Comparison

Renesas SmartBond vs ST BLE Sensor Classic

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Renesas SmartBond

Features
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The SmartBond™ app from Renesas Electronics is a mobile application that works as a generic tool for interacting with Bluetooth® Low Energy devices. With the app you can scan for and connect to Bluetooth® Low Energy peripherals. Multiple connections and scan filtering are supported. You can also use the app in peripheral mode, so that other devices can scan for and connect to it. The app can act both as GATT client and GATT server. All GATT operations are supported. The app recognizes the Bluetooth® SIG adopted GATT objects, which are displayed with their proper names, their values are parsed and displayed as text, and, where supported, a custom write user interface is available. You can configure the GATT server and peripheral mode, either directly, or by cloning existing peripherals.

About

ST BLE Sensor Classic

This app connects to ST development boards via Bluetooth Low Energy to access sensor data. It allows logging data to cloud providers and updating board firmware directly from your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Access sensor data
  • Log data to cloud providers
  • Update board firmware
  • Discover board functionalities
  • Supports motion-sensor data fusion
  • Activity recognition
  • Pedometer functionality
Features
Read full description

The ST BLE Sensor Classic application is used in conjunction with an ST development board and firmware compatible with the BlueST protocol to give you access to all the sensor data, which you can log to different cloud providers, and to update the board firmware directly from a mobile device via the Bluetooth® Low Energy protocol. After discovery ST development board, the app shows you a list of available demos and you can navigate through them to discover the functionalities of your board. Demos can be related about environmental, cloud, audio, board configuration, machine learning and and many other functionalities. Cloud side, ST BLE Sensor can communicate with Microsoft Azure IoT Central, Aws IoT and ST Asset Tracking dashboard. The application is built on top of the BlueST SDK library implementing the BlueST protocol and helps you export the data easily via Bluetooth® Low Energy. The application also supports firmware library algorithms like motion-sensor data fusion, activity recognition and pedometer functionality. Both SDK and application source code are freely available at: https://github.com/STMicroelectronics

Screenshots

Renesas SmartBond4 screens
ST BLE Sensor Classic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ST BLE Sensor Classic at every 6 months against Renesas SmartBond's every 25 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Renesas SmartBond ships an update every 25 months, ST BLE Sensor Classic every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Renesas SmartBond versus ST BLE Sensor Classic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRenesas SmartBondST BLE Sensor Classic
PriceFreeFree
Rating—1.3 (3 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 25 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRenesas ElectronicsSTMicroelectronics

In-app purchases

None

Renesas SmartBond

No in-app purchases

None

ST BLE Sensor Classic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Renesas SmartBond free?
Renesas SmartBond is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ST BLE Sensor Classic free?
ST BLE Sensor Classic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Renesas SmartBond or ST BLE Sensor Classic have ads?
Neither Renesas SmartBond nor ST BLE Sensor Classic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Renesas SmartBond or ST BLE Sensor Classic?
Renesas SmartBond ships an update every 25 months, and ST BLE Sensor Classic every 6 months. Most recently, Renesas SmartBond was updated on November 7, 2026 and ST BLE Sensor Classic on November 3, 2026.

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