RFID Basics | How RFID Item Material Correlates to RFID Read Range

Suzanne Smiley | Jul 28, 2023 | min read

RFID Item Material & RFID Read Range

Welcome to this quick video where we show how important RFID tag type and item material are to a successful RFID application.

Today we will be using:

Both sets of tags are metal-mount RFID tags and are designed for metal objects.

Initial Setup

I’ve placed the Xerafy Dot XS tags on our materials - one is a 12 by 12 piece of acrylic plastic and the other is a 12 by 12 piece of metal, specifically aluminum. Here’s our Dot XS on our plastic sheet up close, I have placed these tags on the sheets with a reusable double-sided sticker.

Reading the Xerafy Dot XS UHF RFID Tags

Now I’ll try to read this Dot XS on plastic. As you can see, I have to almost touch the tag with the RFID antenna in order to read it. I’m barely able to receive half of an inch of read range. Now, here’s our Dot XS on our metal sheet up close, I’ll try to read it. As you can see, I get a lot more read range - probably about 2 - 3 inches, I’d say 2 and a half inches.

Reading the Omni ID Fit 400 UHF RFID Tag

Now, let’s try our other metal mount tag, the Omni-ID Fit 400 High-Temperature tag. I’ll just swap them out really quickly.

Now, let’s try to read this Fit 400 on our plastic sheet. As you can see, it’s pretty similar to the Dot XS, at most we can get about an inch, but we have to touch it to get constant reads. Let’s jump to the Fit 400 on the metal sheet. As you can see it’s able to get much more read distance, I slowly am able to pull back the reader from about 2 inches to about 4 to 5 inches in read distance.

Experiment Results

Xerafy Dot XS

Received Read Distance:

On Plastic - Touch to 0.5"

On Metal - 2-3"

Omni-ID Fit 400 (HT)

Received Read Distance:

On Plastic - Touch to 0.5"

On Metal - 4-5"

As you can see from this quick experiment, metal-mount tags work much better when applied to metal objects rather than other materials. This is due to the way that the Tag's antenna is specifically tuned for metal.

Conclusion

Thanks so much for joining us for this super quick video about metal-mount RFID tags. Remember to like this video and subscribe to our channel for more RFID videos just like this one.

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