Is there a wireless bluetooth 5.0 headset? Bluetooth v4.2: what's really new and how does it work? Improved privacy and security

A year after the Bluetooth 4.1 specifications were approved, the organizationBluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) introduced updated 4.2. In Bluetooth 4.2, the speed of information exchange between Bluetooth Smart devices was increased: the size of data packets was increased by 10 times, and the performance increased by 2.5 times.

A year after the Bluetooth 4.1 specifications were approved, the organization Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) introduced updated 4.2. In Bluetooth 4.2, the speed of information exchange between Bluetooth Smart devices was increased: the size of data packets was increased by 10 times, and the performance increased by 2.5 times. Improved work with Internet of Things devices thanks to Internet Protocol Support Profile (IPSP) now supports connecting to the Internet directly via the protocol Ipv6/6LoWPAN and Bluetooth Smart device management.

In other words, devices will be able to connect directly to the Internet through an access point or router without additional connections and transmitters. In addition, they promise a high degree of protection against tracking via Bluetooth connection and data encryption. The unilateral tracking process is no longer possible; connection confirmation is required. Of course, they promise to reduce energy consumption. The first products with Bluetooth 4.2 may appear in the first half of 2015.

Source: Bluetooth

Kirkland, WA - December 03, 2014

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) officially adopted version 4.2 of the Bluetooth core specification this week. Key updates in 4.2 improve privacy and increase speed, and a soon-to-be ratified profile will enable IP connectivity. Bluetooth 4.2 opens up new opportunities for developers, OEMs and the industry to build a better user experience for consumers while creating use cases never before imagined.

“Bluetooth 4.2 is all about continuing to make Bluetooth Smart the best solution to connect all the technology in your life - from personal sensors to your connected home. In addition to the improvements to the specification itself, a new profile known as IPSP enables IPv6 for Bluetooth, opening entirely new doors for device connectivity,” said Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Bluetooth Smart is the only technology that can scale with the market, provide developers the flexibility to innovate, and be the foundation for the IoT.”

Privacy and Security
Bluetooth 4.2 introduces industry-leading privacy settings that lowers power consumption and builds upon the government-grade security features of the Bluetooth specification. The new privacy features put control back into the hands of the consumer by making it difficult for eavesdroppers to track a device through its Bluetooth connection without permission. For example, when shopping in a retail store with beacons, unless you’ve enabled permission for the beacon to engage with your device, you can’t be tracked.

Speed
Bluetooth 4.2 increases the speed and reliability of data transfers between Bluetooth Smart devices. By increasing the capacity of Bluetooth Smart packets, devices transfer data up to 2.5 times faster than with previous versions. Increased data transfer speeds and packet capacity reduces the opportunity for transmission errors to occur and reduces battery consumption, resulting in a more efficient connection.

Internet Connectivity
Building on the capabilities released earlier with Bluetooth 4.1 and the new features released in 4.2, the Internet Protocol Support Profile (IPSP) will allow Bluetooth Smart sensors to access the Internet directly via IPv6/6LoWPAN. IP connectivity makes it possible to use existing IP infrastructure to manage Bluetooth Smart “edge” devices. This is ideal for connected home scenarios that need both personal and wide area control. This profile will be ratified by the end of the year.

All modern smartphones are equipped with fourth generation Bluetooth – some have version 4.0, some 4.1, and some 4.2. Meanwhile, the fifth version of the “blue tooth” was released. In this article we will talk about its advantages over Bluetooth 4.2 and how these advantages will be applied in practice.

Two times faster

Data via Bluetooth 5th generation will now be transmitted at maximum speed6.25 MB/s – previously 3.125 MB/s. This is still much less than wired competitors:

• Apple Lightning – 60 MB/s
• USB 2.0 – 60 MB/s
• USB 3.0 – 625 MB/s
• USB 3.1 – 1210 MB/s

But that's why they're wired!

As a result, the speed of synchronization of smart watches with a smartphone and Internet of Things elements with each other and with the base will increase.

Four times further

Indoor range has increasedfrom 10 to 40 meters, on the street - from 50 to 200 meters.

It will be possible to run at the stadium without a smartphone in your pocket. Leave it in your backpack, put on Bluetooth headphones and run - there won't be anything hanging around in your pocket. Maybe it was your phone that stopped you from running a marathon! True, you can’t run 42 kilometers 195 meters with wireless headphones.

Perhaps Fabregas is not included in the squad because his Bluetooth 4.2 headphones interfere with him

An increased range of action is especially important for organizing the Internet of Things. While older versions of Bluetooth were somehow sufficient for apartments, in a large house compromises had to be made. Now you can easily place some IoT element in the yard, away from the rest.

Eight times more data via broadcast channels

Broadcast channels are needed for the Internet of Things to work with third-party Bluetooth devices without prior connection. In this mode, you can now transmit more information:255 bytes versus 31 in Bluetooth 4.2.

