Hp Laptop Cannot See Or Pair With External Bluetooth Devices

Windows 10 22H2 build 19045.3208
Laptop HP 17-BY1053DX [purchased Nov 2019]
Realtek 4.2 Bluetooth Adapter

I want to pair my laptop with either my Android phone or an external Bluetooth speaker. I am able to pair my Android phone with the speaker but cannot pair the laptop with either the phone or speaker.

Although the laptop is 4 years old, I never tested its Bluetooth capability until recently. I neglected to try the Bluetooth capability when the laptop was under warranty.

Here is what I tried:
(0.1) Ensure that Android phone & external speaker are in pairing mode and are not paired with any other devices.
(0.2) Ensure that all Bluetooth device drivers are up to date
(1) Turned Bluetooth off & on several times in Settings, and rebooted
(2) Clicked on "Add Bluetooth or other device".
(3) In the "Add a Device" window I clicked on "Bluetooth".
(4) In the next window I can see that the laptop is searching for a Bluetooth device but finds nothing -- neither the speaker or the phone. And on the phone the Bluetooth screen does not show the laptop. Thus am unable to pair with an external device.
(5) Tried running the Windows Troubleshooter for Bluetooth. The troubleshooter indicated it fixed something (although there were no details as to what it fixed). However still cannot pair.

Could this be a hardware problem??

Please educate me as to how to fix.

Thank you.

 

Does the laptop show as an available device on the phone? If not, and bluetooth on both is on and their drivers are up to date, you have to suspect a hardware problem. You could try a USB bluetooth adapter.

 

It's not a BT5.0 device? Just ran into that and had to get a new 5.0 dongle for some earbuds.
Also, by updated drivers, are you using the manufactures' or MS?