nRF52840 Preview DK

[Fab1223]

Hi

I ordered Nrf52832 DK board instead of ordering nrf52840 Preview DK. I need to test bluetooth 5 stack,range ,bandwidth and through output.

Is the nrf52832 will support bluetooth 5 or can i need to replace with Nrf52840 board?.

Kindly suggest me, because reshipment will take much time.

[Roger Clark]

If you need long range, you must use the nRF52840 as the nRF52832 does not have the high power transmitter needed to meet the full Bluetooth 5 specification.

I think from a technical standpoint the nRF52832 could probably operate at the lower data rate needed for long range operation. But when I asked a Nordic representative about this, they told me that the lower data rate would not get implemented in the nRF52832 - it would only be available on the nRF52840

[ovrebekk]

Hi Roger

Just to clarify, the Bluetooth specification only require the maximum output power to be within a certain range. For BT4.2 and earlier this was between -20 to 10 dBm, and this was extended to between -20 to 20dBm for BT5.0.

The reason the nRF52832 is not fully compatible (as you hint at) is the lack of the "coded" 125kbps and 500kbps radio modes. These modes required a hardware change, and we didn't have time to get that into the nRF52832.

The 2Mbps mode is present in the nRF52832, so you can achieve high throughput, but for the maximum possible range you want the long range modes and 4dB increased output power available in the nRF52840.