I’ll explain with an example why broadcast channels are needed. Let's imagine a modern hospital in which the Internet of Things is implemented. A person comes in and information is immediately sent to him via Bluetooth about which office he needs to go to. He cannot get anything else because he is not fully connected to the hospital Internet of Things.

The volume of this information is 31 bytes, because Bluetooth 4.2 is used. And with version 5, a person will also receive the doctor’s name, approximate waiting time and the head doctor’s phone number for complaints - the size of this data is already 255 bytes.

Consumes 2.5 times less energy

It seems that with increased speed and range, Bluetooth 5 will become more power hungry. In fact, everything is exactly the opposite - the new standard is much more economical in energy consumption. For smartphones with 3,000 mAh batteries, Bluetooth 4.2 power consumption was not critical. In the case of smart watches, the increase in autonomy can be noticeable, although, of course, it needs to be tested in practice.

Serial connection system

Scaling the Internet of Things will become easier thanks to the new serial connection system. Previously, each device connected to a common base device, but now it will be enough to connect to a neighboring element.

Let's remember physics!

Maybe someday we will see a city IoT system not within an apartment or house, but within an entire district or even a city? And it will be based on the energy-efficient and easily scalable Bluetooth 5.

Why else is Bluetooth connected to the Internet of Things? The fact is that the elements of IoT are too fragmented: each manufacturer does something (or everything) differently. Bluetooth is one of the things that unites them all. It is used in almost all devices: phones, watches, laptops, cars and so on.

By the way, the new standard is backward compatible with old protocols.

When to expect?

Yes, we've already waited. All the necessary documentation for the development of devices and software with support for Bluetooth 5 appeared on the official website at the beginning of the year, and recently the first smartphones with the fifth version of the “blue tooth” were released.

Bluetooth 5 is not a revolution by any means, but rather an evolutionary development of the technology. The new standard only improved the performance of the previous one, but did not teach the “blue tooth” to do anything new. Protocol 4.2 does everything that Bluetooth 5 can do, only several times worse.

Bluetooth 5 is not just another generation of Bluetooth. This is a significant change in the way we connect to other devices. From now on, your life will change dramatically if your smartphone is equipped with Bluetooth 5.

What is Bluetooth and how to use it?

In 1994, a new device communication standard emerged. The Swedish company Ericsson led the unification of wireless technology at that time, just as it did in the 20th century when King Harald Blues united the Vikings under one nation. In honor of this king, the new wave was christened after him, and in 2017 the fifth generation brings us a new dimension to communicate with the objects around us.

Having Bluetooth 5 on our phones means that we will also have a much closer connection with the smart objects around us. Bluetooth 5 is faster, stronger and can reach up to four times further than the previous version.

Hands-free calling and the need to get closer to your phone because you lose connection are a thing of the past with Bluetooth 5 devices. Now you can go anywhere in your home without losing connection, no matter where your phone is. This is all thanks to Bluetooth 5's ability to support high throughput over 100 meters. Usain Bolt can run this distance in 9.58 seconds, and Bluetooth will receive it in 5 milliseconds.

We already have devices that sync via Bluetooth, but until now you could only listen to music on one speaker or one earbud. With Bluetooth 5 you can connect multiple devices.

The Bluetooth range is between NFC and Wi-Fi. Its main advantage is its safety. Encrypted information moves from one device to another, making it especially useful for devices that monitor our health or even manage payments.

Wi-Fi networks are in our homes, and Bluetooth 5 can help cancel them out by controlling most of the IoT devices connected to Wi-Fi, such as speakers, TV, or coffee pot. Plus, thanks to BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), you may not have to rely on connectors as you'll use less power.

Bluetooth 5: new devices that will shape the future of IoT

Our smartphones are slowly starting to become the remote control for all the electronic devices around us. Not just fitness trackers or headphones; We can now control vacuum cleaners, light bulbs and even cars with our phones.

In March, the first devices with this new technology, which was announced a little less than a year ago, hit the market: Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. The second, Xiaomi Mi 6, was released on the Chinese market at the end of April. The next devices to ship with Bluetooth 5 will be the HTC U 11, which will be released on May 16, and the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, which should hit stores this summer.

These four devices are the first to get excited about this improved version of Bluetooth, but it's safe to say that after spring we'll probably also see this spec on the OnePlus 5, Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

Just connecting one set of headphones is a thing of the past thanks to Bluetooth 5.

Bluetooth 5: Double the speed and range

The fifth generation of this short wave, which travels in the 2.4 GHz band, has much greater coverage and is faster than previous versions. It offers low power consumption and high security with encryption (which meets US government security standards), and is twice as fast, up to 5120 kbps.

Bluetooth 5 doubles the range of Bluetooth 4.0, which is up to 60 meters. In other words, at 240 meters BT5 supports a speed of 128 kbit/s, and at 120 meters – 500 kbit/s. On the other hand, this new generation can also have 8 times more connections than the old standard.

