Bluetooth HDT is official: 7.5 Mbps speeds arrive in 2027

Bluetooth just got a serious speed upgrade. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the body that oversees the wireless standard, has formally adopted Bluetooth High Data Throughput as an optional feature of Bluetooth Core 7.0. That bumps Bluetooth LE's maximum supported bit rate from 2 Mbps up to 7.5 Mbps — a nearly fourfold jump.

The SIG has been teasing HDT for about a year, and the pitch is simple: more data moves in less time. That means the Bluetooth radio can stay on for shorter stretches, which is good news for battery life and reliability, not just raw throughput. Higher-resolution audio streaming comes along for the ride.

Wireless audio is the headline act again. Expect the first devices with HDT support to land sometime in 2027. Once they do, high-res audio won't be the only trick — spatial audio and multi-channel surround sound should work without leaning on proprietary wireless formats.

Headphones aren't the only gadgets set to benefit. Smartwatches could sync more training, health and fitness data to a phone without draining the battery. Spatial computing and extended reality gear could deliver richer experiences without a Wi-Fi tether. And personal AI devices could hand off data to a smartphone more efficiently, letting them shrink in size and weight.

Even the mundane stuff improves. Firmware updates for smartwatches and smart home accessories could feel noticeably faster, turning a chore you keep postponing into something you barely notice. The SIG is clearly aiming at every corner of the connected world.

Neville Meijers, CEO of the Bluetooth SIG, framed the move as a foundation for what's next. According to the outlet, he said Bluetooth HDT brings a new level of performance and expands the role Bluetooth can play across consumer, commercial and industrial markets. The pitch rests on Bluetooth's scale — it's the most widely used wireless standard out there.