What is Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)?

Robert Triggs/Android Authority

Bluetooth has become a valuable feature that many of us rely on every day. But most of the wireless devices you’re likely to own today skip classic Bluetooth and you probably didn’t even realize it. Over the past decade, Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) has become the de-facto technology for everything from fitness trackers to next-generation audio products.

Bluetooth LE delivers the same wireless connectivity we’ve come to expect from Bluetooth over the years, just at a fraction of the power consumption. And it’s not just for wearables, we expect the first Bluetooth LE Audio products to hit the market soon. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about Bluetooth LE.

quick answer

Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) is a separate version of the main Bluetooth technology, which focuses on lower power consumption. It’s mostly used in mobile devices like smartwatches, but it also packs features like streaming that make it useful in smart home products. The latest Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard also aims for energy efficiency gains for wireless earphones and headphones in the near future.

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What is Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)?

Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) is a fork of the original Bluetooth standard, now referred to as Bluetooth Classic. If you’ve ever read a product’s spec sheet and noticed version numbers like Bluetooth 5.2 or 4.0, you’re already familiar with the classic variation. Most smartphones these days support both Bluetooth Classic and LE.

In 2010, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the low energy variant as a new version of the Bluetooth 4.0 standard. As its name suggests, Bluetooth LE is designed as an alternative to the power- and data-hungry wireless standard.

Bluetooth LE is a fork of the Bluetooth Classic standard, with the goal of reducing power consumption.

The lower power consumption of Bluetooth LE is possible because it sends fewer data packets over longer periods of time. This means that your devices can remain in a deep sleep state for most of the time, connecting to the Internet only to send new packets every few minutes. By contrast, Bluetooth Classic will include continuous transmission.

With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Bluetooth LE works so well with battery-powered smartwatches and fitness trackers. These devices also do not require a constant connection. Any new data, such as heart rate changes or notifications, can be sent to or from your smartphone every now and then.

Bluetooth LE allows devices to send fewer packets and enter a deep sleep state for longer.

At this point, all major operating systems support Bluetooth Low Energy. Apple has adopted this technology since iOS 5, while Android first introduced support with 4.3 Jellybean. The usefulness of Bluetooth LE doesn’t end with portable consumer electronics either. It has also found use in industries such as logistics, navigation, and sports. More on that in the next section.

What are the advantages and uses of Bluetooth LE?

Robert Triggs/Android Authority

Besides lower power consumption, Bluetooth LE also brings some usability features like simplified pairing and advertising feature. Here is a quick list of Bluetooth Low Energy features and benefits:

1. Quick pairingHave you ever noticed that many modern wireless devices don’t require you to enter a password or PIN during pairing? That’s because Bluetooth LE offers a special pairing mode called “Just Works” that allows two devices to pair without any user input. It is especially useful for devices without a screen or keyboard, but it is also suitable for audio products and wearable devices.
2. Ad placement: A Bluetooth LE device can broadcast, “announce”, or announce itself publicly. This allows it to be discovered by other devices in the vicinity and to initiate communication. You may have seen this happen if you’ve ever used a product that supported Google’s Quick Pair feature.
3. Positioning and tracking: A common use case for BLE is to track the location of objects through wireless signals. These are basically small, low-power devices that transmit a signal to nearby devices. BLE beacons, identified by their unique identifiers, allow you to pinpoint the exact location of an item. These beacons are also often used to track pets through attached collars. Similarly, the sports industry uses BLE on sports equipment to measure performance and other metrics.
4. home automationThe low-power nature of BLE makes it well-suited for battery-powered sensors that track temperature, humidity, light level, and presence.
5. Active audio stream: Until recently, all wireless products had to use Bluetooth Classic technology for streaming audio. However, in 2022, Bluetooth SIG introduced a new standard that finally provides audio support for BLE. In short, Bluetooth Low Energy Audio uses a new LC3 audio codec to improve sound quality at lower bit rates.

Bluetooth vs Bluetooth LE: What’s the difference?

Kaitlyn Cimino/Android Authority

The original Bluetooth standard was introduced in 1999. At the time, it was designed for high-speed data transfer between devices. He excelled at this task, especially compared to current technologies such as infrared. However, ten years later, the need for a low-power wireless communication protocol has become apparent. And this is where Bluetooth LE comes into the picture.

Bluetooth LE is inferior to Bluetooth Classic in two respects: range and data rate. The low energy nature of Bluetooth LE means it can only maintain a maximum range of about 30 meters. That’s less than a third of the main Bluetooth standard. Again, though, wearables and most other BLE devices don’t work over long distances. It’s also much better than competing protocols like NFC.

Here is a table showing the differences between Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE:

	bluetooth	Bluetooth Low Energy
data rate	bluetooth 1 to 3 Mbps	Bluetooth Low Energy 125 Kbps to 2 Mbps
ranges	bluetooth more than 100 metres	Bluetooth Low Energy under 100 metres
conjugation	bluetooth Traditionally, it may require a PIN or passkey	Bluetooth Low Energy Simplified pairing process
communication	bluetooth Constant and reliable connection	Bluetooth Low Energy Intermittent connection, best used for short bursts
Energy consumption	bluetooth high (up to 1 watt)	Bluetooth Low Energy Low (0.01W to 0.1W)

questions and answers

Yes, Bluetooth Low Energy is part of the Bluetooth 4.2 standard. However, it uses a different hardware implementation than classic Bluetooth and may not be supported on some devices.

Yes, Bluetooth 5.0 also brings improvements to Low Power Mode with the potential for longer range and faster data rates.

Yes, almost all Android devices since 2014 include Bluetooth Low Energy support.

No, Bluetooth Low Energy cannot stream video because the technology is used to transmit data in short bursts. For continuous data streaming, you will need to use Bluetooth Classic. Even then, most devices use a different wireless technology to stream video, such as Wi-Fi.

Yes, both devices need to support Bluetooth Low Energy in order to establish a connection. However, most modern devices include support for both Bluetooth Classic and LE.

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