NFC or QR code: which is better for Google reviews?
The short answer. Use both. An NFC tap is the fastest way in for phones that have NFC switched on, and a QR code works on every phone with a camera, including the many that cannot tap. A review card that carries both never leaves a customer out.
How does an NFC review card work?
A small chip inside the card holds a web link. When a phone with NFC switched on is held within a few centimetres of it, the phone reads the link and opens it. The chip has no battery: the phone powers it for that moment. It only gives the phone a link. It cannot read anything from the phone.
How does a QR code review card work?
The same link, printed as a QR code. The customer opens the camera, points it at the code and taps the link that appears. The iPhone camera has read QR codes since iOS 11. On Android, most camera apps read them, and Google Lens does on the rest.
Which is faster, NFC or QR?
NFC, when it works. The customer holds the phone to the card and the page opens, with nothing to open or aim first. A QR scan takes a moment longer: open the camera, frame the code, tap the link. Both are far quicker than searching Google Maps for your listing.
Why not use NFC alone?
Because not every phone will tap. Some budget Android phones have no NFC chip at all. On others NFC is switched off in settings, and nobody goes looking for that setting at a shop counter. iPhones older than the iPhone XS need a Control Centre button most people have never used (see NFC review cards on iPhone). A customer whose tap does nothing tends to give up rather than try something else, unless the something else is printed right in front of them.
Why not use a QR code alone?
A QR code works on every phone with a camera, but it asks more of the customer: open the camera, frame the code, tap the link. At a busy counter every extra step means fewer people finish. A tap needs none of them.
NFC and QR side by side
| Compared | NFC tap | QR scan |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Phones with NFC switched on, including iPhone XS and later | Any phone with a camera |
| The customer | Holds the phone to the card | Opens the camera and points it |
| Needs an app | No | No |
| Needs a battery | No, the phone powers the chip | No, it is printed |
| Needs the phone online | Yes, to open Google | Yes, to open Google |
What should a review card with both look like?
The chip and the code should open exactly the same page, and the code should sit right beside the place to tap, so a customer whose tap does nothing sees the alternative without being told. Ideally both go through a link you can change yourself, so a new Google listing or a change of address does not mean a new card.
That is how Tap2Review plates are made: an NFC chip inside, a printed QR code on the face, both pointing at one link that you change yourself, free, whenever you need to. Your dashboard shows how many customers came by tap and how many by scan. See the plans.
Who wrote this guide?
Tap2Review, which makes NFC and QR review plates for Indian shops, cafés, salons and clinics. Each plate has an NFC chip inside and a printed QR code on the face, and both open the shop’s Google review page. Plates start at ₹699, paid once, or come free with the Pro plan at ₹99 a month. Made and tested by hand in Pune. Shipped free across India. See the plans, or see what a customer sees.
Updated .