4 major changes coming to Bluetooth by 2027

Bluetooth SIG is the organization behind the Bluetooth protocol, available on billions of devices we use every day. In 2024, BGR spoke with the company’s Senior Marketing Director, Chuck Sabin, about the recently announced Bluetooth 6 standard and the features he expects to see become commonplace in the coming years. Among the features, Auracast is expected to become popular soon. In a new interview, now with Damon Barnes, Director of Technical Marketing at Bluetooth SIG, we talked about four big changes coming to Bluetooth by 2027, including higher data rates, higher frequency bands, IP Link, and LE audio improvements.

Since our last conversation with Bluetooth SIG, the organization has managed to move Auracast from an experiment to a consumer experience, while Channel Sounding and Digital Keys – two other hot topics at the moment – are technologies that have become more present in everyday use.

For example, Channel Sounding is a technology that can accurately measure the distance between devices, such as an object tracker. It is now adopted by Apple and Google as well as iPhone and Android accessory manufacturers. With this technology, more companies will be able to offer AirTag-like products with accuracy that can come close to (but not as good as) the expensive ultra-wideband chips contained in Apple’s paper. “Channel Sounding won’t be as good as UWB, but the two features can work together. Additionally, silicon Bluetooth solutions are less expensive,” says Barnes. For digital keys, on the other hand, he tells me that Bluetooth continues to collaborate with automotive organizations around the world to make it the standard, including in China, its current main focus.

Expected for a November release, Bluetooth SIG hopes to revolutionize Bluetooth technology by offering higher data transfer from 2 Mbps up to 7.5 Mbps. “This will bring almost four times speed improvements, including high-resolution, lossless audio over Bluetooth,” says Barnes. While the roadmap for this technology is exciting, as we approach the November launch, the reality is that exactly when these advancements will hit the market is completely different. After all, it depends on the Bluetooth SIG announcing the new standard – like a new Bluetooth 6.X version – as well as companies like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and many others updating their hardware, and finally accessory manufacturers updating their devices to take advantage of these new features.

However, the technology is promising. According to implementation demonstrations, transferring a file over the air can be reduced from the current 16 seconds to approximately four seconds. On top of that, Bluetooth LE standards continue to push up to the 2 Mbps limit, which will soon feel like something of the past. This higher bandwidth will enable many more possibilities, such as richer sensor data from a wearable or multiple audio channels that can be streamed simultaneously more reliably, all without consuming more power or compromising performance. This will make the integration between these upcoming AI devices much more reliable, while also delivering richer audio experiences, which companies are betting on these days for Dolby Atmos and other immersive codecs.

In the same way that Wi-Fi has moved towards higher frequency bands, Bluetooth wants to follow the same path. Expected for some time in 2027, the organization wants to lead the next 25 years of performance. As Barnes tells BGR, the current 2.4 GHz band is increasingly crowded (as more than 5 billion Bluetooth products ship each year), so the organization wants Bluetooth to work in the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands. “We will enable 5GHz frequencies by 2027, and we will have 6GHz frequencies by 2028. This will allow Bluetooth to get faster speeds, less interference, and allow certain features to work better with more bandwidth, like Channel Sounding, which will be much more like UWB.”

In practice, Bluetooth will begin to shift the signal to a spectrum with less radio interference, unlock multi-megabit speeds, and deliver ultra-low latency, which could make competitive gaming peripherals, AR/VR spatial tracking, and interactive audio as seamless as a physical connection.

In the long term, Bluetooth will also make the 2.4 GHz frequency less congested; premium customers (or first-time buyers) will directly experience the benefits of a more stable connection, while after a few years, even devices that are not updated – as not all accessories need to operate on a 6 GHz frequency – will also feel more reliable, focusing on devices dedicated to the Internet of Things.

If the big changes above aren’t cheesy enough, Barnes explained a technology that “not every product will need” but will be life-changing for those who get it. With IP Link, which is expected to debut later this year, Bluetooth will work like Wi-Fi. For example, if you want to unlock a Bluetooth smart door, you have to be close to it to use Channel Sounding, so it can identify that your phone is near the door and unlock it, right? However, you can only lock/unlock and apply other changes when you are near the accessory. With IP Link, customers will be able to do all of this, but on the go. An example offered by Barnes at BGR is if a family member is in front of the house and you are not there, but you will still be able to open the door. Another option, for example, is to share a digital key with them, even on the go.

This will be possible because Bluetooth will connect these devices to Internet servers for the first time with a 6LoWPAN for unicast and multicast traffic. According to the organization, the project will offer each accessory its own IP address, to which Internet servers can route commands directly through Wi-Fi routers, a smart display or a home hub.

With this, customers will not need a bridge dongle in wall outlets, nor a generic IP router to route traffic, providing customers with local secure actions coupled with remote operations. This will also better align Bluetooth with modern smart home architectures such as Matter and Thread.

The fourth, and yet most customer-focused, feature is enhanced Bluetooth LE. Expected in 2027, Bluetooth SIG aims to improve wireless calling and media by improving LE Audio and establishing standardized approaches for spatial audio on headphones and surround sound systems. This will also bring lossless, high-resolution audio streaming to wireless connectivity.

For Auracast, which allows a single device to stream audio to multiple nearby Bluetooth receivers at the same time, these advancements will standardize the approach when using multiple Auracast transmitters to provide coverage in a larger environment, such as a concert hall, large museum, or even a trade show like CES and IFA. Additionally, Auracast wants to offer broadcasts with more audio streams than a single transmitter can handle. This would be very handy for streaming multiple languages ​​during an event, a museum tour, or when multiple audio experiences are happening at the same time. Finally, the company wants to remove the smartphone from the algorithm, so users can easily pair hearing aids, AirPods, and other headphones directly to an Auracast broadcast, making the technology more accessible to users.

Asked why Bluetooth SIG has accelerated these developments, Barnes praised new CEO Neville Meijers. Since getting the job in 2024, Barnes said he’s been “very good at correcting mistakes and releasing specifications. We’ve seen improved Bluetooth capabilities develop more quickly.”