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Bluetooth High Data Throughput development

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2026-11-05 11:15 UTC → 2026-11-06 14:38 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Nordic Semiconductor demonstrated the upcoming Bluetooth High Data Throughput (HDT) feature in silicon, aiming to provide faster data transfers while maintaining the energy efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy. The company planned to showcase this technology at electronica 2026 in Munich. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has officially adopted HDT as an optional feature within the Bluetooth Core 7.0 specification. This standard introduces a new physical layer (PHY) and more efficient modulation schemes that ~~increases~~ increase the maximum supported bit rate for Bluetooth Low Energy from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps, representing a nearly fourfold increase. The primary application for HDT is standardized premium wireless audio. The increased bandwidth is designed to support lossless and high-resolution audio, as well as multi-channel surround sound and spatial audio. While proprietary codecs such as Sony’s LDAC and Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless currently exist, HDT aims to provide a broad, industry-wide standard. The first major wave of HDT-enabled audio products is expected to arrive in 2027. Because HDT requires a new physical layer, existing devices cannot be updated via software to support these higher speeds: new wireless chips are necessary. Beyond audio, the technology offers improvements in energy efficiency, increased capacity, and enhanced connection reliability. By transmitting data more quickly, devices can return to low-power states sooner, potentially extending battery life. Other anticipated use cases include faster data synchronization for smartwatches, improved performance for XR (extended reality) devices, AI-enabled hardware, and industrial automation systems.

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