What is NFC in a Xiaomi smartphone: all about the functions and capabilities of the module

Technology capabilities

Near Field Communication (as the abbreviation stands) or NFC module is a wireless data exchange technology based on the old smart card standard. This connection works within a small radius (5-10 cm). Contactless or smart cards are plastic travel cards familiar to most people, which are applied to the turnstile in the metro. The principle of operation of the chip in a smartphone is the same, only the receiver and transmitter are combined.

What opportunities does the “NFC Support” inscription on the box with the Xiaomi gadget give the user:

1. Electronic money. Apple and Android Pay technologies are widespread. The smartphone is brought to the POS terminal in the store, and the banking information is read by the receiver from the phone. Smart watches and tablets are also used for this purpose.
2. Using a phone instead of a smart card. For example, paying for travel on public transport. Instead of a plastic travel card, a telephone equipped with an appropriate chip is brought to the turnstile. Such expansion of infrastructure has not yet become widespread in the CIS countries.
3. Establishing a connection between two mobile devices. You can quickly pair two smartphones via Bluetooth, skipping the search and mutual authentication steps.
4. Near field communication is used for file transfer. The speed and width of the channel, however, are small, as is the range. The Android Beam function is used.
5. Reading information from radio frequency tags. In Western countries, they are installed on bulletin boards and contain additional information. RFID tags are common as a means of preventing theft in supermarkets. These are stickers with a conductive track applied in the form of a spiral. You can program such tags yourself and then read information from them. For example, the phone turns on silent mode when you bring the device to an RFID sticker.

Contactless payment from Apple and Google is available in Russia. The remaining features are not yet in demand or are being tested.

Xiaomi Mi Watch: Design

I cannot call the Xiaomi Mi Watch a completely unique device; the watch is a complete copy of the Apple Watch 5.

The first thing that catches your eye is the thick body of the Xiaomi Mi Watch, it really looks unattractive, and its size can be a problem for many users.

The body is made of aluminum alloy and I have no particular complaints or complaints about the build quality. Except for one thing, the bottom power button is very tight and a little wobbly, maybe this is a purely isolated case and my watch is defective? I can't say for sure.

The weight of the smart watch is quite small, only 44 grams; apart from its large dimensions and thickness, I almost didn’t feel the watch on my wrist.

On the front of the watch there is a square screen measuring 1.78 inches. The frames around the screen are quite large, but given the thickness of the case, this is not so noticeable.

The screen quality is good and so is the pixel density as the screen resolution is 368 x 448 pixels. According to the manufacturer, the square screen is much more convenient to use, for example, watching videos or watching stories on social networks. Since this is an AMOLED screen, you can set the Always-on screen function in the settings.

On the back of the smartwatch there are contacts for charging and tracking sensors for determining heart rate, sleep and much more.

On the side right side there is one multifunction button and a wheel for turning pages or adjusting the volume when listening to music. There is also a hole for a microphone here.

On the left side of the Mi Watch there is a main speaker and another additional microphone for noise reduction.

Naturally, microphones are there for a reason; the new smartwatches have the ability to make calls via an e-SIM card. I know that in many countries this SIM card is not used, so I do not yet have the opportunity to check telephone conversations.

The strap is removable and made of pleasant fluorine rubber. The strap dimensions are standard – 22 mm, so replacing it with any other option will not be a problem.

After what I saw, I cannot say that Xiaomi is a revolutionary. They couldn't come up with their own design and make the watch look prettier? I am very ashamed of this model and I hope that the next generation of smartwatches will be unique and not a copy of the Apple Watch.

Models with NFC module

Let's look at Xiaomi smartphones from 2016-2018. The table below shows the names of the models, which devices support Near Field Communication, as well as the main parameters - memory capacity in gigabytes (RAM and flash), technology and display diagonal, battery capacity in milliamp-hours.

Xiaomi Mi Watch: Interface and features

The smartwatch has received an all-new MIUI for Watch user interface, which is the basis of Android.

At the moment, as I already wrote, I have the Chinese version of the device, so almost all the menus and widgets are in Chinese. Although the menu can be set to English and some elements will be translated, such as menu settings and a couple more.

The main screen has an informative watch face with a lot of useful information, such as time, date, day of the week, steps taken, heart rate and many other information.

Also, if you hold your finger on the main screen for a couple of seconds, you will be taken to the menu for changing the dial design to another.

You can also use the mobile app to set more watch face themes.

If you swipe down, you will see the notification menu and here you can clear everything, if necessary.

If you swipe up, you will be taken to the quick settings menu, at the top of the menu I see icons for NFC, SIM, Bluetooth and battery level. Below there is a music player section and even lower, already familiar icons, such as do not disturb mode, airplane mode, volume level, brightness and energy saving mode.

On the left side of the home screen, I see some widgets such as weather, mentions, and calendar. And to the right of the main screen there are more additional widgets, such as an analysis of the steps taken per day and much more. Also, if you hold it for a couple of seconds, you can add or remove widgets.

