Glossary
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
Bluetooth Low Energy is the low-power flavour of Bluetooth, used by connected devices and beacons that broadcast short messages.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a version of Bluetooth designed to use very little power: a device can run for months on a coin cell. It works in the 2.4 GHz band.
A BLE device can advertise short packets that any nearby phone picks up, or open a connection to exchange data. Beacons, watches, sensors and trackers use it heavily.
A free BLE scanner app on a phone is enough to see what's broadcasting around you. Our BLE Beacon Decode Challenge puzzle starts exactly there.