Is the C6100 18 m read range real?

It is a real figure for a matched tag in open conditions, not for metal racking or liquid-filled drums. Passive UHF range scales with the square root of the power reaching the tag, so a tag 6 dB less sensitive halves the distance, and a circular reader antenna gives up about half its power to a linearly polarised tag.

Is there a 902 to 928 MHz version for North America?

Not of this unit, which is built for 865-868 MHz or 920-925 MHz. Frequency is a hardware choice, not a setting. The V9000S lists 865-868, 920-925 and 902-928 MHz.

Is the pistol grip included with the C6100?

The pistol grip and the UHF antenna module are separate parts. The body measures 171 x 81 x 20.4 mm and weighs 600 g as a slab; fitting both produces the gun configuration used for long range reading.

C6100 Long Range RFID Scanner | 18 m UHF, Android, IP65

Q: What is the difference between read range and write range?

Writing needs a stronger field at the tag than reading, so write range is always shorter than read range. Any single read/write figure on a datasheet is a read figure.

Q: How long does the C6100 battery last?

The pack is 7,500 mAh at 3.8 V, 28.5 Wh. Runtime depends on duty cycle because continuous UHF transmission drains a pack far faster than barcode work, so the figure is quoted with its test conditions.

Q: Does the C6100 work in a freezer at minus 20 C?

The operating range is -20 C to +50 C so the terminal is rated for it. Lithium cells accept charge slowly when cold and some protection circuits refuse to charge until the pack warms, so charge at room temperature and carry a spare.

Description

The number that decides the project

What 18 m actually means

Four distances from one reader. Which row your project lands on is decided by the tag, not by the terminal.

The four things that move the number

Tag sensitivity. This is the largest single factor and it is not on this page, because it belongs to the label you put on the pallet. A tag 6 dB less sensitive halves the distance. Ask your label supplier for the read sensitivity in dBm before you commit to a range specification.
Polarisation. A circular reader antenna reads a tag at any rotation, which is why it is the right choice for a handheld. The cost is roughly half the power into a linearly polarised tag — the 12.7 m row above. A linear antenna on the same reader would reach further but would miss tags held at 90°.
What the tag is stuck to. Metal detunes a tag and liquid absorbs the field. On metal racking or a liquid-filled drum the distance is set by the tag's own design, and can fall by an order of magnitude. This is the case where a demo on a cardboard carton misleads you.
Read versus write. Writing needs more field than reading, so a reader that reads a tag at 18 m will write to it considerably closer. Treat any single R/W figure as a read figure and ask for the write range separately.

How to make the number real before you buy. Send us the tag you actually use — part number, inlay, and whether it sits on metal or liquid — and the surface it goes on. We will test the pair and report a measured distance for your stock rather than a headline figure for a lab.

Warehouse operator holding the C6100 in its pistol grip and aiming the antenna module down a long aisle of pallet racking

The working distance this class of reader is bought for: reading pallet faces from the aisle floor instead of walking to each one.

Before you order

The frequency decides whether this unit can ship to you

UHF RFID does not have one global band. This unit is built for 865–868 MHz or 920–925 MHz. North America runs at 902–928 MHz, and that is a different radio, not a setting. If you are buying for the United States, Canada or anywhere else on the FCC allocation, say so at the enquiry stage.

Same reader, three regional allocations. Frequency is a hardware choice, so it has to be settled before the order, not after.

In the hand, and in the cold

600 g, and rated to −20 °C

A long-range handheld is carried for a whole shift, so the body figures matter as much as the radio. Two of them are worth reading carefully.

PARAMETER	VALUE	WHY IT MATTERS
Body	171 × 81 × 20.4 mm ± 2 mm without pistol grip and UHF module	Slim enough to sit in a cradle on a counter and still be the same device you fit a grip to. Check the fitted depth before you buy a holster.
Weight	600 g net, including battery and wrist strap	Mid-range for this class. Lighter than a full-size gun-format reader, heavier than a phone terminal.
Battery	7,500 mAh, 3.8 V lithium polymer, rechargeable	28.5 Wh, which is well under the 100 Wh air-freight threshold, so it ships as lithium-ion contained in equipmen
Display	5.5 in TFT-LCD, 720 × 1440, capacitive touch, LED backlight	Portrait 720 × 1440 is a phone-shaped screen, so Android apps built for a handset fit without rework.
Operating temperature	−20 °C to +50 °C	The −20 °C floor is what makes freezer work possible, with the caveat below about the battery.
Sealing	IP65	Dust-tight and protected against water jets. Not rated for immersion.
Drop	1.5 m to concrete, across the full operating temperature range	The temperature qualifier is the useful part: a cold-soaked plastic shell breaks at a drop height it would survive warm.
ESD	±15 kV air discharge, ±8 kV direct discharge	Enough for a warehouse floor. Not an intrinsic-safety rating for hazardous atmospheres.

