The Bluetooth audio profile stack splits the work: A2DP streams the music, AVRCP carries the remote-control commands, HFP handles calls, and HSP is the legacy headset profile. Current adopted versions on the Bluetooth SIG pages are A2DP 1.4.1, AVRCP 1.6.3, HFP 1.10 and HSP 1.2, while device spec sheets often quote older rows such as A2DP 1.3.2 or HFP 1.7.2. The profile rows tell you which jobs a device can do; the codec row on the same spec sheet tells you which codecs the link can negotiate.
Figures on this page were checked October 2026. Every table row carries its source and access date.
The audio profile stack
Bluetooth profiles are the job descriptions of a Bluetooth audio device, and Sony's own spec-sheet footnote puts it plainly: profiles "indicate the purpose of Bluetooth communications between devices." Each profile in the stack takes one job.
| Profile | Current adopted version | Role in the audio chain | Source / as of |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2DP | 1.4.1 | Streams stereo media audio from a source (SRC) to a sink (SNK) | A2DP 1.4.1 spec page, 2026-10-13 |
| AVRCP | 1.6.3 | Carries remote-control commands for the media session | A/V Remote Control Profile 1.6.3 spec page, 2026-10-13 |
| HFP | 1.10 | Carries phone calls: the voice link plus remote control of the phone | Hands-Free Profile 1.10 spec page, 2026-10-13 |
| HSP | 1.2 | The legacy headset profile; no later version appears in the SIG specifications catalog | Headset Profile 1.2 spec page, 2026-10-13 |
The LE Audio generation carries its own profile set on the same SIG catalog, with the Basic Audio Profile and related specifications listed alongside these Classic profiles.
A2DP: the streaming profile
A2DP is the pipe every stereo Bluetooth link uses, and its specification contains the single most consequential rule in the stack: SBC is mandatory everywhere. The current adopted version is 1.4.1, version date 2025-06-30 on the specification document; the mandate wording below is quoted from 1.3.2, the version device spec sheets most commonly certify against, and 1.4.1 carries the same mandate with updated wording while its sampling table is unchanged.
| Field | Value | Source / as of |
|---|---|---|
| Codec mandate | "The A2DP mandates low complexity subband codec (SBC) to ensure the interoperability. The device shall implement a SBC encoder when the device is the SRC, and a SBC decoder when the device is the SNK." | A2DP 1.3.2, Section 4.2.1, 2026-10-13 |
| Optional codecs | "When both SRC and SNK support the same Optional codec, this codec may be used instead of Mandatory codec." | A2DP 1.3.2, Section 4.2.2, 2026-10-13 |
| Sink sampling rates | 44.1 and 48 kHz mandatory in sinks; 16 and 32 kHz optional | A2DP 1.3.2, Table 4.2 (identical in 1.4.1), 2026-10-13 |
The mandate wording is why every Bluetooth headphone, speaker and receiver that claims A2DP decodes SBC, and the optional-codec rule is why anything better depends on both ends. Our SBC codec profile carries the full bitpool ladder from the same specification.
AVRCP: the control channel
AVRCP rides alongside A2DP and does the control work: play, pause, track changes and metadata travel here. The SIG's current page lists it at version 1.6.3, Adopted, and defines the profile as the requirements for the Audio/Video Remote Control usage case, expressed as end-user services plus the features and procedures required for interoperability. Device spec sheets commonly sit one step behind: the JBL Tour One M2 quotes AVRCP 1.6.2, the version catalogued just before it.
HFP: the call channel
HFP is the phone-call profile, and its current specification reads "Hands-Free Profile 1.10" on the SIG page, Adopted, with a document version date of 2025-12-15. The specification defines the functions that let a Mobile Phone be used with a Hands-Free device, with a Bluetooth link providing both remote control of the phone and the voice connection between them. Device sheets often quote older rows: the JBL Tour One M2 lists HFP 1.7.2.
The legacy headset profile HSP rounds out the stack at version 1.2, Adopted, where the SIG page notes that "Errata Correction 23224 is mandatory when claiming compliance to Headset Profile 1.2." No later Headset Profile version appears in the SIG specifications catalog, and product pages such as Sony's WH-1000XM5 still list HSP among supported profiles.
What spec sheets pair together
| Device / platform | Profile row as printed | Source / as of |
|---|---|---|
| JBL Tour One M2 | "A2DP 1.3.2, AVRCP 1.6.2, HFP 1.7.2" | JBL product page spec table, 2026-09-23 |
| Sony WH-1000XM5 | A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, without version numbers; the page footnote defines profiles as indicating "the purpose of Bluetooth communications between devices" | Sony WH-1000XM5 specifications, 2026-10-13 |
| Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless | "Supported profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, GATT", all five in one row | Sennheiser product page data table, 2026-10-13 |
| Windows 11 22H2 | The OS-side Bluetooth support table lists "Advanced Audio Distribution Profile A2DP 1.3.2" | Microsoft Learn, 2026-09-22 |
The same profile can appear with a version number on one sheet and without one on the next. Both rows are data points: the versioned row records what the vendor certified against, and the unversioned row relies on the footnote to explain what the names mean.
