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How the Class 1 StarTech Mini USB Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter Works with the Class 2 Bluetooth Otium Wireless Sports Earbuds

Bluetooth SIG
Product Review
Reviewed Products

Reviewed Products

Seeing the StarTech Mini USB Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter - 50m (165ft) Class 1 EDR Wireless Dongle being able to boost the Bluetooth wireless range with the MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) in this previous review, we wanted to see how well the same dongle fared when paired with a Class 2 Bluetooth device like the Otium Wireless Sports Earbuds (which is designed to look like the Beats PowerBeats2 Wireless).

Class 2 Bluetooth devices should reach 10 meters compared to Class 1 devices which should have a range of 100 meters.  Even if you have a Class 1 Bluetooth device like the StarTech Mini USB Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter - 50m (165ft) Class 1 EDR Wireless Dongle, it will still only attain Class 2 range performance when paired with a Class 2 device like the Otium Wireless Sports Earbuds.

We verified that we could establish a stable Bluetooth connection up to 10 meters.  Past 10 meters the audio got distorted and the Bluetooth connection became very weak as you can see for the screenshots below.

At 0 meters, the RSSI value is -50 db.

At 5 meters, the RSSI value drops to -66 db.

At 10 meters, the RSSI value drops further to -73 db.

At 15 meters, the RSSI value stays at -72 db with the audio breaking up.

At 20 meters, the RSSI value drops to -81 db with the audio not working. 

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