How to check if your computer has Bluetooth 5.
If you aren’t sure what version of Bluetooth your computer has installed inside it, it is possible to check from your operating system. You don’t need to pull your computer apart or spend ages searching online for the specific specification of your hardware. There is a really simple method for finding out if you have Bluetooth 5 or not.
Related: How to use custom themes on Windows 11. Install third-party themes on Windows 11.
Bluetooth 5 is a major heap forward for Bluetooth connectivity and has a few extra abilities and performance enhancements over 4. It’s faster than Bluetooth 4 with 5Mbps, has a 150m line of sight range increase and a 30m increase for indoor usage where they may be walls and other interferences.
As well as these two core feature enhancements Bluetooth 5 also has more IoT device support and a massively improved energy consumption rating when compared to previous versions which is kind of astonishing. While most manufacturers will advertise Bluetooth 5 on devices, you may not have paid attention to the full specs on making your purchase. Thankfully, there is a quick and easy way to find out if you have Bluetooth 5 or an older version without having to go rummaging through old boxes or searching online for specs.
Note: You can use the process below on Windows 10 and 11 PCs. All the steps are the same and will give you the same data.
How do you check if your computer has Bluetooth 5?
In order to check if your computer has Bluetooth 5 you will need to do the following.
- First, open Device manager on your computer by searching Device Manager from the Start menu.
- Once you have Device Manager open scroll down the list and expand Bluetooth.
- This will show you all the devices connected to your system. Now find your main Bluetooth hardware device, then right-click on it and select Properties.
- Now you need to change to the Advanced Tab and have a look at the LMP value. If the LMP value is 9, then your device has Bluetooth 5.0. Anything below nine means you have an older version of Bluetooth.
While most devices are still backwards compatible with older versions of Bluetooth there are some newer devices that have minimum Bluetooth requirements in order to function properly. The biggest issue you will encounter usually comes from speed-related tasks like file transfers and messaging.
Updated to Windows 11? Want to install some custom themes?
If you are using Windows 11 and aren’t a big fan of the default Light and Dark themes make sure you check out the following article which will show you how to install and use custom (third-party) themes on Windows 11.
How to use custom themes on Windows 11. Install third-party themes on Windows 11.