Profiles versus codecs
Profiles and codecs answer different questions, and the A2DP text ties them together: the profile provides the negotiation procedure, and the optional-codec rule decides which codec actually runs. A spec sheet keeps the two answers in separate rows, which is visible on the same Sony WH-1000XM5 page that lists profiles A2DP, AVRCP, HFP and HSP and then lists supported codecs SBC, AAC and LDAC as its own row. Reading the profile row as a codec claim, or a radio version as either, is the mistake our version pages and Bluetooth multipoint page document from the spec-sheet side. For the codec rows themselves, the codec profiles in this section carry the numbers.
FAQ
The Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, the Bluetooth profile that streams stereo media audio from a source to a sink. Its specification makes SBC the one mandatory codec, an encoder in every source and a decoder in every sink, with optional codecs such as AAC, aptX or LDAC used when both ends support them. Our SBC codec profile page carries the mandate wording.
The Audio/Video Remote Control Profile, the control channel that rides alongside A2DP. Its specification defines the requirements for the Audio/Video Remote Control usage case, the features and procedures that let one device control media playback on another. The current adopted version is 1.6.3, and device spec sheets commonly quote 1.6.2.
Not by themselves. A profile version row describes the features and procedures a device implements; the codec that carries the audio is negotiated inside A2DP between the two ends. The rows on this page show the split: Sony prints profiles and codecs as separate lists, and JBL prints versioned profile rows with no codec line at all. The codec row, where a sheet has one, is the one to read.
Vendors certify products at different points and choose which profile versions to claim. The JBL Tour One M2 spec table reads "A2DP 1.3.2, AVRCP 1.6.2, HFP 1.7.2", while the current adopted HFP on the SIG catalog is 1.10. Both facts are true at once: the device row records what the vendor claimed, and the SIG page records the current specification.
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- Bluetooth SIG, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile 1.3.2 (A2DP): Section 4.2.1 "The A2DP mandates low complexity subband codec (SBC) to ensure the interoperability. The device shall implement a SBC encoder when the device is the SRC, and a SBC decoder when the device is the SNK."; Section 4.2.2 optional codec rule; Table 4.2 sampling frequencies. bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/advanced-audio-distribution-profile-1-3-2/ (spec PDF doc_id 457083), accessed 2026-09-22, re-checked by the fact-check pass
- Bluetooth SIG, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile 1.4.1 page (catalog slug advanced-audio-distribution-profile): version 1.4.1, status Adopted; spec PDF title block "Version: v1.4.1 / Version Date: 2025-06-30", 78 pages; the catalog also lists 1.4 (Adopted) and 1.3.2 (Adopted). bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/advanced-audio-distribution-profile/, accessed 2026-10-13
- Bluetooth SIG, A/V Remote Control Profile 1.6.3 page: version 1.6.3, status Adopted; summary sentence "This profile defines the requirements for Bluetooth® devices necessary for the support of the Audio/Video Remote Control usage case..."; bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/a-v-remote-control-profile1-6-3/, accessed 2026-10-13
- Bluetooth SIG, Hands-Free Profile 1.10 page: version 1.10, status Adopted; summary sentence on a Mobile Phone used with a Hands-Free device with remote control and voice connections; bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/hands-free-profile-1-10/; spec PDF Version Date 2025-12-15, 149 pages, accessed 2026-10-13
- Bluetooth SIG, Headset Profile 1.2 page: version 1.2, status Adopted; "Errata Correction 23224 is mandatory when claiming compliance to Headset Profile 1.2"; no later Headset Profile version appears in the SIG specifications catalog; bluetooth.com/specifications/specs/headset-profile-1-2/, accessed 2026-10-13
- Sony WH-1000XM5 Specifications (TP1000541014): Compatible Bluetooth profiles "A2DP AVRCP HFP HSP"; footnote: "Bluetooth standard profiles indicate the purpose of Bluetooth communications between devices"; Supported Codec: SBC AAC LDAC; helpguide.sony.net, accessed 2026-10-13
- JBL Tour One M2 product page (jbl.com/TOUR-ONE-M2.html) spec table: "A2DP 1.3.2, AVRCP 1.6.2, HFP 1.7.2"; rendered channel, accessed 2026-10-13
- Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless product page data table: "Supported profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, GATT" (single row); Shopify raw HTML channel, accessed 2026-10-13
- Microsoft Learn, General Bluetooth support in Windows: table row "Advanced Audio Distribution Profile A2DP 1.3.2"; learn.microsoft.com, accessed 2026-09-22