USB Bluetooth adapter from Aliexpress 2019.10.22 at 13:22

Hello to all ! This post will be in English, as more people would read it without using Google Translate or other translation services. So…

Recently I purchased cheap, but according to description, very powerful and good Bluettoh adapter on Aliexpress.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33055946699.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.3f3c4c4dUsnQBG

In case if the link would be already not working – here’s the picture of how it looked like:

And some „copypasting” from the description:

Features:

  1. Bluetooth 5.0: transmission distance 0-30m, faster and more stable than Bluetooth 4.0 version transmission
  2. Free drive: plug and play, no driver installed, mobile phone / tablet can transfer text, photos, install the full version of the driver, the computer can be connected to the Bluetooth headset / speaker
  3. Connect the Bluetooth mouse / keyboard: get rid of the distance limit, responsive and unlimited.
  4. Mobile phone / tablet connected to the computer: no need to open the software, no network can also transfer photos and files
  5. Support multi-device connection: to achieve computer connection with other Bluetooth-enabled devices (mobile / tablet / mouse keyboard / Bluetooth headset / Bluetooth speaker / game controller / printer, etc.)

can transfer text, photos, install the full version of the driver, the computer can be connected to the Bluetooth headset / speaker
3. Connect the Bluetooth mouse / keyboard: get rid of the distance limit, responsive and unlimited.
4. Mobile phone / tablet connected to the computer: no need to open the software, no network can also transfer photos and files
5. Support multi-device connection: to achieve computer connection with other Bluetooth-enabled devices (mobile / tablet / mouse keyboard / Bluetooth headset / Bluetooth speaker / game controller / printer, etc.)

Parameters:
Type: Mini Bluetooth Adapter
Bluetooth Standard: Bluetooth V5.0
Size: about 13*14*6mm/0.51*0.55*0.24in
Color: black
Bare metal weight: about 0.65g
Interface type: USB
Transmission distance: 0-30m
Frequency range: 2.4GHz
Rated voltage: DC 5V

List:
1*Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter
1*drive CD

As it is advertised as Bluetooth 5.0 I would expect it to have at least the main advantages of newly released fifth version of BT:

  1. Low energy consumption
  2. Dual audio connection capabilities
  3. More speed, distance, and throughput

According to the description, it should be super easy to install and use the adapter, but… Did you noticed, that almost every time there is some „but(t)” somewhere 😀 ? So, first try with my HP ProBook 470 G4 and Windows 10 x64. Adapter was recognized, some drivers installed, but nothing worked. No detected devices what so ever. That seemed strange, but OK, maybe it needs a special driver from CD. Opened the CD and wohooo (!) – there is a manual with installation description. But again – but(t), its in Chinese (?). You can take look here. Never mind, I want my new adapter to work, so I learn Chinese. Damn, its not possible to do in 30 minutes, so I just skipped to reading understandable words. The title has several important words „CSR Harmony 4.0”. So, CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) belongs to Qualcomm, quite serious corporation and was really surprised and said to myself – OK, if this is CSR, I don’t really mind it being v4.0. Next column starts with some numbered list, where under number 1 there is text:

Google Translate said its „CSR V4.0 Bluetooth adapter uses CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio)’s latest 8510 chip”. Wohoo, I thought to myself. Link to the official Qualcomm webpage for this IC:

https://www.qualcomm.com/products/csr8510

So, now I would be sure its Qualcom CSR8510 Bluetooth chip inside, with Bluetooth version 4.0 (not 5.0 as declared) and USB 2.0 connectivity.

So, gladly installed the drivers from DVD disk, supplied with adapter. Again, but(t). Not working, ok, I thought, newest drivers might solve the problem. Uninstalled the old driver and installed fresh driver from the manufacturer. Got some activity in „Device manager” tab, but when tried to scan for new devices over the Bluetooth – nothing was found. After several hours of dancing with drums and sacrificing some gadgets to Gods of Electronics…

…nothing changed. That was not something I would expect from Qualcomm, so I thought – is it CSR chip inside? It should look a lot like this:

Clearly seen CSR marking, with chip model under it. Chm, lets try to open the housing of the Bluetooth adapter. The plastic housing look really cheap, but hey, this adapter is cheap :).

There is a small lid, covering the back of PCB, on the same side as USB connection sliders can be seen. It popped off very easy, just a little bit of help with knife (there were no fixators or glue).

And the PCB just slides off those two pins.

You liars !!!! Where is the CSR chip ? WHERE ?!?! Its some Barrot IC, 8041A02, most probably not even a proper clone of CSR chip, as their driver struggles to work with this hardware. Barrot is, probably, a trade name for Beijing Bairui Interconnect company, which produces those ICs. So, results:

  1. This is not real Bluetooth v5.0, so, you wouldn’t get speed, distance, throughput and other functions, specific to BT 5.0.
  2. It’s not the Qualcomm product, its some fake clone.
  3. As it is not Qualcomm – it is not CSR 8510 chip, as declared in the supplied manual, so you wouldn’t be able to get proper support for it. Unless you work at Beijing Bairui Interconnect.

4 Responses to “USB Bluetooth adapter from Aliexpress”

  1. Hello, so did you get it working?
    I got same chip inside bt5.0 dongle from ebay and it baheves the same, i.e. cannot find anything. Gets detected as CSR because they reused usb VID PID values for real CSR device.

  2. Hi,

    You know, I checked the feedback on the AliExpress and most of the people said, that even if its working – there will be no proper quality, the connection is very poor (like 3 meters or so) and I really needed those 10-20 meters – I decided to throw it away and don’t waste my time on it, as even if I would get it somehow working, it would not perform as I need.

  3. Hi,

    I’ve got a similar Bluetooth dongle that is also advertised as „Bluetooth v5.0” and it has the same BARROT chip. I can send you photos if you’d like.
    Windows detects it as VID_0A12&PID_0001.
    According to this „https://www.sordum.org/10772/bluetooth-version-finder-v1-0/” my dongle is also just Bluetooth 4.0 🙁

    Do you know of any small USB Bluetooth dongle that is indeed Bluetooth v5.0? I still need one. Ideally it should be one that is small enough so that I don’t have to unplug it every time I put my laptop in its bag.

  4. My adapter cost me around 30PLN (7,89$) and it’s orginal, (Adapter Bluetooth 4WORLD SuperSpeed,) it’s works on linux. I’m lucky

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