The Differences Between Bluetooth 4.0 & Wi-Fi Direct
Let’s take a quick look at the two specifications:
Bluetooth
The current Bluetooth 4.0 standard has three different protocols; Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth High Speed, and Classic Bluetooth.
One advantage of Bluetooth is that with very low power consumption, it can provide an always-on signal that communicates between devices when needed.
Bluetooth 4.0 adds the ability to be inactive unless data needs have been requested. The further improves, or should I say reduces battery drain. The connection is active when it is needed and in standby mode when not needed. In addition to reduced battery drain, Bluetooth 4.o is also faster than the original Bluetooth implementation. The theoretical limit for Bluetooth data transfer is a very fast 24Mbit/s.
Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct competes directly with Bluetooth 4.0. Wi-Fi Direct can establish a direct, peer-to-peer wireless connection without the assistance of a router. This eliminates the problems historically associated with Wi-Fi networking.
Wi-Fi Direct effectively turns each device into an access point and allows other Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect. The theoretical connection speed of Wi-Fi Direct is an even more amazing speed of 250Mbps.
Let’s Compare These Two Standards
[fac_icon icon=”fighter-jet” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”18″] Speed:
The clear winner here is Wi-Fi Direct offering speeds of up to 250Mbps while Bluetooth 4.0 speed tops out at 24Mbps.
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[fac_icon icon=”subway” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”18″] Range:
Wi-Fi Direct has a design maximum connection distance at somewhere in the 600 feet range. Bluetooth 4.0 connection range depends on the devices involved in the connection. On the surface, Wi-Fi Direct wins again, however in testing this difference is not as significant as it might seem.
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[fac_icon icon=”lock” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”18″] Security:
Bluetooth 4.0 uses AES 128-bit encryption while Wi-Fi Direct uses WPA2 security and AES 256-bit encryption. WiFi Direct wins here. One should note that both standards are more than adequate for consumer use.
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[fac_icon icon=”check-circle” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”18″] Compatibility:
No real difference here as both standards offer backward compatibility.
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[fac_icon icon=”power-off” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”18″] Power:
Bluetooth 4.0 offers the option of Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) and is much more energy efficient than Wi-Fi Direct. In low energy applications, Bluetooth will continue to be the preferred standard.
[fac_icon icon=”book” color=”#1e73be” color_hover=”#000000″ font_size=”16″] Read More about Wi-Fi Direct Here!