How to Connect External NFC Card Reader to Tablet

Question

Right now I am having Tablet having OS Android 2.3.3 instead of NFC phone,so I need to connect External card reader to tablet.Please tell me which card reader should I prefe

Answer 1

This is a good topic. I echo RacZo's concerns about NFC library support in the Alibaba sourced tablets. Since NFC chipsets in devices vary and some have dubious or no support for certain operations, you need to be careful and test out your app on those beforehand.

The ACS reader can be a cost effective solution, and there are some mature and well supported libraries and SDKs that support its integration with Android. The downside of the ACS external reader is battery life. Because it monopolizes the the USB port, and Android tablets won't allow charging through a USB port while a peripheral is connected to it. So if your application is some kind of kiosk or self serve app, this may be a problem.

There is a good post here about your various options when faced with this challenge. Without knowing more about your application it's tough to recommend one way or another.