Bluetooth 5 supports BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), which was introduced in version 4.0. Thus, increasing speed and range does not affect the power consumption of BLE devices.

Bluetooth 5: a new dimension for audio

Firstly, this increase in distance, speed and number of connections will affect the number of devices we can connect to and the amount of information we can send. This already directly affects us.

With Galaxy S8 we can connect two Bluetooth headsets at the same time. This way, two people can listen to the same song at the same time without disturbing others. However, with video on the S8, we noticed a slight delay in one of the two connected headphones, but we hope this will improve with software updates. In version 5.0, the audio is not specifically compressed to improve quality, but this aspect is expected to be expanded upon in a standard review in 2018, possibly in version 5.1.

Audio for two Bluetooth headsets with Samsung Galaxy S8.

The second (and in my opinion the most important) thing is that with more data, the sound quality can increase, as long as there is no difference between it and using a cable. Currently, Bluetooth audio compression, SBC, is worse than CD, as it is typically transmitted at around 328 Kbps. But this speed is not a problem for Bluetooth 5.

Sony already has a technology called LDAC that transmits audio over Bluetooth at 990Kbps, which is a manageable bit rate for Bluetooth 5.

Bluetooth 5 is the future

In four years, there will be more than 48 billion smart devices in the world, of which about a third will have Bluetooth connectivity. In other words, there will be several billion devices connected to our smartphones. It is clear that the Bluetooth standard will be one of the leading players in the Internet of Things (IoT).

It's already the king of wearable connectivity, and many Smart Home devices also communicate with this blue wave. So the only thing left for the future is to push the boundaries.

The obvious future is one where we can control more devices than we currently have with our smartphones. Soon we will be able to change channels via Bluetooth, as well as increase and decrease the temperature on the thermostat or the brightness of the lights in our living room.

Bluetooth has great potential in the field of virtual reality with this new speed. Thanks to the strong connection between VR headsets and other devices, we will no longer have to fit our smartphones into a mini headset. Phone displays could have sharp resolution without sacrificing battery life, and VR headsets could have their own screen with the right resolution for their purpose. This will also significantly reduce the weight of the device.

Video: News about the new Bluetooth 5.0 technology

Bluetooth 5.0 became a reality. Compared to Bluetooth 4.0, the new version has twice the capacity, four times the range and a number of other improvements. Let's look at the advantages of Bluetooth 5.0 over its predecessors, including an example CPU CC2640R2F from Texas Instruments.

The popularity of the Bluetooth 4 protocol version, as well as some of its limitations, became the reasons for the creation of the next Bluetooth 5 specification. The developers set themselves a number of goals: expanding the range, increasing the throughput when sending broadcast packets, improving noise immunity, and so on.

Now that the first devices with Bluetooth 5 have begun to appear, users and developers rightly have questions: which of the previously stated promises have become reality? How much have the range and data transfer speed increased? How did this affect consumption levels? How has the approach to generating broadcast packets changed? What improvements have been made to improve noise immunity? And, of course, the main question is - is there backward compatibility between Bluetooth 5 and Bluetooth 4? Let's answer these and some other questions and consider the main advantages of Bluetooth 5.0 over its predecessors, including using the example of a real processor with Bluetooth 5.0 support produced by the company Texas Instruments.

Let's start our review of Bluetooth 5.0 by answering the most frequently asked question about backward compatibility with Bluetooth 4.x

Is Bluetooth 5.0 backwards compatible with Bluetooth 4.x?

Yes, it does. Bluetooth 5 adopts most of the features and extensions of Bluetooth 4.1 and 4.2. For example, Bluetooth 5 devices retain all the data security improvements of Bluetooth 4.2 and support the LE Data Length Extension. It is worth recalling that thanks to the LE Data Length Extension, starting with Bluetooth 4.2, the size of the data packet (packet data unit, PDU) during an established connection can be increased from 27 to 251 bytes, which allows you to increase the data exchange speed by 2.5 times.

Due to the large number of differences between protocol versions, the traditional mechanism for negotiating parameters between devices when establishing connections is retained. This means that before they start exchanging data, the devices “get to know each other” and determine the maximum frequency of data transmission, the length of messages, and so on. In this case, Bluetooth 4.0 parameters are used by default. The transition to Bluetooth 5 parameters occurs only if, during the pairing process, it turns out that both devices support a later version of the protocol.

Speaking of tools that are already available to developers, it is worth noting the new CC2640R2F processor and the free BLE5-Stack from Texas Instruments. To the delight of the developers, BLE5-Stack is based on the previous version of BLE-Stack, and changes in its use only affected the new features of Bluetooth 5.0.

How has the data transfer speed increased in Bluetooth 5?

Bluetooth 5 uses a wireless connection with physical data transfer rates of up to 2 Mbps, which is twice as fast as Bluetooth 4.x. It is worth noting here that the effective data exchange rate depends not only on the physical throughput of the transmission channel, but also on the ratio of service and useful information in the packet, as well as on the associated “overhead” costs, for example, time loss between packets (Table 1).

