Difference between Bluetooth 5.0 and 5.1

Bluetooth is an industry specification for personal area networks (WPANs). This technology was created in 1989 by the American company Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

A Bluetooth system manages the transmission of data and voice between devices. This is achieved through a radio frequency link in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which allows devices to connect wirelessly. Such networks are usually implemented in personal computer equipment such as computers, mice, speakers, headphones.

In 2019, Bluetooth 5.1 was released. This offers notable changes compared to its previous version, Bluetooth 5.0.

The advantages of Bluetooth 5.1

Bluetooth 5.0 brought with it many new features such as improvement in connection speed and range. It also adds new functions to BLE (Bluetooth low energy), making battery saving mode available for any device.

BT 5.1 version includes most of the benefits of version 5.0, but also adds point location. This feature allows the exact location of any device connected to the WPAN network to be known.

Coverage

Bluetooth 5.1 outperforms its predecessor in many ways, but range isn’t one of them. The BT 5.0 has a range of over 400 meters, while the 5.1 is limited to 400 meters.

Likewise, both versions quadruple the 4.0 because it can only reach a maximum range of 100 metres.

Speed

Bluetooth 5.0 significantly increases the data transfer rate between devices, which can reach 2 Mbps.

The 2Mbps bandwidth is four times the BT 4.0 version. It also solves many latency issues that cause too much delay in data transmission.

Double voice

In versions prior to BT 5.0, only one speaker could be connected via bluetooth. Bluetooth 5.0 and 5.1 include dual audio, allowing you to send audio signals to two different devices at the same time. This is applied to the speakers, allowing you to listen to the sound from two different places.

GATT caching

When the two devices are connected, they must authenticate each other and share data, which can take several minutes. GATT caching saves device information, reducing the time it takes. With Bluetooth 5.1 these times are almost completely reduced by improving GATT caching, well beyond the BT 5.0 version.

Seeing all these aspects, we can conclude that the 5.1 version is better than the previous one. Bluetooth 5.1 incorporates most of the features and innovations of 5.0. It also improves some functions and adds new ones.