The five NFC Forum tag types explained
Type 2, Type 5, Type 4... These mentions appear on every NFC tag datasheet, and for good reason: they designate the five tag families defined by the NFC Forum, the organization that standardizes the technology. These types explain why some tags can be read from several meters away and others from a few centimeters, or why some cost a few cents while others embed bank-card-grade cryptography. This article goes through the five types and what they concretely change for your projects.
Why five types rather than one?
NFC did not appear out of nowhere: the technology brought together standards that already existed, each with its chips, its readers and its deployed fleets. Rather than replacing them with a single format, the NFC Forum defined tag types, each corresponding to an existing radio technology and command set, with one common rule: all of them carry the same data format, NDEF (covered in a dedicated article). Any NFC smartphone can read all five types: the chip changes, the message stays the same. Each type nevertheless keeps traits inherited from its origins.
Type 1: pioneering simplicity
Type 1 is the oldest of the five. Carried by the Topaz line from the British company Innovision (acquired by Broadcom in 2010), it relies on NFC-A technology (ISO/IEC 14443A) with a very simple protocol: 8-byte blocks, a 106 kbit/s data rate, a minimal command set and no anticollision, which means a single tag at a time in the reader's field. Everything was designed to keep the cost as low as possible, and the Topaz 512 (480 user bytes) was the large memory of its time. The line was eventually discontinued: today, Type 1 survives in existing stocks and deployed fleets.
Type 2: for consumer tags
Type 2 is the one you handle every day without knowing it. Also built on NFC-A technology, it organizes its memory in 4-byte blocks, handles anticollision and communicates at 106 kbit/s. Simple, cheap and universal, it became the de facto standard for consumer tags: NXP's NTAG213, 215 and 216 are its best-known representatives, alongside the MIFARE Ultralight and, on the STMicroelectronics side, the ST25TN family. Capacities range from 48 to 888 bytes, and features vary from chip to chip: dynamic mirrors, counters, passwords, authenticity signatures. For a sticker, a business card or a poster, it is the default choice.
Type 3: Japan at high speed
Type 3 is the format of Sony's FeliCa technology (ISO/IEC 18092, NFC-F), the one behind contactless transit and payments in Japan. Its distinctive traits: large 16-byte blocks, a flat structure, and 212 and 424 kbit/s data rates (the speed that Japanese transit gates are known for). On the tag side, its representative is the FeliCa Lite-S (224 bytes, MAC-based authentication). Outside the FeliCa ecosystem, Type 3 remains rare; inside it, it is everywhere.
Type 4: the smart card
Type 4 plays in a different league: it relies on the full ISO/IEC 14443-4 protocol (in A and B variants) and communicates through APDU commands, the same ones used by smart cards (ISO/IEC 7816-4). The NDEF message is stored in actual files, and security steps up: AES cryptography, mutual authentication, signed dynamic messages. This is where you find the MIFARE DESFire (EV1, EV2, EV3), the NTAG 413 and 424 DNA (with their SUN signed URLs) and the ST25TA family. Data rates up to 848 kbit/s, large memories, certifications: Type 4 equips product authentication, ticketing and every application that requires proof.
Type 5: the long range
Type 5 is the most recent, added by the NFC Forum in 2015 to integrate NFC-V technology (ISO/IEC 15693), that of the so-called vicinity cards. Its strong point is range: with a dedicated RFID reader, these tags can be read from several tens of centimeters, sometimes more, which explains their presence in libraries, industry, logistics and healthcare. A smartphone, on the other hand, reads them from a few centimeters like any other tag. NXP's ICODE SLIX and SLIX2, STMicroelectronics' ST25TV family and the EM4237 from the Swiss manufacturer EM Microelectronic share this segment, with memories from 64 bytes to several kilobytes and features designed for inventory (EAS anti-theft, AFI, privacy modes).
What about chips outside the types?
Some well-known chips belong to no NFC Forum type: the MIFARE Classic and MIFARE Plus (NXP proprietary protocol over NFC-A) or the ST25TB (proprietary ISO 14443B) are the textbook examples. They work perfectly within their own systems (badges, transit, closed-loop wallets), but reading them with a smartphone depends on the device's NFC controller: on iPhone in particular, the MIFARE Classic requires the "compatibility" option of NFC Tools and a manual scan. Before buying in volume, always check the chip's NFC Forum type: it is the best guarantee of universality.
Which type should you choose for your projects?
The short version: Type 2 is the default choice for consumer tags (price, choice, total compatibility); Type 5 takes over as soon as range or industrial environments come into play; Type 4 as soon as security becomes serious (authentication, anti-counterfeiting); Type 3 dominates the Japanese ecosystem; and Type 1 is for collectors. With the NFC Tools app, you read and write all five types without having to think about it: natively on Android, and on iPhone from the iPhone 7 on iOS 15.6 or later (automatic background reading being available from the iPhone XS and XR onwards). The type is the chip's concern: the message speaks NDEF everywhere.