Table 1. Communication speed for different versionsBluetooth

In versions Bluetooth 4.0 and 4.1, the physical bandwidth of the channel was 1 Mbit/s, which, with a PDU data packet length of 27 bytes, made it possible to achieve exchange rates of up to 305 kbit/s. Bluetooth 4.2 introduced the LE Data Length Extension. Thanks to it, after establishing a connection between devices, it became possible to increase the packet length to 251 bytes, which led to an increase in data exchange speed by 2.5 times - up to 780 kbit/s.

Bluetooth version 5 retains support for LE Data Length Extension, which, together with an increase in physical throughput to 2 Mbit/s, allows data exchange speeds of up to 1.4 Mbit/s to be achieved.

As practice shows, such acceleration of data transfer is not the limit. For example, the CC2640R2F wireless microcontroller is capable of operating at speeds up to 5 Mbps.

It is worth mentioning the common misconception that the increase in throughput to 2 Mbit/s was achieved by reducing the range. Of course, physically the transceiver chip (PHY) when operating at a frequency of 2 Mbit/s has 5 dBm less sensitivity than when operating at a frequency of 1 Mbit/s. However, in addition to sensitivity, there are other factors that contribute to increasing the range, for example, the transition to data encoding. For this reason, all other things being equal, Bluetooth 5 turns out to be more reliable and has a longer range compared to Bluetooth 4.0. This is discussed in detail in one of the following sections of the article.

How to enable high speed data transfer mode in Bluetooth 5?

When establishing a connection between two Bluetooth devices, Bluetooth 4.0 settings are initially used. This means that at the first stage the devices exchange data at a speed of 1 Mbit/s. Once the connection is established, the Bluetooth 5.0-enabled master can begin the PHY Update Procedure, the goal of which is to establish a maximum speed of 2 Mbps. This operation will only succeed if the slave also supports Bluetooth 5.0. Otherwise, the speed remains at 1 Mbit/s.

For developers who have previously used the Texas Instruments BLE-Stack, the good news is that the new BLE5-Stack provides a single function, HCI_LE_SetDefaultPhyCmd(), to perform this procedure. Thus, when switching to Bluetooth 5.0, users of TI products will not have problems with the initial initialization. Also useful for developers will be an example posted on the GitHub portal, which allows you to evaluate the operation of two CC2640R2F microcontrollers operating as part of CC2640R2 LaunchPads in High Speed ​​and Long Range modes.

How has the range of Bluetooth 5 increased?

The Bluetooth 5.0 specification states that the range is four times greater than Bluetooth 4.0. This is a rather subtle issue that is worth dwelling on in more detail.

Firstly, the concept of “four times” is relative and is not tied to a specific range in meters or kilometers. The fact is that the radio transmission range strongly depends on a number of factors: the state of the environment, the level of interference, the number of simultaneously transmitting devices, and so on. As a result, not a single manufacturer, as well as the developer of the Bluetooth SIG standard itself, provides specific values. The increase in range is measured in comparison with Bluetooth 4.0.

For further analysis, it is necessary to perform some mathematical calculations and estimate the radio channel power budget. When using logarithmic values, the radio channel budget (dB) is equal to the difference between the transmitter power (dBm) and the receiver sensitivity (dBm):

Radio channel budget = powerT X(dBm) – sensitivityR X(dBm)

For Bluetooth 4.0, the standard receiver sensitivity is -93 dBm. If we assume the transmitter power is 0 dBm, then the budget is 93 dB.

Quadrupling the range would require a 12 dB increase in budget, resulting in a value of 105 dB. How is this value supposed to be achieved? There are two ways:

• increasing transmitter power;
• increasing the sensitivity of receivers.

If you follow the first path and increase the transmitter power, this will inevitably cause an increase in consumption. For example, for the CC2640R2F, switching to an output power of 5 dBm leads to an increase in current consumption to 9 mA (Figure 1). At 10 dBm the current will increase to 20 mA. This approach is not attractive for most battery-powered wireless devices and is not always suitable for IoT, which is the area that Bluetooth 5.0 was primarily aimed at. For this reason, the second solution seems preferable.

To increase the sensitivity of the receiver, two methods are proposed:

• reduction in transmission speed;
• use of Coded PHY data encoding.

Reducing the data rate by a factor of eight theoretically increases receiver sensitivity by 9 dB. Thus, the desired value is only 3 dB short.

The required 3 dB can be achieved using additional Coded PHY coding. Previously, in Bluetooth 4.x versions, the bit encoding was unambiguous 1:1. This means that the data stream was directly sent to the differential demodulator. In Bluetooth 5.0, when using Coded PHY, there are two additional transmission formats:

• with 1:2 encoding, in which each bit of data is associated with two bits in the radio data stream. For example, a logical "1" is represented as a sequence of "10". In this case, the physical speed remains equal to 1 Mbit/s, and the real data transfer speed drops to 500 kbit/s.
• With 1:4 encoding. For example, a logical "1" is represented by the sequence "1100". The data transfer rate is reduced to 125 kbit/s.

