As we know, RFID cards and NFC technology are now widely used in various fields. It’s easy to get confused when choosing between them. Today, I will briefly introduce the differences between the two, hoping it will be helpful for you.
First of all is the working frequency. RFID cards mainly work at low, high or ultra high frequency bands, with different read range at different frequencies. While NFC has a single working frequency of 13.56MHz, which is the same as most high frequency RFID cards.
Secondly, their read and write distances also differ. Due to frequency limitations, the working distance of NFC is only about 2 centimeters. RFID cards can have read ranges from a few millimeters to a few meters depending on the chosen frequency. Many libraries use RFID readers with longer read range for book lending and returning.
In terms of data transmission rate, RFID also has an advantage. HF RFID usually ranges from a few kbps to tens of kbps, while UHF RFID can reach the Mbps level. The maximum speed of NFC is just over 400kbps. So NFC is not suitable for transferring large amounts of data.
In terms of power consumption and cost, since NFC chips are more complex in function, their power consumption and costs are much higher than ordinary RFID tags. RFID tags, especially passive ones, can cost just a few cents per piece, which is very economical.
In summary, NFC is more like a branch derived from RFID technology for short-range communication between smart devices. It leverages many advantages of RFID, and has additional extended capabilities. The two technologies are highly complementary and bring great convenience to our work and life.