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I used to absolutely abhor BT, but in the past few years it seems to have gotten really, really good about picking up, and maintaining a decent connection. Sin

I used to absolutely abhor BT, but in the past few years it seems to have gotten really, really good about picking up, and maintaining a decent connection. Since then, I've picked up BT headphones, BT keyboard + mouse (Apple), and a nifty little waterproof BT speaker. Now, the only issue I sometimes have is when I want to connect to a new host device. Other than that, BT has been really nice to me.

tomcam 9y ago
Let's trade lives
- thebiglebrewski 9y ago
  Lmao. Bluetooth is so random about working or not! So many conflicting views in this thread.
rconti 9y ago
I came here to say this. I've owned lots of Bluetooth devices, dating back to an Ericsson T39 and some kind of Bluetooth headset in 2002. It seems clear that at some point in the past couple of years, something changed, bigtime. Not sure if it's Bluetooth 4, or what. It's always been terrible. Even just connecting my phone to my Tivoli Audio speakers from 2 feet away was a nightmare. I'd have to try to reconnect 10 times before it would finally work. This is across dozens of devices and now more than a dozen years. My Mac stuff is mostly better although I found when I had a deskmate, in a room full of 40 people using multiple Bluetooth devices, sometimes my trackpad would disconnect and have a hard time reconnecting. When he quit, everything went back to normal, then when they hired his replacement (and gave him different equipment), the problem came back. That said, recently it's been an absolute miracle. I bought a new VW Golf with bluetooth. It's AMAZING. It connects quickly, every time, and works flawlessly. After having a positive experience with a friend's bluetooth headphones, I bought some Bose QC35 bluetooth headphones, and THEY are amazing! they even connect to 2 devices at once so my computer can send me alerts while I listen to music streaming from my phone. And the range is outstanding -- 60+ feet through multiple tile walls in my office building. One time I got into my car wearing my headphones (on a conference call), started the car, shut off my headphones, and the call magically transferred to my car, instantly. Based on THOSE good experiences I bought some Jaybird X3 running headphones, which also work amazingly well. I tried some Outdoor Tech Chips helmet speakers for my snowboard helmet, and it was IMMEDIATELY back to 2005. The sound would have static and crackle. When I turned my head left with my phone in my right pants pocket (the antenna is apparently in the left earpiece), it would LOSE CONNECTION. Hell, sometimes even sitting on the ground with my head bent, about 2 feet line of sight, it would lose connection. I took them back to REI and bought a Sena Snowtalk 10 so now my ski helmet is back to multi-room range as 2017 Bluetooth intended. I'm interested in following this comments thread to better understand the tech, but I simply can't believe how good it's gotten. I'll look at my phone and it will tell me the charge of my bluetooth headphones and apple watch, and everything JUST WORKS, thanks god, for once.
- JimmyAustin 9y ago
  Totally agree. I had a pair of Plantronic Backbeat Go (Wireless earbuds with a wrap behind cable) and the bluetooth has horrible. Dropped in a pair of the QC35s and it's been like a dream. You really seem to get what you pay for.
sjellis 9y ago
I know very little about this technology, but I believe that Bluetooth LE/Bluetooth 5 is actually quite different from earlier versions, and much better: the vendors basically swapped out the BT4 technology whilst keeping the name.
- audunw 9y ago
  Yeah. This is pretty much true. Things like audio is not on BLE yet though, as far as I know. Will arrive with Bluetooth 5 (better bandwidth will enable it)

tomcam 9y ago

Let's trade lives

thebiglebrewski 9y ago
Lmao. Bluetooth is so random about working or not! So many conflicting views in this thread.

rconti 9y ago

I came here to say this. I've owned lots of Bluetooth devices, dating back to an Ericsson T39 and some kind of Bluetooth headset in 2002. It seems clear that at some point in the past couple of years, something changed, bigtime. Not sure if it's Bluetooth 4, or what. It's always been terrible. Even just connecting my phone to my Tivoli Audio speakers from 2 feet away was a nightmare. I'd have to try to reconnect 10 times before it would finally work. This is across dozens of devices and now more than a dozen years. My Mac stuff is mostly better although I found when I had a deskmate, in a room full of 40 people using multiple Bluetooth devices, sometimes my trackpad would disconnect and have a hard time reconnecting. When he quit, everything went back to normal, then when they hired his replacement (and gave him different equipment), the problem came back. That said, recently it's been an absolute miracle. I bought a new VW Golf with bluetooth. It's AMAZING. It connects quickly, every time, and works flawlessly. After having a positive experience with a friend's bluetooth headphones, I bought some Bose QC35 bluetooth headphones, and THEY are amazing! they even connect to 2 devices at once so my computer can send me alerts while I listen to music streaming from my phone. And the range is outstanding -- 60+ feet through multiple tile walls in my office building. One time I got into my car wearing my headphones (on a conference call), started the car, shut off my headphones, and the call magically transferred to my car, instantly. Based on THOSE good experiences I bought some Jaybird X3 running headphones, which also work amazingly well. I tried some Outdoor Tech Chips helmet speakers for my snowboard helmet, and it was IMMEDIATELY back to 2005. The sound would have static and crackle. When I turned my head left with my phone in my right pants pocket (the antenna is apparently in the left earpiece), it would LOSE CONNECTION. Hell, sometimes even sitting on the ground with my head bent, about 2 feet line of sight, it would lose connection. I took them back to REI and bought a Sena Snowtalk 10 so now my ski helmet is back to multi-room range as 2017 Bluetooth intended. I'm interested in following this comments thread to better understand the tech, but I simply can't believe how good it's gotten. I'll look at my phone and it will tell me the charge of my bluetooth headphones and apple watch, and everything JUST WORKS, thanks god, for once.

JimmyAustin 9y ago
Totally agree. I had a pair of Plantronic Backbeat Go (Wireless earbuds with a wrap behind cable) and the bluetooth has horrible. Dropped in a pair of the QC35s and it's been like a dream. You really seem to get what you pay for.

sjellis 9y ago

I know very little about this technology, but I believe that Bluetooth LE/Bluetooth 5 is actually quite different from earlier versions, and much better: the vendors basically swapped out the BT4 technology whilst keeping the name.

audunw 9y ago
Yeah. This is pretty much true. Things like audio is not on BLE yet though, as far as I know. Will arrive with Bluetooth 5 (better bandwidth will enable it)