Cold store worker in insulated clothing using the C6100 with pistol grip to read frozen cartons in an aisle at minus 20 degrees

The −20 °C rating in use. The device survives the aisle; the battery is the part to plan around.

Specification

C6100 — full specification

PARAMETER	VALUE
PHYSICAL
Dimensions	171 × 81 × 20.4 mm ± 2 mm, excluding the pistol grip and UHF antenna module
Weight	600 g net, including battery and wrist strap
Display	5.5 in TFT-LCD, 720 × 1440, capacitive touch, LED backlight
Expansion	2 × PSAM, 2 × SIM, 1 × TF (microSD up to 256 GB)
Battery	Rechargeable lithium-ion polymer, 3.8 V, 7,500 mAh — 28.5 Wh
Keypad	Physical keys including scan trigger and F1 to F4 function keys
PERFORMANCE
CPU	Cortex-A73, 2.0 GHz, octa-core
Operating system	Android 10.0
Memory	4 GB RAM / 64 GB ROM; a 3 GB / 32 GB variant is available on request
USER ENVIRONMENT
Operating temperature	−20 °C to +50 °C
Storage temperature	−20 °C to +70 °C
Humidity	5 %RH to 95 %RH, non-condensing
Drop	1.5 m to concrete, across the full operating temperature range
Sealing	IP65 — dust-tight and protected against water jets. Not rated for immersion
ESD	±15 kV air discharge, ±8 kV direct discharge
DATA COMMUNICATION
Cellular	TDD-LTE Band 38, 39, 40, 41; FDD-LTE Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 17, 20; WCDMA 850/1900/2100 MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Wi-Fi	2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 3.0 + HS and 4.2
GPS	GPS with embedded A-GPS, 5 m accuracy
RFID
UHF frequency	865–868 MHz or 920–925 MHz — two regional variants. Ask about 902–928 MHz for North America
UHF protocol	EPC Class 1 Gen 2 / ISO 18000-6C
UHF reader IC	Impinj
UHF antenna	Circular polarisation, 4 dBi
UHF read range	Up to 18 m, tag and environment dependent — see the range section above
NFC frequency	13.56 MHz
NFC protocol	ISO 14443A and ISO 15693, NFC-IP1, NFC-IP2
NFC read and write range	2 cm to 5 cm
DATA CAPTURE
2D imager	Honeywell N6703 2D scan engine (optional)
Symbologies	PDF417, MicroPDF417, Composite, RSS, TLC-39, Data Matrix, QR, Micro QR, Aztec, MaxiCode and postal codes
Camera	Rear 13 MP, front 5 MP, auto-focus with LED flash
SECURITY
PSAM	ISO 7816, 2 slots maximum. Baud rates 9600 to 115200 — confirm the rate you need with us
DEVELOPMENT
SDK	Handheld wireless software development kit
Language	Java
IDE	Android Studio or Eclipse
ACCESSORIES
Standard	1 × power supply, 1 × lithium polymer battery, 1 × Type-C cable

Not only a UHF reader

Four capture methods in one body

UHF at 18 m for volume: a whole pallet face, a racking bay, a vehicle load.
NFC at 2 to 5 cm for identity: a guard checkpoint, a sealed asset tag, a staff badge. Deliberately short, because a short read is what makes a checkpoint mean something.
Honeywell N6703 2D imager for anything already printed: a waybill, a serial plate, a QR code on a shelf edge.
13 MP rear camera for evidence: damaged cartons, condition on receipt, proof of delivery.

The control surface: volume keys, four programmable function keys, USB, and the speaker that makes a read audible over a warehouse.

Why the function keys matter more than they look. F1 to F4 map to your own app, so a picking workflow can put confirm, reject, next and print on separate keys instead of one trigger. On a gloved hand in a cold aisle, that is the difference between a workflow people follow and one they work around.

Choosing between our handhelds

C6100 or one of the other three

We sell four UHF handhelds and they overlap enough that buyers ask this question every week. The differences below are the ones that decide a project, taken only from what each product page already states.