The described approach is called Forward Error Correction (FEC) and allows errors to be detected and corrected on the receiving side, rather than requiring packets to be retransmitted, as was the case in Bluetooth 4.0.

On paper everything looks good. It remains only to find out how these theoretical calculations correspond to reality. As an example, let's take the same microcontroller CC2640R2F. Thanks to various improvements and new Bluetooth 5.0 modulation modes, the transceiver of this processor has a sensitivity of -97 dBm at 1 Mbps and -103 dBm when using Coded PHY and 125 kbps. Thus, in the latter case, only 2 dBm is missing from the level of 105 dB.

To evaluate the range of the CC2640R2F, engineers from Texas Instruments conducted a field experiment in Oslo. At the same time, from the point of view of noise level, the environment in this experiment cannot be called “friendly”, since the business part of the city was in close proximity.

To obtain a power budget greater than 105 dB, it was decided to increase the transmitter power to 5 dBm. This allowed us to achieve an impressive final value of 108 dBm (Figure 2). When performing the experiment, the range was 1.6 km, which is a very impressive result, especially considering the minimum level of consumption of radio transmitters.

How has the approach to Bluetooth 5 broadcast messages changed?

Previously, Bluetooth 4.x used three dedicated data channels to establish connections between devices (37, 38, 39). With their help, devices found each other and exchanged service information. It was also possible to transmit broadcast data packets over them. This approach has disadvantages:

• with a large number of active transmitters, these channels can simply be overloaded;
• More and more devices use broadcast messages without establishing a point-to-point connection. This is especially important for the Internet of Things IoT;
• the new Coded PHY coding system will require eight times more time to establish a connection, which will additionally load broadcast channels.

To solve these problems in Bluetooth 5.0, it was decided to move to a scheme in which data is transmitted on all 37 data channels, and service channels 37, 38, 39 are used to transmit pointers. The pointer refers to the channel over which the broadcast message will be transmitted. In this case, the data is transmitted only once. As a result, it is possible to significantly relieve the load on service channels and eliminate this bottleneck.

It is also worth noting that now the data length of a broadcast packet can reach 255 bytes instead of 6...37 bytes PDU in Bluetooth 4.x. This is extremely important for IoT applications, as it allows minimizing transmission overhead and eliminating connections, thereby reducing consumption.

Does Bluetooth 5 support Mesh networks?

Texas Instruments Solutions for Bluetooth 5

One of the very first microcontrollers with Bluetooth 5.0 was the high-performance CC2640R2F processor manufactured by Texas Instruments.

The CC2640R2F is built on a modern 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core with an operating frequency of up to 48 MHz. The operation of the radio transmitter is controlled by the second 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 core (Figure 3). In addition, the CC2640R2F features rich digital and analog peripherals.

The advantage of the CC2640R2F microcontroller is also its low consumption level (Table 2). This applies to all operating modes. For example, in active mode, when receiving data over a radio channel, the consumption is 5.9 mA, and when transmitting - 6.1 mA (0 dBm) or 9.1 mA (5 dBm). When switching to sleep mode, the supply current drops completely to 1 µA.

The combination of three important qualities such as Bluetooth 5.0 support, low consumption and high peak performance makes the CC2640R2F a very interesting solution for the Internet of Things. At the same time, using this microcontroller, you can create the entire range of IoT devices: autonomous sensors that operate for several years on a single battery, bridges between an additional control processor and a Bluetooth 5.0 channel, complex applications that require high computing power.

Table 2. Wireless microcontroller consumptionCC2640 R2 Fwith the supportBluetooth 5

Operating mode	Parameter	Value (at Vcc = 3 V)
Active Computing	µA/MHz ARM® Cortex®-M3	61 µA/MHz
	Coremark/mA	48,5
	Coremark at 48 MHz	142
Radio exchange	Peak receive current, mA	5,9
	Peak current during transmission, mA	6,1
Sleeping mode	Sensor controller, µA/MHz	8,2
	Sleep mode with RTC enabled and memory retention, mA	1

To quickly get started with the CC2640R2F, Texas Instruments has prepared a traditional development kit (Figure 4). Using a couple of such devices, you can evaluate the speed and range of radio transmission via Bluetooth 5.0. To do this, you can use ready-made examples or create your own application based on the free BLE 5 stack 1.0 protocol (www.ti.com/ble).

Conclusion

The new version of the Bluetooth 5.0 protocol is focused on maximum compliance with the needs of the Internet of Things (IoT). Compared to the Bluetooth 4.0 version, it has a number of qualitative improvements:

• data transfer speed has doubled and reached 2 Mbit/s;
• transmission range has increased fourfold due to Coded PHY and Forward Error Correction (FEC) data encoding;
• Broadcast message throughput increased 8 times.

