Sound via Bluetooth: versions and codecs, do they affect the sound quality?
Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows, among other things, to connect headphones or portable speakers, stereo systems or sound bars to your smartphone or laptop.
There are many devices on the market today with different versions of the Bluetooth protocol and with support for different codecs. What does all of this mean, which version is the latest, we need to understand all of this, and most importantly for us, does this somehow affect the sound quality? Let’s see.
One important thing to keep in mind up front is that the Bluetooth sound technology you hear has much less impact on sound quality than the design of the device itself. If you try to test multiple wireless headphones or speakers, you will hear the obvious differences between the devices. If you test the same device, but connected with different codecs or versions of Bluetooth, the difference may not be so obvious, maybe even subtle.
Simply put, you should not base your choice solely on the Bluetooth technologies and codecs supported by the device, this is neither the first nor the second most important criteria.
Bluetooth versions
Bluetooth has improved dramatically over the years since the turn of the century, and audio compression isn’t as brutal today as it was in the days of Bluetooth 1.1 or 2.0 (when wireless headphones and earphones first hit the market). ). Let’s highlight the main technical differences between the Bluetooth versions, devices with which they can be found for sale today.
Bluetooth 3.0: The data transfer rate has increased significantly (up to 24 Mbps vs. 2.1 Mbps in Bluetooth 2.0), but the power consumption has increased.
Bluetooth 4.0: reduced power consumption while maintaining a speed of 24 Mbps.
Bluetooth 4.1: added anti-crosstalk protection when working with LTE modules installed on all 4G smartphones.
Bluetooth 4.2: higher speed and improved data transmission security.
Bluetooth 5.0: range increased 4 times, speed increased 2 times.
Bluetooth 5.1: it was possible to determine the location and direction with the utmost precision.
As you can see, the new versions primarily address data rate and power efficiency issues, which rarely directly affect sound quality. However, newer versions can improve data transfer reliability, which can allow a heavier codec, such as aptX HD or LDAC, to run at higher data rates.
So to summarize:
The Bluetooth version generally does not directly affect the sound quality.
Both devices must support the Bluetooth version and specific codec.
The difference between different codecs on the same device can be subtle.
AAC is only meaningful to Apple, not of interest to Android.
aptX and other codecs, on the other hand, are not supported by Apple devices.
Wireless technology shouldn’t be an important consideration when choosing an audio device. Don’t automatically rule out headphones without the latest Bluetooth version or with SBC only, they may sound better or be more comfortable than their competitors.
