B&O's Bluetooth performance

In various product threads (most notably the H8) there have been discussions around Bluetooth performance.

I think this is complex topic; with performance being affected by movement, crowded spectrum, source implementation, destination implementation, a/v material, BT chipsets and the like.

In our extended family we now have 5 B&O/ BeoPlay Bluetooth products.

Today I conducted an A1 test where I had clear line of site transmission over 16+ metres. I think that is great.

My understanding of BT standards and capabilities is from this information on the web (see at end of this OP).

What have been your positive experiences ?

With class 1 Bluetooth devices transmitting at 100mW, which have a standard range of approximately 100 meters or 328 feet, range is comparable to that of an 802.11b WLAN device. Class 1 devices are most commonly implemented in devices where power is plentiful, such as laptop and desktop systems.

Device Class Transmit Power Intended Range

Class 3 1 mW less than 10 meters

Class 2 2.5 mW 10 meters, 33 feet

Class 1 100 mW 100 meters, 328 feet

Figure 1. Bluetooth device transmitter classes [2]

In contrast, class 2 devices transmit at 2.5 mW with a range of approximately 10 meters or 32 feet. Class 2 devices are the most common Bluetooth transmitters for their fair range with less power requirements than class 1 devices. Most mobile phones and Bluetooth headsets are class 2 devices.

Since Bluetooth devices operate in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, they use the same commodity antennas designed for WLAN devices.

There is NO excuse to deliver such a lousy product as the H8 headphones!

The Bluetooth Standard is now over 15 years old (Bluetooth 1.0 was born 1999) and for a company like B&O it's simply embarrsing to deliver such unreliable products!

Crowded places, movement, materials etc. are problems other companies had to face, too. For example my 6 years old SonyEricsson MW600 Bluetooth stereo headset works without any issues, no matter if I'm in the airport, inside a train during rush hour etc. It simply works flawlessly as intended.
After my experience with the H8 I'll never buy wireless headphones from B&O again! I use my H3 in combination with the MW600 and that works!

The bluetooth speakers seem to be ok.

My H8s work just fine. They are the later serial number version. After reading earlier reports I waited for the updated version to come out.

I agree with the comment that there is no excuse for this old technology not to work right and personally I would have been very disappointed to be offered a refurbished pair to replace faulty headphones.

But I can move around my house with my h8s on (upstairs too with my phone downstairs) and not get dropouts. Which is better than I would ever have expected.

Duels:

But I can move around my house with my h8s on (upstairs too with my phone downstairs) and not get dropouts. Which is better than I would ever have expected.

And my daughter-in-law use an A2 in the centre of a 3 story dwelling and it works perfectly no matter where she roams.

elephant:

And my daughter-in-law use an A2 in the centre of a 3 story dwelling and it works perfectly no matter where she roams. BeoNut since '75

I can echo that. My A2 works anywhere in my place irrespective of where the source is. Faultless.