In addition, Bluetooth 5.0 provides backward compatibility with Bluetooth 4.x devices, and also supports most of the extensions of later versions of the protocol.

You can evaluate the capabilities of Bluetooth 5.0 now using tools produced by Texas Instruments. The company produces a high-performance and low-power microcontroller CC2640R2F, provides a free BLE 5 stack 1.0 and many ready-made examples for the LAUNCHXL-CC2640R2 debugging kit.

Literature

1. Bluetooth Core Specification 5.0 FAQ. 2016. Bluetooth SIG.

Review of completely wireless headphones Syllable D900P on Bluetooth v5.0, comparing them with another TWS-16, as well as recommendations for choosing and purchasing headphones of this type.
In short: I was completely satisfied with the purchase...

5.1 Connectivity - Bluetooth 5.0

5.2 Sound

6. Conclusions

1. Introduction

I was faced with a task: buy myself Bluetooth headphones. The main criteria were:
1. Completely wireless
2. Availability of a carrying and charging case
3. Small size and weight
4. Price / quality (20~30$)
There is a huge list of criteria and differences when choosing such headphones. In the review, I will try to talk about these differences, as well as what you should pay attention to when choosing them.

My first attempt was to buy headphones:
At that time there was a discount on them, and I was attracted by their record low weight, only 3.5 grams (each earphone).
But the first pancake, as they say, is lumpy. Having opened the parcel, one earphone was missing.
I thought it was a joke, or I missed something in the description, but no. Therefore, as the review progresses, I will compare both models (although this cannot be called a full comparison), paying attention to those same differences and their importance when choosing.

P.S. After contacting technical support, they offered me a refund of $10, and of course I could keep the earphone. I'm not one of those people who likes to deceive or profit from sellers. It can be used as a Bluetooth headset, or for listening to music, but it is still one. I was never able to sell it, so the amount of $10 is not enough for me to buy new headphones, and I won’t be able to fully listen to music either. Consequently, I requested a full refund explaining my position and they agreed.

While I was waiting for a refund, I had time to think about buying new ones. Buy the same ones, having at the same time the left earphone and the charging case in stock, or choose another model.
Having realized what I was missing and what I would like to improve, I began the search.
The Internet is full of a variety of models, both branded and branded. But often the same headphones can be found under different brands. Therefore, you should be careful. Thinking that you are buying “branded” headphones, you are purchasing a nameless product, but under the logo of one of the brands. As a rule, such “brands” are little known, and if you find something new and interesting, take the time to study in more detail. Perhaps you will find exactly the same headphones, but under another new and interesting name. And in the end, without any mention of the company at all, and also cheaper.
I narrowed my choice down to two models, the first, reviews of which are on this site, and the Internet is simply teeming with them:
1. TWS Touch Two JH-S9100: ,
The second one was something new:
2.
The first model completely satisfied me, both the price and parameters. But the second one captivated me, albeit little-known, with its brand () and presence.
This model is new for 2018, and there are practically no reviews on it. Only a couple of reviews containing little useful information. But while I was waiting for the parcel, the amount of information kept growing, and these were laudatory comments, which is good news.

2. Packaging & accessories

Such a simple detail as the equipment is still worth paying attention to. In the first TWS-16 model, in addition to the earphone and case, the kit included only a cable and instructions, there were no additional ones. This is not a problem for me, I have enough spares at home, but! Firstly, not all people have spare ones at home, and secondly, some headphones have a special shape, and except for their relatives, others do not fit them.
But the Syllable D900P did not skimp on spare ear pads, but that’s where all the differences between the configurations end.


Left TWS-16, right Syllable D900P

3. Appearance

3.1 Charging case

The presence of a charging case in completely wireless headphones is already a plus, in terms of convenience and price, respectively. There are headphones that charge directly from the wire, but they are more bulky and weigh more.
Next, you need to decide whether you need the case only for charging, or for transportation as well. Since not all of them have a protective cover, and can only act as a so-called base. Example:
If you plan to carry headphones in a case, then there are many forms of it.
Without a cover, but magnetic and transportable, for example like: . By the way, this modification of the headphones exists without a case, but with charging directly from the wire. The price difference is ~$8.
As for me, this is not a very convenient option, but these headphones are very popular due to their long operating time and capacious battery, both of the headphones themselves and of the case, which played a role in the overall dimensions.
Quote from him on these headphones:

If you shake the station a little, the earphone will fall out, so it’s better to carry this design in a tied bag (well, you get the idea).

There are also retractable ones: or
I can’t judge their practicality, but in my opinion they are quite interesting options.

Returning to the subject of review, a standard cover is used here. But not with latches, as in most cases, but with magnets. I think this option is much more convenient. You don’t need to press any buttons to open the lid, nothing will break or get stuck over time. The strength of the magnets is sufficient to avoid accidental discoveries, but I would like to be twenty percent more powerful.


