How to Choose a Bluetooth Module For Your Project

How to Choose a Bluetooth Module For Your Project

There are many types of Bluetooth modules on the market, and sometimes developers cannot quickly select the suitable Bluetooth module. The following article will tell you how to select the appropriate module under specific conditions:

1. Chip.

The chip determines the stability and function of the product. Some customers may directly look for famous brand chip modules, such as CSR8675, nRF52832, TI CC2640, etc.

2. Application. (data only, audio only, data plus audio)

For example, if you want to develop a Bluetooth speaker, you must choose a module that supports audio profiles, FSC-BT802 (CSR8670) and FSC-BT1006A (QCC3007) may be suitable for you.

For data transmission, you need to know what’s the application you plan to develop, for example, regular one-to-one data communication or advanced one-to-many data communication.

If it’s the audio transmission, you need to know whether it is regular one-to-one audio transmitting or receiving, or whether it is advanced audio broadcasting or TWS. And you should also know whether you need analog output or digital output.

3. Transmission range.

If regular transmission range of 10m is good enough, our normal module can meet your requirements. If you need transmission range of 80m or longer, the ultra-long-range module FSC-BT909 (CSR8811) will be very suitable.

4. Power consumption.

Most portable devices require low power consumption. You can choose the FSC-BT616 (TI CC2640R2F) which is an ultra-low power consumption module.

5. Bluetooth dual-mode or single-mode.

If you only use BLE, you don't need a dual-mode module. If you need to use SPP + GATT or audio profile + SPP + GATT, the dual-mode module will suit for you. Recommended dual-mode modules: BT909, BT802, BT836B, BT826.

6. Interface.

The interface of the Bluetooth module includes UART, SPI, I2C, I2S/PCM, analog I/O, USB, MIC, SPK, etc. You could just pick the ones that’s suitable for your applications.

7. Data transmission speed.

The transmission speed of different modules are different, for example, the transmission speed of FSC-BT836B is up to 82 kB/s (actual speed) while most of other modules can not reach this high speed.

8. Working mode.

Whether the module is used as a master module or a slave module, whether it needs to transmit audio or receive audio. If it is used as a master device, does the module need to support data transmission to multiple slave devices? These factors should be taken into account.

9. Size.

If a small module is required, FSC-BT821 (Realtek8761, dual mode, data only, 15mm*12mm), FSC-BT630 (nRF52832, BLE5.0, data only, 11.7mm*10mm), FSC-BT802 (CSR8670, BT5.0 dual mode, data + audio, 12mm*10mm) are recommended.