We are starting to see the first beacons and gateways that truly support Bluetooth 5 even though the standard was released in 2016. Up to recently, some have claimed to support Bluetooth 5 in that the internal hardware and software (SDK) was Bluetooth 5 capable but most, if not all, of the Bluetooth 5 features weren’t available.
Compatibility is dependent on smartphones supporting Bluetooth 5 that has also only come to fruition with recent phone models. Most Android smartphones manufactured in the last few years use Android 10 or Android 11 that has Bluetooth 5 software support. However, the Bluetooth chip inside the smartphone also needs to support Bluetooth 5. On iOS, all including and after iPhone 8/8 Plus/iPhone X support Bluetooth 5.
Furthermore, there’s also the complication that Smartphones claim to be Bluetooth 5 capable but might not support many of the optional features. One way to test which features are supported is to use the Nordic Semiconductor nRF Connect app. Here’s an example from the ‘Device Information’ section of the app running on a Pixel 3a XL:
Download the Bluetooth Core Specification Version 5.0 Feature Overview for explanation of these features.