Inside we see a button that is responsible for turning on/off charging the headphones, as well as turning them on separately, but more on that later. A similar implementation with a magnetic cover and a touch button can be seen in: , but despite the requirement for a double press to turn on, the external sensor raises concerns about accidental clicks.
In the places intended for charging the headphones, there are magnets that allow them to be firmly fixed and prevent them from falling out. TWS-16 does not have such happiness, and fixation, as well as full contact for charging, occurs only when the lid is closed. This is another plus for the Syllable D900P.
But what’s missing is an indication of the charge percentage of the case itself. I don’t quite understand the absence of such a small but important detail.
As a result, the case turned out to be very convenient and useful, containing everything you need for comfortable use, with the exception of the lack of battery status indication.






Case weight without headphones: 42g.

For comparison, I’m hiding a few photos of TWS-16 under the spoiler.

If we compare both cases, then the TWS-16 is smaller in size, and in my opinion it is more convenient, but for the sake of functionality this can be sacrificed. Since the Syllable D900P has a large battery, magnets, a power button, and also recesses for headphones allow them to be fixed with different sizes of ear pads, while the competitor only fits with a standard small size. If you change the ear pad to a larger one, the earphone simply won’t fit.

3.2 Headphones

If the case is just an addition, then the headphones themselves are the main “player” with which you will have to spend a lot of time, so you need to take their choice more seriously.
Shape and type.
Starting from parodies of , which are much bigger, worse, and generally unnecessary. (Example: ). Basically, they are all similar, but each manufacturer claims that they have found the ideal shape that will fit perfectly in your ears. If not, then there are many options with ear “hooks”, which provide greater fixation, but also additional pressure on the auricle, keep this in mind. Examples: , . For those for whom regular hooks are not enough and require an active style of use, there are completely wireless options with earhooks similar to bluetooth headsets: (By the way, also on bluetooth v5.0).


Everything is standard, two charging pads, left/right markings, indicators.
Control. We have decided on the ear mount, then we need to manage it all somehow. You can switch tracks, answer calls, and of course turn the device itself on and off. Everything is simple here, the control can be either mechanical, the button is on the earphone itself, or touch.
It's up to you to decide which method is more convenient, but I have a few doubts about touch controls. These are random clicks while attaching the earphone to the ear (I encountered a similar problem in the comments), as well as the behavior of the sensor in the cold, or with wet/sweaty hands. Accordingly, a button is more acceptable for me, although I rarely use it. The player is controlled mainly either through a watch or via a smartphone. The headphones turn on either by pressing a button, or, while charging, when taken out of the case, they automatically turn on and pair with each other. Very convenient and you don't have to press anything. Regarding pairing with each other: in this type of headphones (not only in this model), one earphone is the main one, to which the second earphone is connected, and the signal is transmitted from one earphone to the other. The Syllable D900P has the left one as the main one. When turned on (it does not matter, from the button or removed from charging), they automatically pair with each other and perform a roll call. Something like: Power on --> Left channel --> Right channel --> Connected --> Pairing. That is, they always automatically go into pairing mode, but if you don’t connect to them manually within 15 seconds, they will connect to the previously paired device. In simple words, when turned on, they pair with the phone in 15 seconds, or you can manually connect to them, speeding up the process. A little strange logic, but you get used to it quickly. Turning off is also very interesting: you only need to press the button on one of the headphones, and they themselves understand, and both turn off.
But I noticed one strange thing: when connecting to a phone, they always tell me: second device connected, but when connecting to a laptop, watch, or other phones, I hear this every other time. That is, sometimes they perceive something as a second device, sometimes they don’t, but my phone is always called a second device. Tried to reconnect many times, to no avail. Doesn't affect work, just infuriates.

The weight of each earphone is ~ 4.5g. Since I have a scale with a step of 1g, they show the weight of the earbuds as either 4 or 5. But, in total, both headphones are consistently 9g.
Regarding the fit in the ears, everything is fine here. Although vacuum headphones are not really my thing, my fears were in vain. Properly selected ear pads, and no problems. Fast walking, head shaking, chewing gum, treadmill, all tests passed. Regarding those who are afraid of losing such headphones - complete nonsense. Of course it can fall out, the situations are different, it was poorly recorded, the ears are sweating. But in order not to feel this, you need to have a complete lack of sensitivity in the head. Well, there are no such headphones, the presence and absence of which is not felt at all.


Compared to TWS-16 (pictured below in the middle), Syllable D900P is slightly larger, and accordingly 1g. heavier

I have no complaints about the headphones. Light weight and good fit are key.

4. Battery

The manufacturer claims the presence of 400mAh in the case and the possibility of 3 additional recharges. Judging by the measurements, this is the case:


It is unlikely that the capacity of the headphones themselves can be measured correctly, and there is no reason to.
At full volume, the headphones played: 3 hours 40 minutes!! I think this is an excellent result! Since the average operating time of these types is usually 2-2.5 hours.


