Battery life is one of the most important considerations when designing wireless products. If it is too short, users will have to charge or change batteries often, leading to frustration and possibly less use of the product. But as well as making sure your battery has enough capacity, you need to make sure your product is using it effectively.

Like all communication technologies, Bluetooth is a better fit for some applications than others. If you're considering using Bluetooth, here’s an outline of the primary factors that determine the effective range of Bluetooth communications, plus some ways to improve it with networking. This article is now updated with the addition of Bluetooth 5 performance.