Many who are about to purchase an implant wonder if there are differences between an NFC and RFID implant. Yes – what differences, let’s briefly illustrate with two comparisons. To anticipate somewhat, we can state that an NFC is always an RFID implant. However, an RFID implant does not necessarily have to be an NFC implant. RFID pronounced “radio-frequency identification” (RFID). The term RFID doesn’t say much more than that, and it can be understood as an umbrella term, since it is quite a versatile technology. Essentially, the techniques differ in terms of storage volume, manufacturing process, cost, frequency range, and read range.
Umbrella term RFID implant (radio-frequency identification)
RFID describes the technology and can be interpreted as a superordinate term. However, the label RFID often refers to 124 kHz and 135 kHz technology. However, an NFC variant with the same labeling is also possible, so that an RFID implant with 13.56 MHz is an RFID implant with NFC specification.
NFC as a specification
The addition of NFC ensures that this implant uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz and is compatible with the Android smartphone. There is more information on the differences with NFC in this article.
Which frequency do I choose?
If you want to store small data and interact with the smartphone, the 13.56 MHz NFC variant is the better one. If you can do without these functions and only want to authenticate yourself with the implant to perform a Windows login or have a security system that only supports the 125 kHz frequency, this implant can be an alternative. Note that you will then also need a corresponding reader to perform a Windows login. With an NFC implant, this NFC reader can be used.
NFC implant
Advantages
- Smartphone compatible
- Writable without PC
- Future-oriented
- More possibilities of use
Disadvantages
- Additional components are still comparatively expensive
RFID implant
Advantages
- Favorable additional component
- Even higher penetration for door locks
Disadvantages
- Not smartphone compatible
- Only describable with expensive hardware
- Threatened with extinction
- Limited possibilities
