NTAG203 vs. NTAG212
These two chips, the NTAG203 and the NTAG212 are from the same NTAG family of chips. They are both manufactured by NXP.
The NTAG203 was the first of the NTAG series of chips from NXP released in 2011. The previous generation to the current NTAG series of chips.
The NTAG203 is no longer in production and we very, very strongly recommend that you do not purchase any tags using this chip. They are either very old or non-genuine NXP chips.
The NTAG212 chip was launched in 2013 alongside the NTAG210, NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216. The NTAG212 holds a similar amount of memory to the NTAG213 at 128 user bytes and while it has some more features than the original NTAG203 chip, it's not as full featured as the NTAG213, NTAG215 or NTAG216.
Seritag's recommendation on the NTAG212 : avoid.
Both these chips have a strong ScanStrength and will work very well with mobile phones.
Key Features
Key Specifications
| Brand | NXP |
| Chip Series | NTAG |
| NFC Forum | Type 2 |
| Availability | |
| ScanStrength | High |
| Brand | NXP |
| Chip Series | NTAG |
| NFC Forum | Type 2 |
| Availability | Low |
| ScanStrength | High |
Phone compatibility
Typical Use Cases
- Marketing & Advertising
- Vouchers
- Bluetooth Pairing
- GS1 EPC/RFID
- Object Identification
- Product Information
- PLCR
- None
User Features
| NTAG203 | NTAG212 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total memory (bytes) | 168 | 164 |
| User memory (bytes) | 144 | 128 |
| Max URL (chars) | 136 | 120 |
| UID (bytes) | 7 | 7 |
| ECC signature | - | |
| 32-bit password | - | |
| UID ASCII mirror | - | |
| Scan Counter | - | - |
| Counter ASCII mirror | - | - |
| Lockable |
Technical Specifications
| NTAG203 | NTAG212 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chip thickness | 120 µm | 75 µm / 120 µm |
| NFC Forum | Type 2 | Type 2 |
| Operating Freq. | 13.56Mhz | 13.56Mhz |
| Data Trans. Rate | 106 kbit/s | 106 kbit/s |
| Input Capacitance | 50pf | 17pf |
| Fast read | - | |
| Data retention (years) | 5 | 10 |
| Write endurance (cycles) | 10000 | 100000 |
| Anticollision | - | - |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 14443 A | ISO/IEC 14443 A |
| Release date | 2011 | 2013 |
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