Bluetooth 4.0 USB Dongle for Android?

philip2009 · 21 Oct 2015 at 15:03

I have a device that uses Bluetooth 4.0, my phone uses Bluetooth 3.0 - which is why I assume they won't pair? I'm wondering if I can run Android in VMware together with a Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle in order to communicate with my Bluetooth 4.0 device?

Does that sound like it'll work? If so what Bluetooth dongle/chipset am I looking for?

mrk · 21 Oct 2015 at 15:05

What is the device? The BT spec is backwards compatible, but if it's an unknown brand device, the setup may be picky.

BT devices are cheap anyway, if it's something trivial, just replace it with a modern one?

philip2009 · 21 Oct 2015 at 15:14

The device is a Xiaomi Mi Smartband and my phone is a 1st generation Galaxy Note - I want to take the cheapest option to pair with the band.

mrk · 21 Oct 2015 at 15:57

Hmm not sure what else can be done then

tom_e · 21 Oct 2015 at 16:03

There's a few reviews on Amazon talking about fakes which struggle to connect to BT devices, also is your note running Android 4.4 or later?

philip2009 · 22 Oct 2015 at 07:17

Yes, my phone is running 4.4 ... apparently you can run a Bluetooth dongle from an Android VM according to the bottom post here, so that's what I'll attempt to do.