User experience with external antennas

The user experience when someone taps a phone or card, is the ultimate test of system performance. Even a well-designed antenna may yield poor results if end users are not led to present a phone or card at the optimal location or orientation for the antenna field.

The location of the NFC antenna in smartphones varies by device type and manufacturer, and this directly affects how users should position their phone relative to the external antenna.

• iPhones typically have the NFC antenna located near the top edge on the back of the phone. For reliable and fast detection, users should be guided to tap the top of the iPhone against the reader. Apple has strict requirements for marking the tap location at the strongest field area, to ensure good user experience.

• Android phones can vary significantly. Many models have the NFC antenna located around the central area of the back panel, though this is not standardised. We recommend that customers test with several Android makes and models popular in their region, to determine the most responsive contact zone.

For cards and tags, it is recommended that you test the system in its final housing with all of the different types of cards and tags that will be used in your application.

The physical orientation of the external antenna has a significant effect on performance:

• For desktop mountings, we find a horizontal antenna orientation often works best for card placement and a flat tap interactions with phones.

• For vertical mountings, we recommend that you align the antenna face with the typical approach angle of a phone or card.

Taking these user experience factors into account will not only optimise technical performance, but the resulting faster, more consistent reads, create a more intuitive and reliable system in real‑world operation.