iPhone 5 Bluetooth - worse distance?

I have a BT soundbar that I stream pandora to. I noticed that my iPhone 5 starts breaking up worse than the 4s by like 10 feet or less... not *that* big of a deal but kind of a head-scratcher. I honestly think it has to do with the aluminum back. Seems if I hold it differently (not joking) it will clear up a bit in terms of reception.

 

Yup, usually I leave my phone at the bench I am working out on when I go grab a drink of water (Might not be the smartest idea). It cut out about 10 ft away from my phone. My 4s I could get to the fountain 30 ft away and music would be playing the whole time.

 

Same results

I found the same results across two bluetooth devices. One is a BlueAnt and the other is in my car on the factory GM Bluetooth. There is quite a bit of static and I can't get any real distance from the phone before it drops connection. I hope this is something that ultimately address or this will get very frustrating over the next couple of year.

 

sorry, this made me lol

I wonder if we're dealing with another "bad batch" with faulty hardware or if they are all like this.

Where's the QC testing?

 

Mine's bad too



Bluetoothgate?!

 

no no, I don't think it sounds stupid at all! Remember my post above... "I honestly think it has to do with the aluminum back. Seems if I hold it differently (not joking) it will clear up a bit in terms of reception. "

It's a good thought. I will try some different stuff tonight when I get home. I usually just sit with my daughter and listen to music while she plays or reads books.

 

funny, my iphone 5 is a lot better than the 4s (passed onto the wife) I have, much as 8 to 10 feet better.

 

The range with my headset is much, much worse. Even putting the phone in my pocket causes the signal to break up often. That makes it annoying to use when working out. And in my house i cannot leave the room while my other iPhone covered almost the entire house. Very disappointing. Actually thinking of sending the phone back.

 

I'm getting opposite results. with my iP4 and Jaybird Freedom I could bearly leave my phone under the bench when working out. with my iP5 I can now walk a good distance (10-12ft) to get another set of weights with zero problems?

 

Same. if I want to use my headset I have to pretty much hold the phone near my chin. Its insane.

iOS5 worked fine

 

new bluetooth module

I'm having much worse Bluetooth reception on the iPhone 5 than I had with the 4S. I can't even put it in my pocket without it breaking up. I just repaired with my old 4S (also running iOS 6) and the signal was much stronger. Both were tested using a Plantronics Voyager Pro+ headset.

Since both phones above were running iOS6, this seems to point to a hardware problem. The new iPhone 5 uses a new Bluetooth module, and maybe some of them are worse than others.

My anecdotal experience for best reception is to have the back up, with the top of the phone pointing or closest to the bluetooth transceiver. Looking at iFixit's teardown, it looks like the Bluetooth module is housed in the wifi module, which is at the top of the phone and faces outwards towards the back (not too far from the camera). Details can be seen here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-5-Teardown/10525/2
The Bluetooth chip is the Broadcom BCM4334, housed in a Murata 339S0171 Wi-Fi module.
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Wireless-LAN/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions/BCM4334

I plan to take mine to an Apple store and ask for a replacement. Thanks everyone for chiming in with their experiences! It's always reassuring to find out that you're not the ONLY one. Glad to hear some people are having better results with the new phone.

 

Hey, glad this post made it back to page 1.

So since our initial dialog up towards the top, I had my phone replaced for a different issue (no, not scuffing or yellow screen) and I must say that the bluetooth in this new one is LEAGUES better.

(the following based on streaming pandora to my soundbar via bluetooth)

On the first one I had, it would start to fail when I walked from my living room (soundbar mounted on the wall) to my kitchen about 40-50ft away.

With this one, I just had it paired last night and I was able to not only walk to the end of my kitchen (add another 15-20ft) but I went out into the garage and shut the door and could still hear it without it dropping/chopping.

Before, it seemed like it mattered if it was in my hand, on the counter, or in my pocket (on the counter being the best of the 3). With this new unit, I can put it in my pocket and walk all over the house...

The odd thing is, I would figure if it were hardware-related BOTH would be impacted similarly. I looked both up and one was a week 37 mfg date and the new one week 38.

If you continue to experience shoddy bluetooth, I would request a replacement device ASAP.

 

...more confirmation... I went from my living room, around the corner, down the hall (we have a visible brick fireplace running the length of the hall) and into my daughters room at the end of the house. Bluetooth did not drop at all.

I'm honestly impressed with how far the b/t goes on this phone. The 4s was pretty good too but I would say this one beats the 4s slightly.

 

Sorry to hear that your bluetooth stinks

I too have Applecare + and if I were in your shoes, I too would be unmotivated to go deal with Apple.

I just wanted to let you (and anyone else who may care) know that it DOES seem to be a legit issue just based on my experience with two different iPhone 5 models and if you wanted to, go look into it.

Good luck!

 

I'm having issues with ours as well (2 phones, 2 bluetooth units). Even at a distance of 2.5 feet, and stationary, the signal drops with some frequency.