Of course, at the moment almost all widgets are in Chinese, but if you had devices from Amazfit companies, then the control structure is very similar.

If you click on the wheel, you get to the main menu, here I see the following icons, like calls, contacts, messages, fitness training, heart rate, sleep, alarm clock, stopwatch and much more. Naturally, I see a lot of Chinese applications, but they can be removed without any problems.

To be honest, for me the user interface looks very old-fashioned, if you compare it with the Apple Watch with chaotic icons, then the Xiaomi Mi Watch has a bad interface.

In addition, I found a music player and FM radio. The radio receiver is already built into the smartwatch, I don’t know who will need it, but it is there. The sound quality through the main speaker is pretty good, but to be honest it is a little quiet, I would like the level to be louder.

In the application menu, I found maps, they are also in Chinese, but they work and show your location. Thanks to the large screen, I can easily read directions and street names.

What about sports training? Everything is standard here, I counted 10 workouts in total, ranging from running to swimming. Yes, yes, the manufacturer indicates that the watch is completely protected from water and you can dive to a depth of 50 meters.

The main feature of this model of Xiaomi Mi Watch is that you can install third-party applications. But in this version there is no play market, and applications can only be installed through the Chinese store. I hope the global version will be available in Google Market.

How to set up data transfer and payments

The principle is the same on all Xiaomi phones.

1. Go to Settings via a shortcut on the desktop or a button from the curtain.
2. Select the “More” item.
3. We turn on the NFC chip. Below we enable Android Beam if it is not activated automatically.
4. Open the file we want to share, for example a photo. On the second device, which will be the recipient, the screen needs to be unlocked.
5. We put two phones next to each other, no matter how. A transmission confirmation window will appear. We agree to send the file. Ready.

Payment using a smartphone is available in stores with a POS terminal. The setup is as follows.

1. Prerequisites: root access is disabled, the firmware is standard official, the bootloader is locked. Otherwise, payments will not work, which is dictated by security requirements.
2. Go to “Settings” - “More” - “NFC” - “Security element location”. Select the item “Use HCE Wallet”. By default, Integrated Security Element is selected. The NFC module itself also needs to be turned on.
3. Download the official Android Pay application from the Play Market.
4. When you first start it, you will be asked to link a bank card. To do this, enter the number, expiration date and CVV code, as well as the owner’s home address. If a card has already been linked to, for example, Google Play Music, then you can select it.
5. The Android Pay application should be set to autoload and select the “No restrictions” energy saving mode for it.
6. Bring your unlocked smartphone to the terminal. After a couple of seconds, a payment message will appear.

What is the NFC function in a Xiaomi phone: how does the chip work?

NFC is an innovative technology capability for contactless communication. Thanks to this option, it is possible to transfer information between two devices; these gadgets must have NFC modules and be at a distance of up to ten centimeters from each other.

However, not all smartphone manufacturers equip their models with such a chip, even despite the increasing popularity of this technology. Basically, the NFC function is missing on budget smartphones. If we consider Xiaomi's telephone inventions in this regard, we will notice that only flagship models have NFC filling. But this trend is also visible among other companies producing mobile units.

NFC functionality includes three of the most popular areas of use in current generation phones:

• Imitation of plastic and bank cards;
• P2P mode;
• reading function.

In the first case, the mobile device “pretends” to be a bank card, allowing its owner to pay at a terminal that supports this payment method.

P2P (Phone-to-Phone) mode allows you to transfer information from one phone to another, and in reading mode, the device recognizes markings on which a Wi-Fi password or other data for a smartphone can be written.

For example, after the device has read the tag, the settings on the phone can be automatically changed.

Contactless payment on Android using a phone module

You can make payments via Android Pay everywhere, the main condition is the availability of terminals and cards that support PayPass, PayWave. Using a smartphone, you can pay with one touch at many retail outlets and networks; you must first install a special application on your mobile phone.

To make a payment through the Android Pay application, you just need to bring your mobile device closer to the payment terminal for a few seconds. If the payment transaction is completed correctly, the terminal will notify “Approved” with a signal on the monitor.

Having analyzed the state of the bank settings, the terminal system can issue a request with the introduction of a special PIN code.

REFERENCE. When making such payments for an amount of more than a thousand rubles, Sberbank requests such a PIN.

Properties of the Android Pay system carried out using the contactless method:

1. Such a system allows you to make three payments in a row for an amount of up to one thousand rubles each; after three operations you will need to unlock the phone using a fingerprint or graphic code;
2. It is possible to pull up more than one plastic card (in this case, the user needs to select one card as the main one for payments by default);
3. Android Pay makes it possible to make payments in various applications and on websites via Google Chrome (services available in Uber, OneTwoTrip, Rambler Cash Desk, Kinokhod, Ozon, Yandex.Taxi), system functions conduct transactions through Yandex.Cash ", Assist and Payture.

To make payments, the Android Pay service does not process information about installed cards. Their copies are automatically created and the data is sent to the seller. The details of the real plastic card are stored on Google servers.

