New Bluetooth 6.1 version has arrived, which will improve privacy; you will also get a good battery

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) recently released the Bluetooth 6.1 standard that is meant to secure user privacy in devices that have wireless connectivity protocol support. New devices that have Bluetooth 6.1 capabilities may arrive around 2026, which are going to provide improved power efficiency compared to the current standard. The Bluetooth SIG has just adopted a bi-annual release cadence, which implies that the following Bluetooth version shall appear in the second half of 2025.

The most recent Bluetooth 6.1 core specification has two significant updates to the wireless communication protocol. The first is enhanced privacy for devices that are Bluetooth 6.1 compliant, and the second is enhanced battery life for devices that use the wireless communication protocol.

Bluetooth 6 came out last year with support for changing the MAC address of a device to protect user privacy using Resolvable Private Address (RPA). This happens at a fixed interval of every 15 minutes, which allows malicious users to track users by identifying the randomized address when it is generated.

To solve this problem, Bluetooth 6.1 adds support for randomized RPA. This updates the RPA randomly between 8 and 15 minutes. This makes it difficult for malicious users to track Bluetooth devices, as it is difficult to predict when the device's address will be randomized.

More about Bluetooth 6.1's user privacy protection can be read in the detailed document published by Bluetooth SIG. The document also mentions another advantage available on devices with Bluetooth 6.1 support.

These randomized RPA requests will be handled by the wireless chip (controller) of devices supporting Bluetooth connectivity, and not dependent on the processor. In such a situation, small devices like truly wireless stereo (TWS) headsets, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and portable speakers can offer better battery life.

Customers may have to wait several months for new devices with Bluetooth 6.1 support. Meanwhile, Bluetooth SIG recently announced that it has adopted a new bi-annual release schedule, meaning the next Bluetooth version will come by the end of 2025.