I will die on the hill that Bluetooth always has and always will suck ass. Pairing sucks. Latency sucks. Random-ass disconnects suck. Fuck Bluetooth in the neck sideways with a rusty screwdriver.
The bluetooth antennas on your devices have sucked. I have no problems with my pixel 7 pro. Pairs quickly, play music from across the house, through walls and floors even. Previous phones of mine would lose connection to my bluetooth headphones if my.phone was on the wrong hip, obviously an antenna issue.
Until we can finally kill HSP/HFP, I’m never gonna be happy with Bluetooth. Using a headset mic shouldn’t blast you back to the telephone era.
I’m talking phones to cars (for hands-free and music), mice to desk and laptop, earbuds and headphones to both, keyboards to anything from computers to fire TVs, BT speakers, adapters for older receivers… They all suck. Multiple phones, devices and cars. (although the 2012 Chrysler was the worst so far, and the 2021 Subaru is better)
Don’t forget that the data bandwidth is so low it can’t play higher quality mp3s.
Depends on the particular device. LDAC has been around for years and supports higher bitrates than mp3s (assuming we’re putting 320kbps mp3s in the “higher quality” category)
I mean my AirPods are fantastic. I think they’re great at playing my podcasts and I’ve not had any problems with random disconnects. Granted I’ve only ever used them with my phone but still.
Shiny new AirPods + shiny new iPhone = minimal issues. Certainly preferable to cords for many, even if no dongle were required for many corded headphones.
In fact AirPods + iPhones have been all but rock solid for years, at least since first gen kinks were worked out… so five years worth of high reliability.
My AirPod Pros have also worked perfectly on my Linux PCs - just as solid as connecting to an Apple device.
No one uses standard bluetooth. I’m pretty sure it can only transfer files in its base form
Exactly. I just click a button on my laptop and it pairs. Start playing a video on my phone? It instantly jumps to my phone. No lag, no pairing waiting. Didn’t want that? Click the “connect” button on the laptop bc it just noticed that it jumped to my phone. My Apple TV notices when the AirPods are around. Did I ever have to pair them to the Apple TV? No! They’re connected to my account and can see the other devices easily.
This shit right here is why people buy Apple. You sell your soul to the devil and get convenience in return.
Don’t get me wrong - both my work laptop and my gaming PC run Linux. But my phone is still an iPhone and if I ever have need for a personal laptop again, it’s gonna be a Macbook Air again.
I agree with the rest but it absolutely does not just randomly disconnect
I just want a headset that doesn’t descend into hissing at me in mono over a crackly 1940s phoneline whenever I dare to use the microphone.
Both of my Galaxy Buds sporadically losing signal when I have my phone in a pocket.
I have some B&W Px2s and they’re fine when using the microphone, although the sound quality is the main selling point.
Any of the AirPods that go in your ear have exceptional microphone quality.
I find it hard to believe every pair of headphones you’ve ever tried has been trash, unless you’re just buying trash quality and expecting amazing hardware.
Sorry for linking to the alien, but see this discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/44sxms/bluetooth_headset_goes_to_low_audio_quality_when/?rdt=57825
As I understand it, standard Bluetooth cannot support quality audio and microphone.
That said, lots of phones and headsets secretly support non standard profiles if you use the right hardware together, but at that point you can’t know if you’re going to get quality with your setup unless someone’s tested it thoroughly and half the time reviewers are either deaf or lying
As I say I’ve had no issues with AirPods and my current B&W are passable.
Sure for audio quality isn’t as good Bluetooth as wired but as some who listens to a lot of classical I don’t really have the ears that can distinguish between different bitrates.
No phone aux jack conspiracy has re-entered the conversation
Anyone know what kind location accuracy Bluetooth 5 currently has?
According to the below two articles. It’s 1-5 meters in optimal conditions. And some of it may require additional hardware for tracking.
https://www.u-blox.com/en/technologies/bluetooth-indoor-positioning
https://www.inpixon.com/technology/standards/bluetooth-low-energy
Why would you need centimeter-level accuracy?
Very nice for home automation- have your music and lights follow you around the house for example. Check out Room Assistant
Yes, that’s what they strive for today but generally are not able to achieve. Better accuracy on the tracker would allow better accuracy on the room tracking, since to do that you essentially need quite accurate triangulation. You’ve got to multiply the innacuracy of 3 trackers together and that’s the innacuracy of the whole system. If each can be off by one meter, then you have a ~3 meter circle in which the thing can actually track you with confidence. Which is not enough to reliably say which room you are in. a 3cm circle would definitely be enough. Probably you could get by with up to 5-10 cm and still do pretty well.
This is why I turn off Bluetooth before heading into the supermarket… <tips tin foil hat>
No tinfoil hat needed. Retail stores are equipped with bluetooth beacons that tracks and monitors customer behavior. This in turn can be sold for targeted advertising. Another scary thought is that the tracking is so precise, it measures the distance your phone is from a product, including height. How high is the phone from the ground? The data points can be extrapolated to influence product placement: what products and prices influenced a customer to bend down and look at/interact with the product? How long were they in close proximity with the product? Based on the phone’s orientation, were they bent down to look at or passing by the product (indicating that they stopped for a separate reason and not necessarily for the product)? Did they buy it? Were they looking for coupons in my “retail store app” while next to the product, or somewhere else in the store? Where do customers often stop or gather in order to browse through coupons? Could we place Y products there? Where should we put the product in stores to maximize sales? What ads can we send to them as they arrive at the store? Based on aggregated data with the rich profile we built for this customer, are they likely to sign up for our rewards credit card? What is this customer’s income level? Have they purchased X product recently? What part of town do they live in? What products are popular there? Et cetera ad nauseum.
Tracking is so predatory. Makes me look at my smart phone with disgust as the years go by, and I periodically grapple with the decision if a smart phone is even right for me or if it’s time to stick to a computer and a truly dumb phone going forward.
Some public info about Bluetooth beacons: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html
Want to find Bluetooth beacons? Simply install a Bluetooth scanner app from your phone and head to a store to see them.
Here’s how Shopify engages businesses on how to utilize Bluetooth beacons with their software package. Bought anything online? That site was most likely powered by Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/retail/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-beacon-technology-for-retail-stores
<Replaces tin foil hat with Fedora>
Thanks for all this info - I feel less crazy now!
Some supermarkets are using digital price displays now. Can’t wait for the “adaptive pricing” like the personalised advertising in the film Minority Reports!
Here comes Bluetooth MAC address: DE:AD:BE:EF. He often pauses near the chocolate biscuits so likely buys some. Lets update the choc biscuit pricing removing the sale pricing as he’ll buy them at full price anyway…
These beacons are small, inobtrusive electronic devices that are hidden throughout the grocery store; an app on your phone that communicates with them informed the company not only that you had entered the building, but that you had lingered for two minutes in front of the low-fat Chobanis.
Well that solves the problem. Don’t let sketchy apps access your Bluetooth/location
Or you could just get a Moto tag, which already supports Google FindMy and has centimeter accuracy thanks to UWB
