What’s Bluetooth LE Audio? Explaining the spec and what it means for wireless sound

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

On Tuesday, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the industry group that makes the Bluetooth wireless standard, announced the completion of its latest specification: Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio. Like Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth LE Audio focuses more on power efficiency than the classic version of Bluetooth. It also seeks to provide better audio quality than standard Bluetooth and introduces new features.

With today's announcement, it's the perfect time to look at Bluetooth LE Audio and what it means for future tech gadgets.

Table of Contents

• Bluetooth LE Audio release date
• Why Bluetooth LE Audio?
• Why does it matter?
• Improvements for truly wireless earbuds
• Better long-distance audio?
• Other Bluetooth LE Audio features
• Broadcast audio (aka Auracast)
• Hearing aids
• Ear to the ground

Bluetooth LE Audio release date

There are no Bluetooth LE Audio products available yet, and release dates are hard to pinpoint because they're based on individual vendors. However, in its announcement, Bluetooth SIG said that the first consumer offerings "are expected to come to market in the coming months, and the Bluetooth SIG anticipates LE Audio product availability to ramp up as we approach the holiday season and end of the year."

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