BAD NEWS UPDATE. This only helped a bit for A day or so. Sent phone to Samsung today for repair.
This is a transcript of the support that resolved my weak bluetooth issue:
Weak Bluetooth problem started October 31
Samsung Support Website
Please wait for a Samsung Agent to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Sunil G'. There will be a brief survey at the end of our chat to share feedback on my performance today.
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK...
Sunil G: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?
Dwight: My Note 5 suddenly has weak bluetooth. I got my Note 5 on October 11 and weak bluetooth problem stuck on October 31. My headset connection breaks up when I put my phone in a pouch on my belt. This is the same with two different headsets. My Pebble is frequently losing connection too.
Sunil G: I am sorry to read that your device experiencing issues with Bluetooth.
Sunil G: That must be really inconvenient for you to have issues with your new device.
Sunil G: I would be glad to look into this for you.
Sunil G: May I ask a few questions to assist you better?
Dwight: Yes
Sunil G: May I know the model number of your device? You can find the model number from Settings>>About device>> Model number.
Dwight: Model number: SM-N920T
Sunil G: Thank you.
Sunil G: How long have you been experiencing this issue?
Dwight: Two days now. Started October 11
Sunil G: Okay, are you experiencing this issue after installing any application from PlayStore?
Dwight: I've got several dozen applications installed. Not sure which ones in the past couple of days.
Sunil G: Okay, has your device ever exposed to any sort of damage(Physical or Liquid)?
Dwight: No
Sunil G: Have you tried performing any troubleshooting steps? If so please let me know so that we can skip them now and perform a few more.
Dwight: I have rebooted the phone several times. I uninstalled and reinstalled the Pebble (watch) application because I was having trouble reestablishing the bluetooth connection.
Sunil G: Thank you for the information.
Sunil G: Let us try a few troubleshooting steps and check for the result.
Dwight: Cool
Sunil G: I will share the steps to boot the device in safe mode. Performing safe mode will temporarily block downloaded/third party applications.
Dwight: OK
Sunil G: 1. Power off the device.
Sunil G: 2. Press and hold the Power/Lock key for one or two seconds to turn on the device.
Sunil G: 3. When the Samsung logo displays, press and hold the Volume down key until the lock screen displays.
Sunil G: 4. When the Lock screen is displayed, Safe mode is displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen.
Sunil G: Please keep me posted, Dwight.
Dwight: OK, It now says safe mode
Sunil G: Please try to check for the issue by connecting your device to other Bluetooth device.
Dwight: Getting a lot of unfortunately ... has stopped. Google play, etc.
Sunil G: Just to confirm, have you updated your device software recently?
Dwight: OK, have music playing to my bluetooth headset.
Sunil G: Okay, are you able to play music earlier?
Dwight: No system updates for several days.
Sunil G: Okay, may I know the Baseband version of your device? So that I can check if your device is up to date or any update available. You can find the Baseband version from Settings>> About device>> Baseband version.
Dwight: Yes. It still seems about the same. When I put my phone in my belt, the music breaks up.
Dwight: Baseband version: N020TUVU2C015
Sunil G: Thank you.
Sunil G: I see that your device software is up to date.
Sunil G: Please try the below instructions and check for the result.
Sunil G: These steps will refresh the applications and will not delete any user application data.
Dwight: OK
Sunil G: Home screen>>Settings>>More>>Application manager>>All>>Bluetooth. Tap on clear data.
Dwight: Done
Dwight: Headset stopped for a bit. Working again.
Sunil G: Great!! Please restart the device and check for the issue now.
Dwight: OK
Dwight: Restarting
Sunil G: Great!!
Dwight: Got sound to headset going.
Sunil G: Is your device working fine now?
Dwight: Seems to be working fine.
Sunil G: Perfect!!
Dwight: Yea!
Dwight: Thank you very much.
Sunil G: You're welcome. Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Dwight: no,thanks
Sunil G: We thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support, we appreciate your business. Please click on the blue ‘X’ button on the top right corner of your screen to proceed to the survey. Have a great day!
Sunil G: Take care!! Bye!!