The competitor played for 2 hours, but you need to take into account that in this case he was alone. And two headphones consume more, since the signal needs to be transmitted. Accordingly, the right earbud charges a little faster.

5. Sound - communication (Bluetooth 5.0)

5.1 Connectivity - Bluetooth 5.0

I contacted several sellers on Aliexpress regarding the availability of Bluetooth 5.0. Two of them answered that they had no idea about the versions, wrote what they were told, and two more (one of which is an official store) assured that there really is a fifth version. There is no mention of this model yet, but there is a link to their store in, where this model is already listed.
This was an important criterion for me, so this is one of the reasons why I chose this model. In case of fraud, I would think I would return part of the money.
I found an article on the Internet on how to find out the version of a bluetooth device: (Link only for)
And to be honest, having little faith, I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t deceive me:


In the LMP Version field we see the coveted inscription 5.0.
Why was it so important for me to have version 5? The fact is that this type of headphones (any model) does not communicate well with the phone. This is explained by their small size, and the way they are generally designed (one earphone sends a signal to the other...). I've had problems with connection interruptions even on bluetooth headsets, and there's no need for any big obstacles. Place the phone in the opposite pocket, or cover it with your palms. This is fine! I also hoped for a longer range, because this is written in the specification. But to the sellers question: why is only 10m indicated, is this the 5th version? Nobody knows anything. Plus, the data transfer speed should be higher, and the energy consumption should be less. Well, in addition to all this - because I want to!
So, regarding communication, I can say that I am satisfied with everything. Carrying your phone in your pocket or laptop bag does not cause interference. If the phone is in the opposite pocket (from the main earphone), then occasionally you can catch an interruption. But they are also arranged in a very interesting way; interruptions do not occur abruptly, but as if someone pressed pause and then played again. That is, there is no interruption or stuttering, but a slight attenuation of the sound. It’s difficult to describe in words, but in reality I’m meeting such an implementation for the first time, and I’m pleasantly surprised that in case of communication failures, it doesn’t hurt my ears. Regarding the range, it is unlikely that you will be able to calmly walk around the gym during training, for example, leaving the phone at one end. This is not an obstacle for me, I am training without headphones, it seems to me that if I create additional pressure through headphones during sports, my head will explode. But owners of smart watches can download music to the watch and connect to it.
There is also a common problem with this type of headphones, which is the lag of the audio track when watching a video. The Syllable D900P does not have this problem, which is very important, especially if you watch any tutorials. So when choosing, pay attention to this, read the reviews.
In general, the quality of communication suits me quite well, the Chinese did not deceive with the bluetooth version, which I think played a role, since the competitor TWS-16 is not so smooth.
Considering that I have only one earphone from them, that is, there is no additional cost for signal transmission, but it has very frequent interruptions, which are expressed as stuttering, and which happen even if the phone was nearby. But getting rid of them is not so easy; they rarely disappear on their own, so you have to reconnect.

5.2 Sound

Here we come to the most important thing. Let's take into account the type and size of the headphones, and we will get quite decent sound for listening to music. For people who are “sick” with sound, this is not a very suitable option. Here we give more points for compactness and mobility. For comparison, I have this model: the sound is not inferior. They sound no worse than local wired ones from Sony, Philips, Xiaomi, JBL and cost ~$20-40.
Bass - Calm, soft, I would say even a little lacking, in some cases you want to turn it up a little. Those who like to push harder will be left out.
Mid/high - everything is standard for vacuum headphones. Of course, the high ones predominate, but the voice is drawn quite well. When choosing the right ear pads, it doesn’t hurt your ears.
For most users, the sound will be quite sufficient, the sound does not cut, does not rattle, and is quite pleasant to listen to. For audiophiles, they themselves understand everything perfectly well.
In comparison with TWS-16, it is of course difficult to compare, two against one. But Syllable sounds more interesting.
The volume reserve is quite enough.
Speaking about the quality while talking on the phone, everything is obvious here, I can hear well, they can’t hear me very well, somewhere in the distance. But I was pleased with one feature. Often, with these types of headphones, during a telephone conversation, you hear speech only in one, the main earphone. Speech is immediately transmitted to both, this is also a big plus. At the end of the call, you hear: call ended, and if you dropped the call: call canceled.

6. Conclusions

Summarizing all of the above, I am completely satisfied with this purchase. As I wanted, I received completely wireless headphones, small in size and weight, with a comfortable fit, good playback time and decent sound. All this comes with a case that allows you to conveniently transport them and not worry about running out of power. It’s very nice that all sorts of little things have been thought out, such as: a magnetic cover, a button to turn on the case, smart switching on of the headphones when removed, soft attenuation in case of loss of connection. Comparing them with TWS-16, they are inferior only in the size of the earphone and case, but this did not turn out to be a minus, so even now I would give preference to the Syllable D900P.
I liked the review +19 +34