BLE vs nRF Mesh
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BLE
This utility tool assists developers in creating and maintaining Bluetooth Low Energy products. It enables connection establishment, monitoring, and configuration for RF testing of BLE devices. Log files can be shared for further analysis.
- Connect to BLE devices
- Monitor connections
- Configure connection parameters
- Start/stop test mode
- Share log files
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This tool is intended to support developers in their work to develop and maintain Bluetooth Low Energy products. BleRf Test can measure the quality of an RF link in both direction for any product implementing the BLE service for RF test. Features: - establish a connection to a BLE device - monitor said connection - share log files with other smartphone apps This app is only intended to support the development of BLE devices.
nRF Mesh
Easily deploy and manage Bluetooth Mesh networks. Control individual nodes, configure network settings, and update device firmware remotely. Supports a wide range of BLE devices compatible with Bluetooth Mesh.
- Node provisioning and identification
- Remote provisioning capabilities
- Network and application key configuration
- Node control via various server models
- Device firmware updates
- Granular control over publication data and subscriptions
- Explore node capabilities and security settings
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nRF Mesh allows you to easily deploy nodes to any Bluetooth Mesh compatible Nodes, giving you flexibility to deploy many different Mesh network Setups. Features: • Identifying: Identify a node before provisioning it. • Provisioning: Deployment of a new Node is as simple as a press of a button. All Out-Of-Band (OOB) methods are supported. • Remote Provisioning: Allows provisioning Nodes that are too faw to reach them directly. • Configuration: Create Network and Application keys or use the randomly generated ones, subscribe to groups and setup your nodes for publishing. • Node Control: Control nodes with Generic OnOff Server, Generic Level Server, Generic OnPowerUp Server, Scene Server and many other models. • Device Firmware Update: Quickly send a new firmware to the Distributor and observe it slowly distributing it to all the nodes. Additionally, you may also run the following configuration commands on your network: • Fully control node publication data. All publication parameters are configurable. • Add/Remove one or more subscription addresses on a model. • Create own AppKeys, or generate them using the builtin crypto-safe generator. • Bind/unbind an Application Key to a specific model for full granular control of your networks' security. • Explore the nodes' capabilities to view all elements, models, provisioning time and date, Manufacturer and available vendor data. • Set the Default TTL on a per-node basis. • Manage global AppKey list on a node. • And much more... Hardware support: - This version of the app is capable of communicating with any BLE devices that speak Bluetooth Mesh! - We recommend nRF5 devices with our nRF SDK for Mesh or nRF Connect SDK.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: nRF Mesh at 4.0 against BLE's 3.0. nRF Mesh also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 64 months) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
nRF Mesh holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.
BLE ships an update every 64 months, nRF Mesh every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BLE | nRF Mesh |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 64 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arendi AG | Nordic Semiconductor ASA |
Customer experience
BLE
nRF Mesh
In-app purchases
BLE
No in-app purchases
nRF Mesh
No in-app purchases