MODEL	UHF RANGE	BODY	BATTERY	ANDROID	FREQUENCY
C6100 this page	18 m, tag dependent	171 × 81 × 20.4 mm, 600 g	7,500 mAh	10	865–868 or 920–928 MHz
BX6100	Up to 20 m, tag dependent	166 × 79 × 31 mm, 600 g	9,000 mAh	10	865–868 or 920–928 MHz
V9000S	10 to 20 m, tag size dependent	170 × 78 × 23.3 mm, 585 g	12 h use, 3–4 h charge	11	865–868, 920–928 MHz
HC720S	5-10M	178 × 83 × 17 mm, 580 g	10,000 mAh removable, ~8 h	12	865–868 or 920–928 MHz

The short version

Buy the C6100 if you want the slim body that spends most of its life in a cradle and then converts to a long-range reader for the aisle walk.
Buy the BX6100 if you want a one-piece reader with a bigger pack and the longest stated range, and you never need it flat on a counter.
Buy the V9000S need IP67 against a hose-down or a loading dock floor.
Buy the HC720S if Android 12 and a removable 10,000 mAh pack are the deciding factors for your fleet policy, and you have checked its UHF range with us first.

Deploying a fleet of them

SDK, security, and the Android 10 question

One device is a purchase; two hundred devices is a lifecycle commitment. These are the points that come up in every fleet review.

TOPIC	WHAT YOU GET
Development	Java SDK with sample code, Android Studio or Eclipse. The UHF, NFC, imager and camera APIs are documented in the kit, so your team integrates against one library rather than four.
Security hardware	2 × PSAM slots to ISO 7816 alongside 2 × SIM slots. A PSAM holds the keys for payment, ticketing or a secure ID scheme, and it keeps them out of the Android file system — which is why terminals in this class carry the slot at all.
Network	4G LTE with 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 for a belt printer or a ring scanner. Dual-band Wi-Fi is worth checking against your access points: a busy 2.4 GHz aisle is where pick rates die.
Android version	Android 10.0. It was released in 2019, so the question to ask is not which version, but which security patch level the shipped image carries and how long the manufacturer will keep publishing updates for it. Ask us in writing and keep the answer with the purchase order.
Device management	Standard Android enterprise enrolment, so an existing MDM can lock the device to one app, push config and wipe a lost unit. Confirm your MDM vendor supports Android 10 on rugged hardware before standardising.
Battery service	The pack is user-replaceable, which is what keeps a fleet alive past year three. Ask for the spare pack part number at the same time as the device order, not later.

C6100 standing upright in its charging cradle seen from the side, with the pistol grip and antenna module fitted

The cradle lets a shift-and-charge rotation work without opening the device or hunting for a cable.

Questions we are asked

C6100 — FAQ

Is 18 m a real read distance?

It is a real figure for a matched tag in open conditions. It is not what you will get on metal racking or a liquid-filled drum. Passive UHF range scales with the square root of the power that reaches the tag, so a tag that is 6 dB less sensitive halves the distance, and a circular reader antenna gives up roughly half its power to a linearly polarised tag. Send us your tag and the surface it goes on, and we will measure the pair.

What is the difference between read range and write range?

Writing needs a stronger field at the tag than reading does, so a reader that reads at 18 m writes at a shorter distance. Any single read/write figure you see on a datasheet is a read figure. Ask us for both if your process writes tags as well as reads them.

How long does the battery last on a shift?

The pack is 7,500 mAh at 3.8 V, which is 28.5 Wh. Runtime is a different question: it depends on duty cycle, because continuous UHF transmission drains a pack far faster than barcode work. We quote the manufacturer figure with its test conditions rather than a slogan, and we recommend a spare pack for freezer work.

Will it work in a freezer at minus 20?

The stated operating range is −20 °C to +50 °C, so the terminal is rated for it. Plan around the battery: lithium cells accept charge slowly when cold and some protection circuits refuse to charge at all until the pack warms. Charge at room temperature, and carry a spare rather than charging in the aisle.

Can it read NFC as well as UHF?

Yes. 13.56 MHz to ISO 14443A and ISO 15693, NFC-IP1 and NFC-IP2, with a 2 to 5 cm range. The short NFC range is useful rather than limiting: it is what makes a tap a deliberate act, which is why guard checkpoints and asset seals use it.

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C6100 Long Range RFID scanner

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