, the first devices to see it will be headphones, earbuds and speakers.
With protocol changes like this, it can take some time for new products to reach the market, and manufacturers may take a long time, even years, to adopt it.
