bluetooth problems with ios 13

I'm having the same issue with the PLT M165. It started happening on the iPhone XS, and continued on the iPhone 11. The issue was iOS 13, as far as I can tell. Resolution from Apple would be wonderful.

I'm having the same problem, ever since iOS 13 came out all of my plantronics devices are having Bluetooth connection issues. In particular the M165 model. This was never a problem on any other iOS so it is clearly an apple operating software issue. Apple, what are you doing to address this? I have called in to address this with Apple but they don't seem to care to address the issues.

An update: I did a "Reset Network" and a "Reset All Settings" (annoying - tried to do a backup/restore, and then the restore failed with multiple tries so I had to manually put all the settings back). The BT connections to my Fitbit Charge 3 and Garmin Forerunner are working and steady, but not to the Plantronics PLT M165 which keeps dropping. However, if I connect the M165 and play a music playlist, it stays connected for the entire time (I listened to music several times, once more than an hour). I concluded that there is some sort of timeout that is occurring that is activity-based. If it is connected and there is an active transmission going on, it stays connected. Since my Fitbit and Garmin devices stay connected without issue, I'm thinking it is PLT M165 specific. I can't say whether it is the iPhone 11 or the M165 that is terminating the connection. I've emailed Plantronics support, will report what if anything they say. I may end up buying another brand of BT headset and see if the issue follows. Too bad because I like the M165.

Same here, iPhone XR running iOS 13.3. Using Plantronics 5200 headset. After searching the Internet, I’ve come to conclude that Plantronics Bluetooth devices are the problem. Other Bluetooth devices that I own do not have this problem, just a Plantronics devices. I use voice dictation a lot, and it will cut out and stop listening after any slight pause in talking. There is definitely a timeout issue. Apple says it’s not their problem, and Plantronics is hoping Apple fixes something. I am on two of these Bluetooth devices, and they’re not worth anything Jimmy right now. If Plantronics doesn’t push out a firmware update soon I will be looking for a new Bluetooth provider.

Plantronics was not able to help and as far as I can tell not really willing to investigate to find the root cause. They basically say they can't do anything anyway because there is no way to update firmware on the BT earpiece. The tech support person acknowledged that they have had multiple reports of this, but Plantronics thinks it is on Apple because it works on previos iOS/iPhone versions as well as Android. I pointed out to them that I have other BT devices that stay connected. I also pointed them to a Bluetooth "sniffer" product that can sniff packets between BT devices, but again no interest on their part. They also told me that the one that I have (date code Feb 2018) is the same as what is shipping today. That means there is no update and if you buy the M165 today you could have the same issue.

That being said, I have a workaround and an alternative for anyone interested. The workaround is that I found on iTunes a completely silent music track that you can download for $0.99. It's called "A a a a a Very Good Song (Silent Track)" by Samir Mezrahi, and it is just 10 minutes of silence. I created a playlist that plays it numerous times, giving me enough for about 3 hours. I can play that when I want the M165 to stay connected but not listen to music, like when I am driving and want to hear GPS directions or I'm waiting for a call.

The alternative is that I found a pretty inexpensive BT earpiece from a company called New Bee. The model number is LC-B41, on Amazon and with tax it was less than $19. I've had it for a couple of days and it doesn't drop. It's a little bit heavier and in some cases the sound quality is not as good but it's not bad at all - for under $20.

I have found the same issue with Plantronics. I just spoke yesterday with their technical support team. They told me the M165 was old bluetooth technology and they didn't seem to care or have anyway to fix this issue. After dealing with this problem for over six months I'm going to get rid off my M165s (I have 6) and try the LC-B41. Apple really should address this issue as the M165 has worked on all of my past phones without a problem. Apple doesn't seem to care either about fixing the issue.

I wouldn't expect Apple to do anything unless Plantronics begged and pleaded - not much of an impact to Apple either way. Since other BT devices work fine, it would look to them that Plantronics has an issue. Plantronics needs to debug this, propose the fix to Apple, and get in the next iOS update. I've told the Plantronics support person as much.

I tried a few options to try to replace the M165 model (which I loved). The best I found was the Plantronics Explorer 500 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010R496J4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It works great, is pretty inexpensive has an almost identical size/shape/profile as the M165, and doesn't have this Bluetooth connection issue. I think the M165 had BT 3.0, and the Explorer 500 has BT 4.0. I have to imagine that is the issue. Good luck!

If it’s just the BT version, why wouldn’t Plantronics just say so? Then we would at least have some guidance on how to choose a compatible product.

From what I read on the web, BT 5.0 (on iPhone 11) should be backward-compatible with previous versions of BT but you just don’t get the latest and greatest features.

Hi. I have the same issue with my 5200, not expecting any help with that. BUT I also have similar issue with my PowerBeats Pro and they are from Apple, under warranty. I have been in contact with apple a couple of times and most likely next step is to replace the headset, although my best guess is that this is a software/driver issue?

Same here. iPhone Connects with Bluetooth earpiece fine then times out/disconnects EXACTLY 10 minutes later. But only with my Plantronics Explorer 50. All other Bluetooth works fine. I communicated with the IT servicing Plantronics who obtained much info from me but after back and forth several times they advised that all of their testing was not able to locate any problems. The Plt-E50 is the only ear piece that I have been able to find with such good quality that fits comfortably. I use this for talking on the phone while busy working at home and was always able to connect when I left the house and always remained connected until I disconnected. I also had no problems ever with my iPhone 6, just since I switched about a month ago to the new iPhone 11. I did testing, exactly every 10 minutes it announces “no phone is connected”, I can manually reconnect thru both iPhone and earpiece, then exactly 10 minutes later it again announces “no phone is connected”. And it will not reconnected on it’s own. This is so frustrating and disappointing.

I'm having the exact same problem with my Plantronics Voyager 5200. This is extremely frustrating.

This was marked as solved and I am having the same issue. Can you tell me how it was resolved ?

I am having the same issue with that headset and iphone 7