If you’re in the market for a Bluetooth accessory, there’s a good chance you should consider waiting until next year. The two biggest smartphone manufacturers — Samsung and Apple — are moving rapidly toward Bluetooth 5. The Galaxy S8 is already there and the next Galaxy Note and iPhone are also expected to adopt the technology.
When arguably the three biggest smartphones (I will hear your arguments for the Pixel over the Galaxy Note) make the switch to Bluetooth 5, the third-party accessory market will follow.
It’s not that the current devices on the market are obsolete — far from it. The Bluetooth 4-4.2 market will survive for at least a few more years. It’s that if you happen to purchase one of these newer smartphones, you’ll be stuck with slower peripherals that won’t take full advantage of the next generation of Bluetooth.
Why should you wait?
Bluetooth 5 is capable of transferring data at double the speed of Bluetooth 4.2, and it can also work at much further distances. Theoretically, your Samsung Galaxy S8 paired with a Bluetooth 5 speaker can work up to 260 feet away from each other. Due to walls and general terrain, they probably won’t work that far apart — much like Bluetooth 4.2 devices don’t really work all that well at the current 66-foot limit. But it’s miles ahead of its predecessors.