Thinking Which NFC Tag Type is Best for Your Product?

It takes the right NFC tag type to meet all your goals. So before you start buying NFC tags, you need to know which type is the most suitable one for your product. Where do you start? Here are some things to keep in mind to help you make the best decision:

Compatibility is the key

NFC tags are passive, which basically means that they don’t have any power source. They will only function when an NFC-enabled device reads them. According to the latest statistics, the majority of NFC-enabled devices are smartphones. So if you are integrating NFC technology into your products, you need to select an NFC tag type that can be read by smartphones.

If you need the NFC tags to be compatible with all NFC-enabled smartphones as well as tablets, then choose an NTAG chip. If it doesn’t have to be compatible with all devices, you can consider Mifare Classic 1k and Ultralight.

Consider memory capacity

NTAG chips come in different types, namely,  NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216. These types vary in many ways but you can easily classify them according to their memory capacity. It is important to consider memory capacity, especially if you are going to write long URLs or include a lot of data.  NTAG213 has the smallest user memory, having only 144 bytes.

NTAG216 has the biggest user memory with 888 bytes. This makes it a great choice for business cards. Ultralight also has small memory storage, which is 46 bytes. Like NTAG210, it is only recommended for short links or for short text strings.

See if you need password protection

Certain NFC tag types have password protection. This feature will essentially restrict access. If the stickers are going to be accessed by the general public, it might be a good idea to protect them so that hackers can’t change their content.