Bluetooth just got a huge upgrade that can vastly improve wireless lossless audio, headphones, and even smart home devices

Man listening to headphones — (Image credit: Willie B Thomas / Getty Images)

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced a tech upgrade to its Bluetooth LE wireless standard that could be of great benefit to fans of lossless audio. The Bluetooth High Data Throughput (HDT) technology could also improve smart devices, such as smartwatches, smart glasses and even smart home products.

It essentially increases the maximum supported bit rate in Bluetooth LE to 7.5 Mbps – almost four times higher than previously. This means more data can be shifted wirelessly in the same timeframe, giving manufacturers more scope for connectivity.

High-Res Audio is one area that could see significant improvement. While some Bluetooth standards support lossless audio transmission (or near lossless), Bluetooth LE is designed to use lower energy and therefore limited to the transmission of lower resolution streams.

Other Bluetooth HDT devices

Additional uses could come from smart devices, with multiple use cases highlighted by Nordic Semiconductor's Øyvind Strøm: "By making it significantly faster to move large amounts of data, Bluetooth High Data Throughput creates new possibilities for Bluetooth applications," he said in a statement.

"Imagine a smartwatch that syncs hours’ worth of sensor-rich training data to your phone in seconds, smart glasses that deliver richer AI experiences by offloading data for processing, or a smart home product that completes a firmware update with virtually no user-visible downtime."

Again, we'll have to wait for new products to support it, but this could be the breakthrough Bluetooth needs to become a general, always connected wireless standard for our daily tech. It might even take some of the strain away from our home Wi-Fi networks.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.