What is Bluetooth and how does it work?

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Shreyas Sen, Purdue University

(THE CONVERSATION)

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected].

What is Bluetooth? – Henry, age 13, Somerville, Massachusetts

How do headphones, toys, gadgets and other devices talk to each other without any wires? Many of them connect with Bluetooth. It’s a technology that allows different devices to communicate wirelessly. Think of it as a device’s voice that it uses to share information.

Bluetooth works by sending radio wave signals between devices. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves, which are a type of energy that moves from one place to another. Other kinds of electromagnetic waves include heat, light and X-rays. Radio waves can carry information, from the sights and sounds on a TV to data on a laptop. As an example, your music player sends the music through these invisible waves to your headphones.

I’m an electrical and computer engineer and I study wireless technologies. Every device that uses Bluetooth contains a set of computer chips that send and receive these radio waves.

Connecting through Bluetooth starts with a process called pairing. Pairing is like first introductions between two people, where they acknowledge each other and agree to talk to each other. Once paired, the devices remember each other and don’t have to be paired the next time.

Bluetooth is everywhere! Over 5 billion Bluetooth devices were sold worldwide in 2025. It’s in headphones for listening to wireless music and in video games that let you play with wireless controllers. Smartphones and tablets use Bluetooth to share photos, videos and files with friends. Smartwatches connect to your phone to get notifications and track your fitness. In cars, Bluetooth lets you play music from your phone and enables hands-free calls.

Bluetooth is named after a Scandinavian king, Harald Bluetooth Gormsson, who united parts of the Nordic region in the 900s, because the technology unites different devices. The symbol for Bluetooth comes from a combination of two ancient Nordic runes, or symbols, for the king’s initials.

Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi complement each other, serving different purposes in our everyday connected world.

Bluetooth is great for things that need moderate but not superfast speeds, such as streaming music or connecting devices. For faster needs, people use Wi-Fi. Bluetooth is not ideal for transferring large files or streaming high-definition video. But for most everyday tasks, it’s pretty capable.

Bluetooth is ideal for short-range connections up to 30 feet, so mostly when the two connected devices are in the same room. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, is designed for longer-range communication, up to 300 feet – for example, within a house or school building.

Bluetooth connects devices directly to each other without needing to connect to the internet. But if you need high-speed internet access or to create a local network of multiple devices, Wi-Fi is the way to go.

Bluetooth is good for when it’s important to use low amounts of power to connect devices, like for wireless devices that run on batteries. Wi-Fi consumes more power, so the Wi-Fi routers that connect devices to each other and the internet typically have to be plugged into an outlet.

From blasting music to tracking your steps or sharing a meme with a friend, Bluetooth makes it faster and easier. So the next time you use your wireless headphones, you’ll know the technology behind the magical flow of songs through the airwaves.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/what-is-bluetooth-and-how-does-it-work-242892.