What is bluetooth?

Bluetooth is a method of wirelessly exchanging data between two or more devices. That happens with radio waves. Usually, one device is the transmitter and the other device is the receiver. An important condition is that the distance between the devices is not too great. The maximum distance is usually about ten meters. But there are also bluetooth devices that support a longer distance, up to a maximum of 100 meters.

You can turn on bluetooth on any smartphone or tablet. This makes data on the mobile device available wirelessly to other Bluetooth devices. Suppose you have nice songs stored on a smartphone. Then play these songs on all kinds of other devices with bluetooth. Think of speakers, laptops, amplifiers, headphones and car radios. Bluetooth is also widely used for calling. For example, with incoming calls on a smartphone, people accept the calls with a connected car kit or headset. These are just two examples of how to use bluetooth. However, there are many more ways!

There are different versions of bluetooth. They mainly differ from each other in signal transmission. The more powerful the connection, the more information can be exchanged at the same time. Fortunately, devices usually support multiple standards, so basically you don’t have to worry about that. An exception applies to music lovers. Bluetooth devices that support the aptX standard play music in higher quality (CD quality).

Bluetooth devices have a recognizable logo on the packaging box or on the device itself (see image next to the introduction to this tip). Inside a blue/purple shape is a tooth-shaped symbol. Sometimes the tooth-shaped symbol is depicted in white or black with no blue shape.

Devices with bluetooth have an option somewhere in the menu to turn this setting on or off. After switching on, choose which device you want to set up a wireless connection with. It is often necessary to enter a four-digit PIN code. Thanks to this security, strangers will not make unsolicited connections to your Bluetooth device.