Comparison

ST BLE Sensor vs Renesas SmartBond

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

Head to head
About

ST BLE Sensor

This app connects to ST development boards via Bluetooth Low Energy to access sensor data. You can log data to cloud providers, update board firmware, and explore various demo functionalities like environmental sensing and machine learning.

Highlights
  • Access sensor data
  • Log data to cloud
  • Update board firmware
  • Explore demo functionalities
  • Bluetooth Low Energy communication
  • Motion-sensor data fusion
Features
Read full description

The ST BLE Sensor 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. 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

About

Renesas SmartBond

Features
Read full description

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.

Screenshots

ST BLE Sensor4 screens
Renesas SmartBond4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ST BLE Sensor at every 2 months against Renesas SmartBond's every 25 months. Renesas SmartBond's advantage is iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.0). 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

ST BLE Sensor ships an update every 2 months, Renesas SmartBond every 25 months. The most recent releases landed on June 19, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ST BLE Sensor versus Renesas SmartBond: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterST BLE SensorRenesas SmartBond
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 25 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSTMicroelectronics International N.V.Renesas Electronics

In-app purchases

None

ST BLE Sensor

No in-app purchases

None

Renesas SmartBond

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ST BLE Sensor free?
ST BLE Sensor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Renesas SmartBond free?
Renesas SmartBond is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ST BLE Sensor or Renesas SmartBond have ads?
Neither ST BLE Sensor nor Renesas SmartBond shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ST BLE Sensor or Renesas SmartBond?
ST BLE Sensor ships an update every 2 months, and Renesas SmartBond every 25 months. Most recently, ST BLE Sensor was updated on June 19, 2026 and Renesas SmartBond on September 13, 2026.

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