When deactivated, all personal information from the Android Pay application will be automatically deleted. But even with such ideal privacy protection, developers advise locking your mobile device using a gesture or tactile method. Data is erased automatically if the smartphone is inactive for three months.

A smartphone with an NFC module allows the subscriber to purchase goods and pay for services directly through it. In this embodiment, the mobile device acts as a reading device. This means that money is withdrawn from the subscriber’s bank account, and not from the mobile communication balance. It is also necessary that the terminals or ATMs to which the mobile unit is connected have support for NFC payments.

⇡#Communications and wireless communications

Redmi Note 4X has two slots for SIM cards: one for micro-SIM, the second is combined for nano-SIM or microSD. There is only one radio module, so SIM cards operate using a dual standby system - with one radio module and the inability to conduct activity on both cards at the same time. LTE category six is ​​supported, with a theoretical maximum data transfer rate of 300 Mbit/s. Ranges, as often happens in the case of Xiaomi, are not all there. For Russia, the absence of the 20th can be called critical - in practice, this means problems with 4G connections in some (but not all) regions.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X, SIM card slot

Also typical for many Chinese smartphones is the lack of NFC: unfortunately, Android Pay, which was launched in test mode even in Russia, is not for Note 4X users. Why the near-field sensor was left behind is a mystery. Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n are still in place. I already mentioned the infrared port.

The navigation module works with GPS (including A-GPS), GLONASS, BeiDou. The smartphone works quite confidently with navigation, although not extremely fast. It is aimed at 20-25 satellites in about half a minute. Accuracy – up to 8-9 meters. Not God knows what, but it’s quite suitable for both basic walking and auto navigation.

Specifications

Results

Is it worth switching to the new product from the standard Mi Band 4? Depends on how much you need Mi Pay. The contactless payment function has long been requested in wearable electronics - now it is not necessary to take out your smartphone at the checkout. However, Xiaomi needs to work on hacking protection.

In official retail Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 NFC can be bought for 3,990 rubles, on AliExpress - a thousand cheaper.

Buy

The author thanks Xiaomi for providing the device. The company had no opportunity to influence the test result.

⇡#Camera

Redmi Note 4X uses a 13-megapixel Sony IMX 258 sensor (dimensions - 1/3.06''), a lens with an ƒ/2.0 aperture and phase detection autofocus with sensors located directly on the matrix.

The camera block does not protrude above the body. On the one hand, this is pleasing to the eye - it’s more aesthetically pleasing, but on the other hand, from time to time you accidentally touch the lens with your finger, trying to use the fingerprint sensor. However, on the same Samsung Galaxy S8 this happens much more often.

The camera interface is relatively good - the main icons are on the main screen, there are no illogical actions to be performed. Although, not everything is smooth either - for example, deeper settings are hidden on the third screen and are devoid of the usual logic. The resolution, by the way, cannot be changed at all, and for some reason the default is “normal” shooting quality, and not “high”. The pictures were taken with the default camera settings.

The camera produces a picture of the level expected for a smartphone in this class - with some, however, features. During the day, everything is juicy, no problems with clarity, but the built-in software frankly overdoes the contour sharpening - the images look slightly unnatural. The color rendition is rich, not too much for my taste, although it may seem like that to some. When shooting at dusk, the Note 4X camera frankly lacks, on the one hand, sensitivity, and on the other, an optical stabilizer. It’s not easy to get unblurred frames with normal detail on it, and in the dark it’s almost useless.

Xiaomi_Redmi_Note_4X

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The smartphone can shoot video with maximum Full HD resolution. But be careful - by default, the shooting quality is again not set to the maximum. If you don't change this in the settings, you will shoot in 720p.

The selfie camera is very ordinary - 5 megapixels, no autofocus, no flash, the optics are wide enough to take normal self-portraits with a clearly visible background. It’s hard to say anything special about the quality of the shooting – it’s ok during the day, bad at night.

Misfit Vapor 2

Misfit Vapor 2 is Misfit's second attempt to release a smartwatch running Wear OS. The second iteration lost the shortcomings that were inherent in the first generation. NFC with support for Google Pay, GPS and an optical heart rate sensor appeared here. The watch is also waterproof up to 30 meters.

The design of Misfit Vapor 2 is very simple with a stainless steel body and a high-resolution AMOLED screen with a size of 1.2 or 1.4 inches. Under the hood is a standard Snapdragon Wear 2100 paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. All this runs under the Wear OS operating system. The battery capacity is 300 or 330 mAh, depending on the case size.

Key features of Misfit Wapor 2

• Operating system Wear OS.
• Compatibility: Android, iOS.
• Screen: 1.2 or 1.4 inches OLED.
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100.
• Built-in memory: 4 GB.
• Water protection: 3 ATM.
• Autonomy: 1 day
• Payment system: Google Pay
• Price: From 250 US dollars.

Pros:

• NFC with Google Pay support.
• Not a bad set of functions.
• Wide range of possibilities.
• Design.

Minuses:

• Low autonomy
• Very simple design
• Outdated processor