Wirebook › Glossary › Bluetooth
What is Bluetooth (and how is it different from Wi-Fi)?
In one sentence: Short-range, low-power radio that gadgets use to find and talk to each other, like phones to headphones, or two phones finding each other before sharing a photo.
A little more
Bluetooth is a short-range radio, usually good for about 10 metres indoors, that uses the same 2.4 GHz part of the radio as some Wi-Fi. Devices pair once, swapping secret keys, and then find each other automatically. Bluetooth Low Energy, the modern low-power version, lets gadgets like watches, trackers and phones keep listening for days on a small battery.
It is much slower than Wi-Fi: real file transfers manage roughly one or two megabits a second. That's plenty for music to headphones or a keyboard's key presses, but slow for photos and videos, so nearby sharing such as AirDrop and Quick Share only uses Bluetooth to find the other phone, then switches to a direct Wi-Fi link to send the file.
See it in action
- BonusHow does a photo fly to the phone next to you?Send a pretend photo to the phone next to you and watch how AirDrop and Quick Share really work: a tiny Bluetooth shout to find each other, a private Wi-Fi lane with no router, and numbered pieces that fly over like paper aeroplanes and click back together like a jigsaw.8 min · interactive
- BonusHow does a TV remote work when nothing comes out of it?Press a pretend remote and see the invisible infrared flashes it sends: a wake-up flash, 32 bursts with long and short gaps, and a 38,000-a-second flicker that stops sunshine fooling the TV.8 min · interactive
- BonusHow does a game controller talk to a console?Your controller fires tiny paper darts at the console hundreds of times a second, each one a snapshot of every button and stick.8 min · interactive
Do it for real
Free grown-up tools and guides on Tooltern, our sister site. They work in your browser and nothing is uploaded.